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All on board are happy and well on Christmas Day, 2023. After a slow start yesterday, we made steady progress on the hard-cargo unloading through the afternoon and evening. As planned, we set off at 2000 to spend Christmas eve and the morning of Christmas Day completing multi-beam hydrographic surveys off the Vanderford Glacier and deploying the Argo float. We encountered significant sea ice and tabular icebergs during the transit to the starting point of our survey transect. By early morning, the weather was clear and the waters in front of the glacier were relatively ice free. We had a breakfast Xmas BBQ on the helideck and a crossing 'the line ceremony' as led by a surprise visit from Queen Neptune. We were back at Casey by 1030 and commenced ops at 1300. As we have done thus far, today we are again using a single barge for cargo and the PPT's for passenger transfer and as ice tugs. At the time of writing the weather looks less favourable for the commencement of refuelling ops on 27 Dec. We'll re-evaluate our plans tomorrow.
Merry Christmas from all on board to all at home.
Keith & Nick
Map
A map showing Australia and Antarctica. The map shows the journey of one voyage that has occured in the season, with each route highlighted in a distinct colour.