26 Feb 2015

Ross Sea Catchup

So much has happened since my last report. We sailed from the Ross Ice Shelf to McMurdo Sound, arriving there to anchor off the US McMurdo Station in calm and clear conditions. The following morning dawned clear with a light breeze but by mid morning the clouds had rolled in, the wind picked up to gale force and the temperature plummeted. The resulting wind chill factor of about -35C didn’t stop us enjoying a guided tour of the American base in the morning and New Zealand’s Scott Base in the afternoon. We really appreciated the efforts made by both stations in hosting our visits. The hospitality was certainly much warmer than the outside air temperature! The weather improved somewhat late in the evening, so some of the group went to visit Discovery Hut at nearby Hut Point.

Conditions were too harsh to attempt a visit to Observation Hill the following morning as the wind had increased again so we cruised back down McMurdo Sound. There we played the waiting game and were finally able to make a landing at Cape Evans when the wind-speed dropped around 6pm. An enjoyable evening was spent visiting what is commonly referred to as the Terra Nova Hut.

We went ashore early this morning at Cape Royds and enjoyed a rather cool but fascinating visit to Shackleton’s Nimrod Hut. We have ticked most of the boxes on this expedition but one thing we haven’t been able to achieve in McMurdo Sound is an ascent of Observation Hill, so we are heading back there now for one last attempt. In the next 24 hours we will follow the ice edge north as we pick our way homewards while looking for wildlife.