20 Jan 2016

Sea Daze

Sea days are always time to catch up on sleep, entertainment and education while not forgetting the eventing bar! We have a guitar playing singer amongst us and for some reason plenty of birthdays to celebrate. Our course and the Southern Ocean swells have at last come together to even out the comfort levels and the wind is now in a favourable quadrant. The 35Kt northerly is pushing us rapidly south and most now have their sea legs. We are living the shipboard life like all those who have gone before us, including Scott and Shackleton. Yes we have a few more mod cons but it is the same passage and with Andrews’s history lectures and Katja’s ice talk, you can feel the anticipation growing. A first iceberg spotting competition is underway to determine who will be first into Scott and Shackleton’s huts and we continue to look out for the elusive Aurora Australis or Southern Lights. The sea water temperature is holding around 6 degrees so we are not over the convergence yet. ETA across 60 degrees South latitude which technically marks the boundary of Antarctic waters is around 0500hrs tomorrow morning. Things are starting to happen fast. The ice map shows the Ross Sea wide open, so unusually we have set a course direct to Cape Adare. This is the first time I have done this in nearly 12 years visiting the Ross Sea. Not having to round a huge area of pack ice saves us nearly a day so we will have plenty of time to play!