15/2/08 15:00

The weather was so foul we decided to stay another day and leave early tomorrow morning.  The bay around us is slowly filling up with ice so I hope it was the correct decision.  By making an early start tomorrow we should have plenty of time to sort out the new anchorage.  Then wind is supposed to diminish tomorrow afternoon and the temperature is set to go down around freezing soon.  It’s been a balmy 4/5C.

This afternoon is about backing up computer files, playing with the video cameras, organizing the millions of photos, teaching the Italians to play Scrabble, a few rounds of Backgammon and generally chilling, and between IT chores, Nik is studying his economics.

The iceman cameth and the iceman lefteth…and the bay cleareth late afternoon.

16/2/08  10AM

We left this morning a little after 9; the whole crew was up early and really ready to go. The wind is NNE 20-25 knots. The temperature is just above freezing and it’s another totally grey monochrome morning, the sky like a huge upside down grey soup bowl.  The conditions are better than yesterday and most importantly it’s not raining.  I think we are berged out, no one is snapping away as we pass through a bevy of bergs…

14:00 Cuverville Island

On the approach to Cuverville Island picked our way through Ice Berg Alley, where dozens of bergs get stranded, and anchored stern to the wind, with 2 long stern shore lines. I wasn’t happy about the anchor holding so we did it again.  Once more the anchor had ball of kelp to chop away.  When we re-anchored we laid over 90 meters of chain. There is very little prospect of Southerlies in the next few days, so we are fine.  We are downwind of a huge Gentoo Penguin colony and will go exploring later.