Oct 22 - Attempts to fly to Casey and Davis

Hoping for a bit of good weather, the blades were attached to the helicopters to be ready to fly to Casey and then on to Davis via the Russian station Mirny to refuel. But as soon as the weather cleared up
on route, it turned bad at the ship and we departed for Davis by sea -likely to take at least 6 days.

Our professional ground support crew Sharon & Jason are preventing zealous photographers from getting close to the action...

Oct 20 - Barbeque on the back deck

Only 1 day out from the Casey fly-off point, we had a celebratory
barbeque on the back trawl deck, which was also the first time we've
had any alcohol on this trip - cask wine and beer... The weather was
perfect: clear and still. The ship made its way slowly through the
thickening ice, at night with two big spotlights picking out the
leads in the ice.

Oct 20 - Minus 12 degrees

Suddenly it has got very cold - as a bit of wind is coming across the
ice, rather than over the sea.

AUSTRALIAN EASTERN STANDARD SUMMER TIME: 1500
POSITION: -64 00, 114 45
HEADING: 230
CURRENT SPEED (KNOTS): 7.3
DISTANCE TO NEXT WAYPOINT (NAUTICAL MILES): 96 to Casey fly-off
DISTANCE COVERED LAST 24 HOURS (NAUTICAL MILES): 245
WEATHER CONDITIONS: Overcast, snow showers, WSW wind 25-30 kts AIR
TEMPERATURE: -12.0
SEA TEMPERATURE: -1.7

Oct 19 - Ice Starts Here

Yesterday evening, the sea looked the same as it has done for the
previous 6 days. Every day the same, 2-3m swell in all directions,
the odd bird. Generally overcast, occasional sun.

Then this morning, there were a couple of small chunks of ice, and
all of a sudden, like someone had drawn a line in the sea to say "ice
starts here" we are surrounded by sea-ice, with the occasional big
iceberg. Some classic pancake ice was sloshing all around us this
afternoon, as snow fell straight onto us and into the sea.

That always seems weird to me - snow falling into the sea.

Oct 16 - The ship drones, whistles & rocks.

The days are slipping by now, in a haze of confused drowsiness from
the seasick medication, but I'm not really seasick, I'm just drowsy,
mentally dull and unmotivated, with a mild headache. The ship
constantly drones and whistles and rocks. Then it's another mealtime.
Somehow now it's Thursday. It feels like i just got on the boat
yesterday, but also that I've been here forever.