Nov 7 - Crunching through the fast ice

Kym Newbery (inventor of Penguin-Cam) inspects the fast ice as the ship clunks back and forth into it, trying to crack its way through to Davis.

The Aurora can manage 1.2m thick ice, through which it can go steadily, but this stuff is 1.8 m thick, so each time it rides up onto the ice slightly, then its weight cracks through it, opening up a little bit more. Then it backs back 20 metres and tries again - each time making just a metre or two's progress. The top 20cm of snow has been removed by the station's grader, since this damps the impact of the ship, which seems to help slightly.