Hello All
Yesterday was quite frustrating for us not being able to stem the shelf with the see ice encroaching the shelf. The Polarstern invited us for a get together on the shelf before they leave, which we could only observe from a distance in envy. Time was not completely lost however as we made productive use of it by preparing the next lot of cargo, taking iron samples and completing a CTD dip.
It was a very nice gesture of the Polarstern to round the vessel on her way out on her next scientific leg. A courtesy sequence of blows were exchanged by both vessels on the ships horn and even though we can not plough the same ice fields as them I believe we had the loudest "hooter" :-).
The wind swung around through the evening to a steady SW'ly, which we were hoping for. By this morning 05:00 sufficient sea room was opened up against the shelf for us to work safely. After ploughing through some vicious pieces of broken bay ice we managed to get through to the ice shelf. At first we made an attempt to use the same ice berth as the Polarsten used, but we were soon chased out of there by large floes. We found a suitable spot again just around the corner on North Point where we are currently working cargo. We are doing well and if all goes to plan we will head to RSA Bukta through the night for passenger flights to SANAE tomorrow.
Have a nice day.
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