Ice, Hielo, Glace, Eis, Ghiaccio

Now at Rothera and back at base after a further two day cruise south into Marguerite Bay. The run into Rothera down Adelaide Island and the approach into Ryder Bay has been spectacular again. Added to this there has been some sea ice to tie up with the satellite imagery. So I've gone from a lack of ice and imagery to actually having a good bit of both available.

Iceberg on the horizon.

Moving through the sea ice west of Adelaide Island.

Welcoming party on the point as the JCR pulls into the wharf at Rothera.

After a few hours of unloading at Rothera, some of us were off again out into Marguerite Bay to recover some moorings and carry out some coring etc. A little bit of sea ice got in the way of one of these, but the Captain soon made short work of this and after some nifty work with the ship we had a hole in the ice through which the mooring could be recovered.

Icebergs in Ryder Bay.

Glad I'm on the ship.

The seals were probably wondering what the heck we were doing ruining their afternoon nap on the ice.

So this afternoon we go back ashore. Then the plan gets a bit fuzzy. Ideally I get on a plane to Stanley before Wednesday and then catch the MOD flight to the UK on Friday. Back in time for Christmas.

BAS' luck with the planes this season has been fairly poor. In fact the DASH7 (plane that does passenger transfers between Rothera and Stanley) is still in bits, spares being flown to Falklands this weekend, fix it and then test flight on Sunday. So if this goes to plan and the weather holds we'll be OK. Any deviation from this plan and who knows what happens. Actually I do, we'll probably be kept on the JCR and sail north to Stanley. Christmas and New Year on board. Hmmmmm.

However, we remain optimistic, let the rumour mill do its best and wait to be told what to do. Current opinion in the bar (after minimal G&T) puts the odds on being back for Christmas at slightly below 50:50. But only slightly. We should know a lot more in the next 48 hours.