A drop in the Southern Ocean: Stormman

(Sunday 13th April)

Yesterday we had some pretty bad weather. Force 11 on the Beaufort Scale. The Beaufort Scale only goes up to force 12 - hurricane! So yeah, it was a bit bumpy. Science stopped in the early hours of Saturday morning and we spent the rest of the day just trying not to get thrown about too much. The ship 'hove to' which means sitting with her nose into the waves and not trying to go anywhere. The waves were enormous dark walls of water which thundered towards us and tossed us all around. It was very exciting! However, it did not make for a restful nights sleep.

This morning science is back on, the skies have cleared and we even glimpsed the sun for an hour or so. The sea are still big though, making the ship roll and lurch as we get on with our work. One minute you will be struggling to climb up a near vertical corridor, the next you are flying down it!This afternoon we spotted what seems likely to be the last iceberg of the trip, we are very far north to still have ice. Its been a good calm day after the storm, and we have finished this line of sampling. We are pretty much on the home straight now, while we have lots more work to do we will be heading towards the Falkland Islands, our last port of call.... And tomorrow we will see South Georgia! Woohoo!

Check out these photos that Rich took from the bridge last night!