N70 01 E165 19 pressure 1009 water 5c air 6c 23 Aug 17.30UTC 24 Aug 0130 boat time Local time (UTC+12) 24 Aug 05.30
Slightly confused day yesterday, as Nikolai decided to change the clock and put it 6 hours forwards (boat time has been on Murmansk time for us), which is why we express everything in UTC. We are all on the same watches, with the same people but lots of confusion. I have had three breakfasts!
Yesterday was very interesting, we plodded south to avoid the ice. I came up early to get ice on my watch. Oddly, with the sun in the right direction you get a thing called ‘Fata Morgana’ and the ice looks like towering ice cliffs. You can understand why the early explorers saw these cliffs and thought the route barred.
Then Sunset. Poor Constance had a full watch of dodging ice in the dark, thank goodness eating that bird seed has helped her night vision. Then our first star and a dazzling first display of the Aurora Borealis. What a day.
The new ice charts showed we were right to come south, and now just skirting the southern edge. Now hopefully a straight line to Point Barrow. Get those eastings up. Amazingly, the ice charts show how lucky we are, the Laptev sea is somewhat closed in places behind us. Hoooola Shakerrrr
David