Day 2 of the Shackleton traverse

Magnus Day, skipper Yacht Pelagic Australis reports:

Another day in King Haakon Bay for the crew of Pelagic Australis and a
beautiful one of light winds and heavy snow. We made a long hike ashore
to check on the elephant seals and their pups some of whom were born
just this morning. The goings on of a seal colony never cease to amuse
with the beachmaster bulls making a nuisance of themselves and the cows
barking and the pups mewling and the weaners snorting. There are groups
of King Penguins standing by affecting a disinterested air and odd
singles looking baffled or just plain lost. Giant Petrels and Skuas
prowl the beach in search of placentas and sickly pups for a gruesome lunch.

Commodore Novak called at 2000 as arranged to report heavy wet snow for
our friends up on the hill. Though safe and well in their tents he
reported them as 'piss wet through' and requested a pick up from
Possession Bay at our earliest convenience. This is the only escape
option before committing to the rest of the traverse and the guys fear
avalanches of heavy wet snow on top of older icy layers. A good call but
one which must have been hard to make.

We will attempt to make our way round to them tomorrow. The forecast is
fair with winds of 20 to 30 knots in the west and we hope for better viz
as the low overhead moves away to the east but it may still take us two
days to get round to the pickup. Moving in this ill charted area at
night is not advised.

We're looking forward to getting them all warm and dry aboard and
hearing tales of ice and wind and risotto with parmisan and salami.

I'll keep you posted..............

Magnus