Day 72–Marooned Again

January 15, 2012 4:09pm

January 15, 2012

S86°54.158 W091°48.895

Elevation 7058 feet

So much for the predictions and expectations. The sweet downwind runs; the reliable winds; the high daily average. We are marooned one more day with dead calm conditions. It had been a while. On the positive side, the sun has been out, baking the tent, while the outside stillness has eclipsed the frigid temperatures which have dominated since the South Pole. Our prospects of reaching Hercules in seven days quickly faded, and we are back to finding ways to occupy ourselves for hours at a time while laying down. Eric has taken to listening to every podcast on my outpost, and sleeping. I have spent almost twenty hours reconstructing and finishing–almost–the article that I lost yesterday in cyber space. At least this was constructive: the Antarctica branch of Sebastian Copeland Productions is now officially open! All this while waiting for the wind to build and switch direction.

This is oddly anti-climactic, especially in light of what I wrote yesterday; with 800 kilometers still of travel, the trip is far from over. But this leasurely pace could have us fooled. The winds will turn on again, and Antarctica is sure to dish out some of its decibels, at least one more time. I suspect we’ll have one more marathon session before long.But for now, the prospects are weak, and it is back to the spell check program. And there goes the glamorous life of an expedition on the ice! We have nine days to complete the mission. And we fly off the ice in eleven days. Tic-toc, tic-toc…

One Response to “Day 72–Marooned Again”

  1. BASILE says:

    I am sure a solution will come again. Until now Nature has given you some way for accomplish your mission.
    I pray for wind and wind and wind again 😉
    Courage!
    Cheers

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