Sunday 5 January 2014

Bouncing Across The High Seas




While we all had a good night’s sleep last night due to a late start and very quiet Beagle Channel we woke up abruptly to a different situation early this morning. Fram started bumping and shuddering and rocking at around 06:30 - 07:00. Phew, it was windy outside. So windy that it was ripping the tops right off of huge waves and sending the spray scurrying across a stormy ocean. We had wind speeds in excess of 60 knots. How windy is that? windy enough to keep the dining room very quiet and windy enough to keep the lecture rooms poorly attended. Especially during the morning when the storm was at it’s worst. Despite the heavy seas it was business as usual. The day was filled with lectures, films and our rubber boot rental program. Lectures are of course optional. Slowly, slowly, throughout the day, the winds dropped and the seas reflected the diminished winds. By the early evening, dinner time, Fram was rolling gently from side to side and most of those who had been sea sick earlier were showing better colour.