Oden News Flash! Before we get to today's topic I need to make a few announcements....Rough Seas in the Drake PassageStrait, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans between Tierra del Fuego and the South Shetland Islands. Located about 100 mi (160 km) north of the Antarctic Peninsula, it is 600 mi (1,000 km) wide.!!! The truth is that the Drake is much wilder than what I captured in yesterday's video. The officers of the Oden have been able to avoid any serious storms so far but even an "ordinary early summer day" in this part of the Southern Ocean has changed almost everything about life on board. We are all tired, not from overwork but from lack of sleep. Last night every 10˚-30˚ roll of the ship made me slide 3-10 inches across the mattress of my bunk and then a few seconds later I would slide back. My body adjusted to the roll and slide but I woke up frequently to the enormous jolt of the pounding of a giant wave as it struck the flat bow of the mighty ship at just the right angle. Try to imagine a steel ship that is over 300 feet long, 100 feet tall and weighs over 10,000 tons moving at 10 miles per hour, slamming its flat, ice breaking bow into a 20 foot tall wall of seawater so hard that the ship comes to a momentary stop and then shakes like a wet dog for 10 seconds. And, this happens several times each hour for 3 days. For safety, the main decks are closed and the scientists have no access to their precious instruments. This morning small group was allowed to put on boots and heavy raingear and was escorted to the lab vans by officers to check the labs. So far, it looks like the gear is OK. Getting to the frozen Amundsen Sea is very difficult and that is why it has received so little study. That is why we need to go.

    Blue Noses!!! As we approach the Antarctic Circle at 66.6˚S the king of the sea, Triton must be relied upon for safe passage. We needed Triton's permission to enter his ice realm and we need to show that we were worthy. Last evening some of the members of the expedition who are veterans of crossing the Antarctic Circle approached the uninitiated among us with a message from the sea king. As first timers we were all warned to expect a visit from Triton and to prepare to be tested. Each newcomer was also marked on the nose with blue ink the color of the icy Southern Ocean.

    We have officially arrived in Antarctic waters! By international treaty, Antarctica is defined as all the land, ice and sea below 60˚ S latitude. About dinnertime last night we crossed that line. Of course, we are still in the middle of the Drake PassageStrait, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans between Tierra del Fuego and the South Shetland Islands. Located about 100 mi (160 km) north of the Antarctic Peninsula, it is 600 mi (1,000 km) wide., over 100 miles west of the Palmer Peninsula and we can only see ocean around us.

    28 Ask The Team questions! On Friday I received 28 Ask The Team questions and they took me all day on Saturday to respond to. I can't tell you how much it means to me, and the others on this expedition to know that so many of you are excited about what we are doing. It is also great to see that most of you are now including your name and a reference that tells me where you are from in your questions. I would, however, gently point out that many of the questions could more easily be answered if you first read the daily journal posts. In many of my responses to individuals I have referenced previous journal posts and the photos they contain. Keep those questions coming.

    Blue noses must be prepared for Triton
    Dr. Tish Yager gave me my blue nose. She is the leader of the science team I am working with and she was judged worthy by King Triton the on a previous trip across the Antarctic Circle

    Oden's Fuel Supply

    Two of today's Ask The Team questions were so good that I want to make them the focus of today's journal. First, Mr. Dolloff from Copenhagen School in Upstate NY asked how much fuel the mighty ship used and he wanted to know if there was a plan to refuel during the expedition. I went back to my friend; Marcus, the 1st Engineer, and he explained that after refueling in Montevideo, Uruguay, the Oden had 3049 cubic meters of heavy fuel on board. In the rough seas of the Drake we are currently using 3 of the 4 bus-sized engines and we are burning about 2,075 liters every hour! When we start to cut 2 meter thick ice they will use all 4 engines and the consumption will rise to about 3,000 liters/hour. At this incredible rate, the Oden carries enough fuel to go all the way to McMurdo, cut the ice channel and assist cargo ships there and make it back to Montevideo in late Feb. without refueling. He also showed me a sample of the fuel oil they use. It was as thick as latex house paint and Marcus told me that they use excess heat from the engines to warm the fuel to 30˚ C just to get it to flow through the pipes. The fuel is then further heated to over 120˚ C in just before it is injected into the engines. That means that the fuel is hotter than boiling water before they light it!

    Does anybody really know what time it is?

    Another important question from the Ask The Team forum asked what time zone we are in. The short answer is that there should be a new time zone about every 15˚ of longitude and so, when we started out in Montevideo we were 3 hours ahead of Eastern Time. Since we have been traveling SW for over a week we are now in the same time zone as the Eastern US. Once we reach the ice continent we will continue to go west around Antarctica and we will be in a new time zone every few days. However, since changing the clocks that often would be very inconvenient for the folks on the ship and since we are going to have 24 hours of daylight anyway, the ship has fixed our ship time at 2 hours ahead of Eastern time. We will keep our clocks that way for a few more weeks and then we will have one huge time/date change day as we switch to McMurdo/New Zealand time. That day we will change the clocks 16 hours at once!

    Last night, as an example, since I wanted to call my wife on the satellite phone at 10pm at our home near Syracuse, I needed to stay up until midnight ship time.

    Flags??

    I am sorry that I have not included any of the class expedition flags for the last few days but it is just too windy to risk flying them. I promise that all of the flags will fly and appear on the journal before the trip is over. Keep watching!

    Take care, have fun & make memories,

    Jeff Peneston

    Author
    Date
    Weather Summary
    Mostly Cloudy Skies and 4-meter waves
    Temperature
    33.8
    Wind Speed
    40

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