Daily Reports

Position: 86° 05.3' N, 44° 26' W, temperature - 25° C, air pressure 990 hPa, wind 14 knots from the W. Ice drift 0.2 knot to the E. Shooting seismic reflection all day. Checked radiation flux instruments - all sensors Ok even sun time detector. Also weather station OK. Audun determined by GPS true heading of the hovercraft to be 81 degrees. The thin crack near the thermistor string has widened to 20 cm. Put a tarp under the rear end of the hovercraft to seal off air leakage.

Position: 86° 06.5' N, 44° 58' W, temperature - 29° C, air pressure 993 hPa, wind 6 knots from the W. Ice drift 0.2 knot towards E. Shooting seismic reflection all day.

Position: 86° 06.9' N, 45° 08' W, temperature - 29° C, air pressure 994 hPa, wind 2 knots from the NW. Ice drift 0.1 knot to the W. Shooting seismic reflection all day, but almost no ice drift. Checked radiation flux instruments and weather station and removed frost. Audun went for a 2.5 hour ski trip and located bathymetry buoy # 2 at 1.7 km away in the direction of 044 degrees. Reported to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Position: 86° 07.3' N, 45° 16' W, temperature - 22° C, air pressure 994 hPa, wind 3 knots from the NW. Ice drift 0.1 towards SE. A most welcomed "hot" day and opportunity for engine maintenance. Put a tarp over the engine bay and used the propane burner for heating. Adjusted the lift fan belt tension, greased all points and changed diesel fuel filters. We have lately been unable to get the engine to run over 1000 rpm, which turned out to be clogged fuel filters for the second time on the ice.

Position: 86° 07.6' N, 45° 16' W, temperature - 40° C, air pressure 1000 hPa, wind 1 knots from the N. Ice drift 0.1 knot to the W. Shooting seismic reflection, but little or no ice drift. Went to the old camp and broke loose the last 5 drums of Jet-A1 fuel from the ice. Took a 1.5 hour search for the bathymetry buoy nearest camp (500 m) , but did not find anything.

Position: 86° 07.5' N, 45° 29' W, temperature - 31° C, air pressure 1013 hPa, wind 7 knot from the NW. Ice drift 0.1 knots towards W. Operating the seismic reflection gear, but little or no ice drift. Freed two more drums of Jet-A1 from the ice in the old camp. Have received 5 cm of snow today.

Position: 86° 07.6' N, 45° 20' W, temperature -30° C, air pressure 1018 hPa, wind 3 knots from the NW. Ice drift 0.1 knot towards W. Shooting seismic reflection all day. Checked the radiation flux instruments and cleaned sensors. Have included the battery for the fan into the battery bank for the main engine to secure charging.

Position: 86° 07.6' N, 45° 05' W, temperature - 33° C, air pressure 1018 hPa, wind 9 knots from the NW. Ice drift 0.1 knot to the W. Shooting seismic reflection until 1200 hours. Hauled a drum of Jet A1 fuel from the old camp to the hovercraft to use for the stoves.

Position: 86° 08.1' N, 45° 03' W, temperature below -40° C, air pressure 1016 hPa, wind 8 knots from S. Ice drift 0.1 knot towards E. Worked on the air gun until 1000 hours and went to bed. Audun went for a two our ski trip to search for the two nearest bathymetry buoys, but did not locate any. Our internal Wi-Fi network for data distribution went down in the late evening and had to be rebooted.

Position: 86° 08.8' N, 45° 34' W, temperature - 39° C, air pressure 1012 hPa, wind 5 knots from the NE. Ice drift 0.1 knot to the N. We put a tarp under the middle section of the hovercraft. Today, we have been 6 months on the ice. Had a near formal dinner of spare ribs and apple cake and enjoyed a Radeberger beer form the case provided by the Captain on Polarstern at their departure. The air gun stopped during the meal. To get it working again took three trials in the water and work from 2000 hours until 1000 hours the next day. The solenoid was working, but the gun would not fire.