The Last Desert: on the Boat Day 2

Shortly after my last blog we finally left the dock. Good things. We arrived back at the ship at around 3pm and were told straight away to make sure we were on board at 6pm for an important announcement which turned out to be that we were leaving straight away. The Russians welded a new plate across the hole in the front of the ship and we haven’t started sinking yet so I guess it worked. Shortly after leaving we had a lifeboat drill which involved us all climbing into the life vessel. There are seatbelts and it is fully enclosed therefore should the seas become really rough the thing can rotate 360 degrees and right itself. Not ideal to end up in one but if we sink but it might help any future book sell.I spent some time running laps of the enormous dock knowing we’d be out at sea for 3 full days without being able to stretch legs although I tried to stick to the side away from an argentine submarine unloading sailors and testing systems due to having union jack flags sewn into my clothes. The Falklands are due east of here so I just waved and held my hands over the patches.I have been reliably informed that the passage so far has been calm. That is frightening. The ship is constantly listing from side to side. At lunch I brought some of my carrot soup back up but avoided throwing up on the table. There is a good chance this could happen at any point. 6 of the 30 are bed ridden with sea sickness according to Zac and there are sick bags positioned every few yards throughout the ship. Standing on the top deck all you can see for miles and miles is wide open sea with some huge swell. The 70 metre Russian ice breaker is handling it well but the movement is still significant.Life aboard revolves around lying in the bed, going up on deck and looking at massive birds and feeling sick. Hully has been asleep for 39 hours non stop and Frank has read two books. He is a very fast and good reader. Yesterday morning Pete stood in front of his laptop next to my bed from 8am to 9 am playing air guitar to 80’s metal. The signs of cracking are there Its all good though. Running begins in just over a days time. Pretty soon we’ll reach ice bergs and start seeing the splitting pack ice created by Antarctic summer.‘That which we are, we are; the equal temper of heroic hearts made weak by time and fate; but strong in will; to strive, to seek, to find and not to yield.’