Force 11

Force 11 winds at Cape Denison, Antarctica (2010)

More indoor fun and weather surprises today. We were given 1hrs notice of impending pickup, resulting in the (now) usual mad rush to pack everything in preparation to rapidly leave – but again the weather closed in. I am very glad not to be flying off in a helicopter in this wind – easily Force 11 on the Beaufort scale – around 60+ knots (120kmph). The surface of the sea is torn off and sprays in a mist across the maelstrom of turbid black waves, ghostly shadows of icebergs looming in the spindrift, spume crashing on the grey shores; the Hut cables sing and the building shakes, the deep throated wind growling in the roof vents; cutlery rattles upon the table, the floor is moving – I feel it through the chair, through my feet. The headlands of Commonwealth Bay – huge ice cliffs – lie enshrouded in grey, above them a luminous streak of pearly blue sky. I will go to sleep with the wind thundering in my ears, even the strange sound of rain on the windows.

Peter