(Report received from Mike Ewart-Smith at base camp in Resolute Bay.) For your info all times are going to be in Zulu time which for your info is actually GMT and is what we all work to. All mileage is going to be in nautical miles (= 1.15 statute miles) The team flew the 550 miles to Ward Hunt Island yesterday leaving Resolute at 14.15. With them were Pen, Geoff Somers and Nobby. Muggins was left to man the base and clear up the mess. The plane was a Twin Otter, which can take a maximum load of about 2000lbs, equivalent to the load it had yesterday ie: 9 passengers and 6 fully laden pulks(Sleds carrying all the women's gear, weighing approx 140lbs each). Morale was high with the relayers seemingly incredibly relaxed. The Penguin went with them. Anne, Claire, Jan and Sue all took turns to fly the plane briefly. After refuelling at Eureka they landed at Ward Hunt at 21.00. The team left on the big voyage half an hour later. We received a brief radio comms last night as scheduled saying that they were OK. We also received a satellite Argos transmission saying that they were OK and giving us their position. Tonight we received another Argos message saying that they were OK and that there position was 83deg 9.6' N, 74deg 18'W, meaning that they had travelled 4.5miles in the 26 hours or so they had been on the ice. It may not sound a lot but it is OK believe me. Other expeditions are making no better progress. We overheard the weather from the Dutch teams radio call tonight - it is blue skies. The major problem facing all the expeditions is that a massive storm earlier in the week has meant large disruption to the sea ice thereby creating large gaps in the ice called "leads". We are due for another radio call tomorrow night.
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