The McVitie's Penguin Polar Relay continues to make good progress grinding out another 7NM to reach 87deg 29min N, 76 deg 19min W (so they have found that some westerly drift going on during their session today has taken them beyond the targeted 74W); however we still face many possible difficulties but perhaps the three biggest are beyond our control: the weather (high winds and poor visibility), surface ice conditions (number and size of 'ridging' and/or extent of open water), and ice drift (direction). All they can do is keep at it and reel in the miles as best they can.

The good news is that despite relatively heavy pulks in the opening days of their leg they have demonstrated they can cover over 11NM in 9 hours of travel in a day - and that in quite heavy going with ridging and open water to navigate over and around.

The frustrating news is they are still having to compensate for all the easterly drift Penguin Charlie experienced. Therefore although they walked say 11NM across the seabed (over 1 km beneath them) about 3 NM of that had to be in a westerly direction (to help get them back to the original northward track up the 74th degree of longitude; thereby minimising the impact of the inevitable and dreaded southward flowing Transpolar Drift Stream current later in the expedition, to be encountered once we have crossed the Lomonosov Ridge - a major topographical feature on the seabed located at roughly 88 degrees north on our projected track up 74W).

... And the pulks keep getting lighter for Penguin Delta. So when they do head true north we might expect to see some big mileage days. So watch this space - especially Penguin Charlie who hold the expedition's record highest mileage NORTH for a day of 9NM. Enjoy it while you still can Penguin Charlie!