Days 197 - 206

 It has been a busy week, drills and sorting out safety equipment. Saturday 19^th , we have called into Madeira to take on some fuel. On arrival we were told by the port authority to graffiti a wall in the port with the ships name, the 3^rd mate and I set about the task................................................

Next stop, Immingham. ETA 2130 26/5/12

Days 195-197

 Well we are back in the northern hemisphere. Unfortunately we will be in the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ or doldrums) for a few days.

The ITCZ is the area on the globe where the winds from the two hemispheres converge, lots of cloud, torrential rain, thunderstorms and clouds.

The top pic is a screen shot from the x-band radar just as we crossed the line, the yellow clutter on the screen is rain passing through. The blue is a trails feature, showing where the rain was.

The second pic is the current view from my porthole, a wee bit different from a few days ago!

days 189-194

We are making good progress northward. Pos 15° S  035° W, back in the northern hemisphere in a few days. 

The sea state has been slight with a long swell, giving the ship a slight roll. There have been a few big showers but it is hot, night and day. Sea temp is 28°C, air in the day is +30°C and at night it is 28°. This ship being an ice class vessel, the air con system isn’t that great but the odd cold beer helps.

Days 184-188

 We set sail as planned on Saturday evening and turned to start heading towards the UK.

The weather has been settled, with a low swell and slight sea. I’ve been kept busy with astro nav and learning COLREGs.

Current location is 40° S 50° W, approximately 400miles off the coast of Argentina, in the next 5000 miles we only have to alter course twice!