News from cabin 416

I arrived in Buenos Aires still beaming from Barnaby’s scholarship triumph. Crowded streets, lots of people and hasn’t it all got busier since I was last here in 1988. But I still could not find an open air restaurant for lunch. 25 degrees C and a great dinner with Blakers. Onwards to Ushuaia and what a wonderful place this is, at the bottom of the world. Stunning mountains, covered with snow and the glacier behind the hotel, that soon we were to scale. The glacier has retreated up the mountain since the folk were here last year. The team assemble, briefings, lectures and malbec fuelled lunches with my new friends. Last minute shopping and with some rather fetching fleece trousers, we get ready to sail. Down the Beagle channel into the Drake passage. Argentina on the port side and Chile to starboard. Luckily its only 1 to 2 metres swell and not the 15 metres that is sometimes on offer. All relatively calm. I take a couple of kwells and no suprises. The boat is great and cabin 416 belongs to me and Nick, my Aussie mate. I get the top bunk with sea views. Headroom limited. Days on the deck or in the lounge area, reading, chatting or siesta-ing, great lectures on subjects that really matter: climate change and how my life jacket works in very cold water. What a great group of people. Peter, our fearless leader and a wonderful person, the mischievous Norwegian Mountain men, Thron and Knut, Jumper, the safety King and Windy, organiser par excellence. And then the 70 others, from all over the world. James and school teacher Luke, David the happy Welsh rugby supporter, Lauren, Claire, Susannah and nPowered Nicola, to name but a few. Student Meighan, who is here c/o BP and always jolly. Today we crossed into Antarctic waters. And we saw our first Whales and our first Iceberg. Solitary, huge and a stunning blue tinge. Everything so quiet. The wind has got colder, but I haven’t yet unveiled the red boxing gloves. I suspect that they will be needed soon. How did Shackleton manage with just a tweed jacket and a woolly balaclava and Kendal mint cake? A feeling of excitement at the prospect of landing tomorrow at Belinghausen, of seeing Rob and the crew and seeing the E-Base ( hurray: its gone live). 10 hours on land , a tapestry of fleece and gore tex and gaiters. And no doubt, some penguins and some seals will come to greet us. No closer than 5 metres for those little chaps especially as they are moulting, so a bit cold, hungary and irritable. I really miss you all at home but I am so glad to be here. Its going to be an amazing next few days as we really experience the Antarctic. I will savour the moments. As Peter reminds us, we really are blessed to be here. And I’m still smiling.

Lots of love to all at home and see you soon, Marcus Ware / Dad 18/3/08 Belinghausen, King George Island