Last sunset until September - weather change from sun to rain and 3m waves

On Tuesday evening, as it is usually outdoor dancing in Stockholm, I took my speaker out on the Helipad on the Afterdeck and danced solo for an hour in the sunset - this is most likely the last sunset we will get to enjoy before September! We passed the polar circle recently and thus, for the next 1,5 months in the Arctic, we will only have daylight 24h a day. In the two evening photos you can see how tranquil the ocean is, how beautiful the reflection of the sunset is on the ocean... Some of us actually spotted whales yesterday, but unfortunately I could not see any. Even though dancing solo on my own, it was magical and I enjoyed the calmness and beauty of the evening while dancing to swing music.







Yesterday morning and afternoon was sunny - but still windy. I started the day to sort out the boxes in our container on the 7th deck - separated and marked boxes with balloons and soundings. I brought my speaker to the small container (yellow container on the 7 deck in the sunset photo) - working while singing and jamming to the music. After lunch we got some hours of free time. A few of us went to the Afterdeck and enjoyed the trail of the boat - the Mediterranean blue water, swirled up by the motors of the ship. Cant wait to experience this in the Arctic - how beautiful this must be! As the weather was still sunny, we decided to dance Lindy hop for a while on the helipad (see daytime taken photo) - this was magical and so lovely. Otherwise our day was full of safety meetings - regarding weather balloon launching, working on ice and near the helicopter. I think it is really good that Oden crew emphasise the importance of safety and detailed goes through things to think about and how to prevent risks related to working in the Arctic. In the late afternoon we went to the lab and installed a pCO2 instrument measuring the concentration of carbon dioxide in the water 8m below the ship - worked for an hour or so - and when we got out, the whole deck was over-flooded by water! Complete weather change from sunny to rain and heavy winds! 




For the rest of the evening (and today morning), we travelled in the cloud and experienced heavy waves and rain. We crossed Lofoten yesterday evening and now the temperature has dropped down to 10 degrees. We are approaching the Arctic!

Yesterday evening I tried out the sauna - it was soo lovely! These Finnish saunas!! I got the temperature up to almost 100 degrees - it felt amazing and I was so refreshed after the sauna. Must be lovely once we get to the Arctic to jump in the sauna after a whole day working on the ice - then cooling down on the front deck and enjoying the view of ice floating around! We also had a movie night last night - there is a real cinema with cinema - chairs in Oden!

Today due to the weather, the helicopter training was shifted to tomorrow. We are hoping for calmer wind conditions in the afternoon for some outdoor-work on the deck and a second Lindy Hop class in the evening. :) 


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