Физкульт-привет! / Heli deck boot camp

January 10
I can't believe how lucky we are to be sailing in this atypically nice weather. We have seen the sun for four days in a row (January 7 through 10), which is just amazing. And I am hoping tomorrow (January 11) will also be nice.
As we are steaming off to Hobart without any more island stops, many teams on the ship officially finished their field work for the leg. Some others are still collecting data from atmosphere and ocean. So with some spare time in hand and exceptional weather one of the BAS scientist started a boot camp on the heli deck (weather permitting). Unfortunately I haven't quite made it to a class yet, since there is always something for me to do in the middle of the day. But as I was attempting to sample the first hail event on the upper deck, I shot this picture of the boot campers exercising:

I also have to admit that hail sampling was unsuccessful, it was a fluke of an event that lasted a couple of minutes tops. By the time I got all my gear from the freezer, the hail stopped and the sun came back. It wasn't even that cold - you can see people exercising in shorts and t-shirts with an occasional sweater outside.

Exercising on a ship isn't easy. A lot of times there is too much to do. The gym has very limited equipment, and it becomes dangerous when the ship rolls. Heli deck is just about the only large flat space available. Many Russian crew members walk laps on heli deck, weather permitting. I have to applaud their patience and consistency. I personally try to do my yoga as regularly as possible. An occasional game of table tennis is the only add on I managed to do so far. I wish I was more organized about my fitness. Maybe I will manage to do the boot camp tomorrow, but once again too many things are planned for me...

Yoga on the icebreaker

Finding time to practice yoga again is the best thing I could have done for myself during this cruise (and overall in life). This is probably one thing that kept me sane during last week, when there was a a lot of internal and external stress on my shoulders. Big thanks to my teacher, Volga, who designed a manageable program for me. I try to follow this program every morning - to start off my day, set a positive intonation, wake up all my muscles and go on.

I have been practicing over the last few days over the 6-8 m swell. I have to find the most comfortable position, usually perpendicular to the rocking motion. This means that I need to align myself along or across the cabin, depending on the direction of the swell in relation to the ship's course. It is not hard to figure out, just something one never things about on steady land surfaces. I wonder how many other people ever practiced yoga in such high swell.

Inside our cabin. The door to the right leads to our private toilet and shower. I was sitting on the couch (!) As I took this picture. There are two (!) windows behind me.

Luckily, I have a really nice cabin, I am sharing with my friend and colleague Jenny. We have a decent amount of closet space and a nice set up to make it feel home-y: a coffee machine, a kettle, water filter to make ship's water drinkable. We bought a decent amount of fresh fruits and vegetables in Cape Town - so oversleeping breakfast or staying up late at night is a risk we can afford to take :). Jenny also bought us both nice pillows as a Christmas present, so we have been enjoying luxury bedding as well. Actually a nice pillow sound about right at this time of the night. We have another rocky day ahead of us.

Till later,
Masha