The weather report promised 11 m/s wind from the south/southeast and somehow my sleep was uneasy. Around six in the morning the first wind gust shook the cottage and got me out of the sleeping bag. The bow of the Zodiac was whipping considerably in the wind blows. Again deflation of the keel and the spare engine as extra weight. The wind forecast doesn’t seem to be very accurate for the time being…

Another hour in the sleeping bag before the wind increased even more. Now the boat had moved. Loaded it with rocks and anchored it additionally with our tripwire poles. This helped. We stayed ”at home” to observe how the weather develops – one time equipment damage is more than enough. A walk through the surroundings in the afternoon. Then we got visitors from the Polish station who were on their way to the geographers at Werenhus, about 45 min walk from here. They reported that the maximum windspeed recorded at the Polish station in Hornsund was 39 m/s during the 26th – an absolute record for August and somewhat higher than the 13–14 m/s in the weather report for this day… This explains our experiences during the ”fight” with the Zodiac.

In the evening again wind and, for a change, some rain. Dominik, the cook from the station, came back from Werenhus and stayed with us over night. It’s nice with visitors, but it would be even better if I could follow the conversations in Polish. For tomorrow the weather report promises wind and rain. But maybe we will be able to get the remaining two samples from the northern side of Weerenskiöldbreen in the afternoon. We have to wait and see…

Henning Lorenz, Uppsala universitet