Today the team reports a long
day, with good mileage, but tired team members. They skied 24.4 kilometers in 11
hours. Their position is S 82.57.965, W 83.42.967. Tomorrow they will pass 83
degrees.
We received the following questions from Doug Williams…
“Several times it’s been mentioned that during white-out days the team rely on
their compasses (among other things) to ensure they stay on the right course. I
was wondering if the difference between the geographic and magnetic south poles
is an issue and, if so, how do they correct for the differences?”
Good
question Doug. The compass is an important part of their navigation kit, and
they are carrying a special compass that allows for travel in the southern
hemisphere. The Magnetic South Pole is a good distance from the South Pole. It
actually lies off the coast of Antarctica in the ocean, above the Antarctic
Circle! It is on the move in a north west direction at the speed of
approximately 10-15 kilometers per year.
Our team generally skis in a
straight line, making as few deviations as possible. Thus once they establish
their daily heading using GPS they can turn the GPS off and rely on the compass
for the rest of the day without making any adjustments. We’ll talk about another
great source of navigation, the sun, in a later posting.
We haven’t yet
received an audio update from the team, but we will post it when it arrives.
Make sure to listen to yesterday’s audio report from Dennis (added today), and
check back again soon for another update from the team!