Happy Valentines Day everyone. I know its Valentine's day not because I was woken with roses, breakfast in bed and heart shaped pancakes (Dave refused to cook us heart shaped pancakes, or, in fact, any pancakes) but because it was the first thing we heard on the radio this morning as the cruise ship Nat Geo Explorer entered the bay and organised their visit to Port Lockroy. So the cruise ships are still in full swing, and Andrew and Ruth are busy filming, and preparing for the arrival of veteran underwater cameraman Doug Allan by keeping an eagle eye on the Port Lockroy leopard seals, trying to get an idea of the pattern of their behaviour. Ruth in particular came back buzzing after lunch having spotted a penguin being flayed and devoured by one of the giant serpentine beasts. It was apparently quite gruesome. She claims her love of penguins has not diminished, but the glint in her eye when she described the scene makes me wonderÉ

Dave and I are still muddling through the carnage that four children and Christmas on a 54 foot boat can create, as well as trying to find space for all the provisions that Pelagic Australis delivered, whilst searching out the items that have been �"moved' in our absence. When my brother and sister-in-law house sat for my parents whilst they were away, my brother insisted on putting all the pots and pans back where he thought they should live, rather than where he found them. I'm not entirely innocent of this either, when I am home I move half the supply of tea spoons to live in the draw nearest the kettle, because that is where it makes sense to me that they should live. It drives my poor long-suffering mother insane and now I understand why. Our system may not have been perfect, but it was a system we both understood. Nowadays poor Dave can often be seen jumping up and down on the spot, fists clenched in rage that he can't find something he is looking for in �"its usual place '. This rage can generally be cured by laughing at him whilst doing a crude impression, as we all know it is very hard to be genuinely angry when someone is laughing at you, but I understand his frustration. I'm hoping this might teach him the value of putting things away where he found them, but unfortunately the irony of it seems to be lost on him.

Following a beautifully still start to the day this morning, the weather has turned rather miserable this afternoon, which has caused the rest of my crewmates to abandon work and take to bed for an afternoon siesta and a symphony of snoring. Sometimes on days like this it's the only thing for it. Now that Pelagic Australis has left, having spent an extra day in Port Lockroy sitting out a storm, we are alone in the bay. It was quite nice to have big sister in the bay for the day, swapping and bartering provisions all day long. As well as all the provisions we ordered, they left us with a very generously sized bag of assorted charcuterie (the charcuterie care package) which we exchanged for 2 dozen avocados, which they countered with some routing charts and an alpha flag for the divers, for which we gave them some A4 paper (Chilean paper being 4mm too wide for a standard printer) and some Yachtmaster �"Rules of the Road' learning flashcards for Rupert, for which they took our wa ste oil and Skips luggage, for which we then in turn gave them some maple syrup and so the day went on. The girls in Port Lockroy were keen to get in on the act as well, as they will also be benefiting form the charcuterie care package, they sent over cakes and profiteroles from their �"Chocolate extravaganza' evening aboard a cruise ship the night before. The whole thing culminated with Ruth and I zipping away from Pelagic Australis, laden with homemade cookies, but being pelted with snowballs. Well that's gratitude for you.

I must admit, I am rather sad to see big boat and her gentlemanly crew from Maine go, those men can tell some stories, and cook some chowder. But unfortunately it was imperative they make it to the Ukranian base Vernadsky double time, as the boat was smuggling almost 300kgs of sugar for the base staff to turn into vodka. And vodka brewing waits for nobody. If any of you read this blog when you get back, thank you for a great few weeks and I hope you had a fantastic rest of the trip. X Bertie