22 February 2023, Antarctic Cruise Day 9, Bellingshausen Sea, 72 Degrees South –

A big morning!  We were woken at 7.30am with an announcement that an emperor penguin had been sighted.  The next announcement, at 9am, was an invitation to a “72 Degrees South” celebration on the Pool Deck – yes, we had achieved our target, crossed our line, and broken the Hurtigruten record!  There was an appropriately decorated cake, and a heartfelt speech by the Captain; everyone queued up to have their photo taken at the digital screen.

Far more importantly, we dug out our trusty DROC rain jackets, and put them on underneath our down and windproof jackets.  Heading up to Deck 11, we bravely unzipped to show off our clubwear breaking new records.  We are now the proud possessors of the DROC Jackets Which Have Travelled Furthest South, and also the record for the DROC Jackets Which Have Travelled To The Most Extreme Latitude (beating Pete and Ilze’s 71 Degrees North, at Nordkapp).

In case you are wondering, the ship turned around immediately after crossing the 72 degree line, and began her journey northward.  So by the time we’d finished recording the DROC Jacket achievements for posterity, and made it back indoors to the screen, we were back at 71.58.