Elham Al-Qasimi: North Pole expedition

We had a phenomenal day. Our current location is N89°23′ E113°18′. We lost only 0.8 nautical miles overnight last night which is great, and today we skied 11.5 nautical miles and netted 10, surpassing our 8 mile daily target.

We had our first full day skiing. We departed at 9:30am and stopped at 6pm, covering about 10 miles but netting 8.5 miles due to a southwest drift. The wind stopped by late afternoon, so we are hoping not to lose much distance overnight. Last night we lost 0.6 miles overnight, which isn't too bad given the conditions we expected. In total we have skied just under 12 miles so far and netted 9.5.

Late but fantastic start to our journey. We arrived at Borneo Ice Station around 11:30am, unloaded our sleds and picked up fuel.

I could sugar coat the dynamic and chaotic nature of the past 3 weeks quite easily. I am looking through my camera trying to pick shots to attach to this blog. There are plenty filled with laughter.

As I was reminded today, The Confessions of St. Augustine talks about the difference between God and Man. For God, Will and Action are one, they eclipse; Action neatly saddles Will, following its guide and its drive silently and majestically. But for Man, Action has grown distant from Will. Practically two planets orbiting different moons, and thus you may see even a seemingly honorable person’s action disconnected, perhaps even in contradiction with his or her Will. And it is Man’s journey, if he is lucky and enlightened enough to understand, to bring the two close together again.