August, 2173: Freezing temps night and day. It often never gets above 10-12 degrees for a week at a time. Both girls mostly stay in the HC, but Amy comes out to paint the weather, especially when it’s snowing. She gets in the pilot house, which is heated, but which provides an excellent view, but at times she feels she needs to be out on deck to get a completely unobstructed view. She dresses very warmly but her hands freeze, and so do the paints. The oils don’t freeze but they thicken and are very hard to work with. Still, she wants the authenticity so she deals with all of that. I don’t let her stay out there for too long at a time, and bring her tea or hot chocolate regularly- in a capped bottle or jug. Otherwise it would cool very quickly.
I need to supervise the robots on the ship, and even need to go over to the new backup boat. I hate the cold, but I have to do it. I wear thermals and layers and the whole bit, but I still feel the cold. I have no idea how much colder it will get. Now I’m concerned about freezing. Will we need to be careful of large chunks of ice in the water? Could be. Will everything freeze up? Who knows.
This is raising hell with the equipment and with the robots. Repairs and replacements take up a great deal of time and resources.
I’ve started stockpiling robots, especially the “specialty” robots. There’s plenty of room on the ship, so why not. I am also printing extra copies of the parts that break down most frequently and stockpiling those.
The cold has seemingly put an end to the violent storms. We get snow all the time, but high winds are rare. When they come they put us in blizzard conditions, of course, and the three of us try to stay in the HC until the storm passes.
Next: Colder still, birthdays.