Stranded but not shipwrecked

Thursday, 8/11/16: Stranded but not shipwrecked
We spent a stormy night on the boats listening to the screeching of
the tires tethered to the sides of the boats scraping against the
dock, which was shedding chunks of wood at regular intervals. Nobody
fell out of their bed, but we woke up to the news that we would have
to spend the whole day at Bukhta Peschanaia waiting for the storm to
subside. At the time of writing, the wind is still gusting at up to 25
meters per second and the waves on Baikal are too high to safely leave
shore. Professor Rodenhouse took wind speed measurements with
enthusiasm: max. 27 m/sec.
Not wanting to be stuck on the boats all day, most of the group went
on a hike to Granddaughter's Cove (right next to Grandmother's Cove),
led by Vera, who it seems is not only an amazing cook, but also a
skilled trail guide and an avid polar plunger. She and Kolya inspired
four students to jump in the lake as well. It was freezing, but again,
no hypothermia. The rest of the group held down the fort on the Kozhov
and the Vershina, staying cozy with tea and journaling.
Professor Hodge is currently DJ-ing a pre-lunch hangout in the "Man
Hold" onboard the Kozhov. He will not let us report on his choice of
music. Later this afternoon we all plan on heading to the banya to
warm up and make the best of our storm stranding by experiencing some
Siberian culture. We are also excited to get clean in the interest of
maintaining friendships in the close quarters onboard.
We're hoping that the storm will end in the wee hours of the morning,
so we can be on our way. #Pray4Us
Yours in squad formation,
Evan and Zoe