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he ordered me into my tent immediately. Toni was so glad to see me. She had gone out, seen it was hopeless, but could not see me anywhere. Was afraid I was off in the storm. Jeff Stillwell had met me w my Coleman and carried it & steadied me. I have never seen such wind & snow. The zodiacs are lost for sure. Inside, I worked again & did put order in my stuff. Shifted mattress & pad & put both bags at my head & my camera bag at my side. We had stove on after awhile & made boullion & tea [ actually we had some cup of pea soup (for me) and boullion for Tony at noon]. Crackers- wheat thins, grahams - chocolate pudding for supper. Had to fill stove inside & filter blew away this pm, so used a boullion cube can dented for pouring. The wind got worse. Shaking & worrying the tent beyond imagination. At first I didn't mind. At bedtime I got very comfy. Put on white PA. Sweater & goretex jacket & filled sleeping bag w warm goodies plus flashlight. Some polypropylene [[?]] at feet. Gortex pants at left shoulder. Angora sweater at right shoulder. Let the hurricane roar! But suddenly I thought I saw the whole front of tent lift up & pole fall. I yelled "Hey Toni the tent's down!" We sat up & she said "no its not" I explained, then decided it was a dream. I had prepared by putting my Orvis boots beside me - camera case beside. Passport in Goretex pocket. But after a bit, Toni woke me and said we had lost a guy rope.

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We examined things & decided all we could do was to prop her corner w. one of my big bags. The ground vibrated steadily, wind streaked by & around with ferocious strength. The attack seemed almost intentional. We got nervous about tent falling. Thought of what to do. How get out. Where to go? Our party is out of contact - radio never did get ashore. What idiocy prompted them to send in the zodiacs. Now they have two less zodiacs & 2 crew members stranded ashore. Is the Duke safe? I thought of the Gotland II sinking to the bottom and the tent falling on the survivors who could not leave it because boulder & cobbles were careening along the ground like bullets. Our last resort could be the Argentines in their comfortable air base nearby. The tent stood thru the night. An anxious night. "Are you scared," Toni asked. "Almost", I said.

[[double underlined]]  Feb. 17 [[/double underlined]]  We awoke sev. times - finally stayed awake & had graham crackers, apple juice, water. The shaking & roaring, & flapping goes on at 2:30. In the night the wind turned & started pounding the back wall & the one beside me. I was pushed further & further toward center by wind & snow piling up. Now & then a swap occurs or a pebble strikes our whirling box w sound like pistol shot. My only real concern is losing tent. It has stood thru a shocking punishment, loosening all the while. And was never quite finished in the first place. We retied the tunnel entrance liners properly, having to cut some little ropes to do it. Fixed it so it is ± secure but we