Message relay via Hilary in Australia

Alex called at 7 am our time (9pm UTC, I think) to say that they are in the narrows north of Matty Island. It is flat calm, water temperature 3 degrees and they are motoring. In the next 24 hours or so they will have come to probably the worst of the ice and know whether they have got through that part. The not so good news is that the previous night, new ice formed, but I'm not sure where.