Coring has been going slow lately. The drillers think that the Alien tool is worn out. However, Moti has suggested that perhaps it is just the hard clay layer we are coring through at the moment - it could be clogging up the tool and blocking it. The logging team will arrive tomorrow evening and a decision will have to be made whether to continue at this slow pace and hope to penetrate through this layer, or to pull out of the hole and begin logging. Yesterday's day shift pulled up a little more than 3 meters in total. Steve called to say that they had penetrated wood, which was probably washed into the lake during a flood some 400,000 years ago. The weather was a bit stormy last night and this morning. Drilling was postponed until the winds died down. Although it looks calm, the Dead Sea can be a very nasty place. The weather can turn within a few minutes and the water can get pretty rough. Due to the extra density and weight that each wave caries (an additional 30%), they can pack quite a punch!