Sunday, January 12, 2014
We went to bed with a gently rolling ship which soon intensified with the wind and snow squalls. Mom peaked through the window a couple of times during the night to see iceberg after iceberg floating past. By morning we were at the shores of the Antarctic Peninsula at Booth Island.Our early wake up call gave us the opportunity to watch in awe as we entered the Lemaire Channel, sailing south. Orca whales were spotted in the distance. Awe does not describe the beauty.
It is 0C and the water is +1C. There are two zodiac excursions today, the first at 9:30 and the second at 2:30. Knowing what to wear for warmth is difficult to judge. Mom and I got each other dressed in our wet-skins and headed to the mudroom where we donned our boots and were fitted for our pfd's. We followed the others as we made our way to the gangway. Now, I hope all of yesterdays instruction on entering, sitting and leaving the zodiac has stuck.Noah was our guide today. His home is in Oregon. This is his fifth excursion this year, has been with One Ocean for two years and is headed home after this excursion.
With Noah at the helm, (you could say we were on Noah's Ark)we explored around the Yalour Islands. Icebergs and ice flows were plenty. By March, all of the ice flows will have melted.
We saw leopard and crabeater seals, Adelie and Gentoo penguins with chicks. The seals were pretty laid back, just sleeping on the ice flows and not disturbed at all by the zodiacs. The penguins were scattered, some on ice flows but mainly in their colonies high on the rock. As we drew closer, we got a better look, a better listen and finally a better smell! They too were not disturbed by our presence.
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| the alternate rocky landing site |
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| Vernadsky Station |
We returned to the ship for chilli buffet lunch and then back to the zodiacs for our afternoon cruise. We visited Vernadsky Station, a Ukrainian meteorological site. this was followed by a hike to Wordie House. There is a post office at Vernadsky station and postcard postage is 3 US. The cancellation stamp will be from Antarctica. The usual landing site at Vernadsky station was inaccessible due to blown-in pack ice and the alternate landing site was difficult for those with any mobility issues.
We decided that we would take the option of staying aboard the zodiac and cruising around the icebergs in the area.
They are spectacular and ever changing in location and shapes. We watched one roll, one was rocking and another with a beautiful arch collapsed as witnessed by some. Since we stayed in the zodiac, We sent our postcards on with four Polish fellows to the mailbox. You could also buy a shot of home made vodka at the station for 3 US. I guess we will wait and see if the postage money went towards the postcards or a shot of vodka lol. It was raining which is very unusual for here. We returned to the ship after 2 1/2 hours, our wetskins wet with rain and salty seaspray. It was glorious! We took in happy hour in the bar, house red wine for Mom, I had the special cocktail of vodka, cranberry and soda water. Glacial ice was retrieved by one of the zodiacs today and used in todays drinks.
Dinner: Pork tenderloin wrapped in bacon and infused with prunes and sauce....delicious. Mom bought a bottle of red wine for the table, Domados Cabernet Sauvignon, an Argentina wine. Austrian chocolate soufflé for dessert. As dinners are served at 7:30 pm, we are usually ready to retire following. There are evening events as well, usually an interactive something in the bar, tonight is "knotty nights" which is knot tying or a movie in the presentation room.
We still haven't received any email replies but maybe tomorrow.
Tonight we drop anchor at the Argentine Islands, having sailed a total 720 miles.
Sunrise 3:15, Sunset 23.33
As it doesn't get dark, it is time to pull the curtains and crawl into our berths for a gently swaying ship....on anchor.
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