13 December 2008
Europa is heading south again. We are just leaving the calm waters of the Beagle Channel, heading for the, probably, less calm waters of the Drake Passage. We're getting to know the guests, and getting used to the ship again. It is odd to be back, and very familiar. Most of the crew are new, but they seem a good and enthousiastic team. The atmosphere on board is relaxed. It feels good really.
I share a cabin with three other female crew members, which means being quiet at other than meal times. Two take part in the sea watches, so there will always be someone sleeping. It's not so bad, and it's a nice cabin. With a lot of stuff lying about.
14 December 2008
We are out on the Drake, but life here remains calm. It is quiet on deck, quite a few people prefer their bunks to the decks or the deckhouse, even though the sea is fairly calm. I'm quite happy so far, feeling a little sleepy as always, but not sick. I even managed a lecture on seabirds today, which was fun to do. We've shown the documentaries, and had enough interest for the lecture. Well, at the second attempt anyway. We have some keen bird watchers on board though not too many birds so far, unfortunately. Maybe the sea needs to get a little rougher for that.
It's a very mixed group, some people seem everywhere, others you hardly notice. It is a mainly Dutch group this time, just a few other nationalities, other languages. I think it will be a good trip.
I work with a guide from New Zealand this time, we worked together last year too, and that should be good. He is an earth scientist, knowing all about the ice and the climate, so we can offer the guests a varies programme. And I already heard of guests themselves who have prepared lectures.
Looking ahead, I heard there is a lot of sea ice more southerly near the peninsula, so we'll have to see if we can carry out all of our programme. If all goes well we will be at Port Lockroy for Christmas, a beautiful place, and maybe we will be back at Harberton in time for New Year! The captain has already started to prepare the way for that.
15 December 2008
Out on the Drake, less than 48 hours to the first landing. It is a fairly quiet crossing, no major storms so far, some people seasick, but most are up and about again and seem happy. Some are still happier left alone. People take part in the watches, though some are a little reluctant. We get a good turn-out for the lectures, I have a feeling we will be doing many this trip. Many people are eager to learn about the ice, the birds and the wildlife, as well as about the history. They ask questions and are genuinely interested. I hope it will stay that way.
16 December
The sting of this crossing was in the tail, though it wasn't much of a sting. Up until today it wasn't really all that necessary to have everything made seafast, things stayed in place. But today was a day for flying again. Then again, it was only rough compared to the first few days of the crossing. Compared to other crossings this was definitely a Drake lake all the way. I am glad that just for a change I didn't get sick at all, but I was able to do the work, give lectures, and help out with other things a little. Not a bad crossing really.
17 December
There are many reasons why Barrientos Island is one of the best landing sites. First of all, for many people, being here means you are no longer on the Drake Passage. You are no longer sick, the ship isn't moving in all directions, and the sea watches end. You get to take a shower, and you have finally reached your destination.
Then there is the island itself. It is one of those places where the weather really isn't that important. I've been here on days when there was bright sunshine, when it was grey and foggy and when it was raining. And the place is different every time, but beautiful every time. When there is sunshine you get the most beautiful blue skies, you are bound to get sunburnt and you just enjoy all this lovely fresh air. Then when there is fog, the place gets a mysterious air about it that I cannot really describe. Someone mentioned Mordor yesterday, and it does have a touch of the Middle Earth.
Here you get the penguins, we had all three brushtails today, with one stray Adelie among the Chinstraps and the Gentoos. You get to see, hear and smell the Elephant Seals on the other side, and you get the Giant petrels. And they had just found a couple of carcasses on the beach today, so they became the real scavengers they are. The light faces turned bright red with the fresh blood of their dinner. I had never seen this before, except on pictures, and it was fascinating.
Here you also get the landscape. The vast field of moss at the centre of the island, the various rock formations all around, always in a different light. It's a wonderful place to come back to.
Giving the lecture on penguins just now was easy, so much to refer back to already. I was glad to see that in spite of the heat in the lounge and the nice dinner just before only one person fell asleep. And he was off before I'd even said a word....
18 December
We are heading for Yankee Harbour, one of the harbours used by sealers here in the early nineteenth century. I was reading about the sealers before this trip and it didn't make happy reading. The entire fur seal population of several hundred thousand was wiped out here in the space of two summers. Unimaginable nowadays.
later
After two landings. Yankee Harbour turned out okay even though it seemed the wind might be too strong for a landing. It didn't take too much trouble to get ashore, and people seemed to enjoy stretching their legs. It was a nice walk, even though it was a bit windy.
evening
We just got back from Half Moon Bay, which turned out to be a very wet landing indeed. What looked like a little swell from the ship made for a rough and wet landing. The zodiacs had some trouble putting everybody ashore, and it took them a long time.
The reward for all this effort were Wilsons Storm Petrels, Terns, and Sheathbills. The Sheathbills were displaying for us, the Terns simply thought we were too close, and the Storm Petrels showed themselves beautifully on their way back to their nests. There is a mystical quality about storm petrels, the sound they make from their nests in the evening as their mates return. It reminded me of the Moussa Broch, where I had a lovely evening some years ago, waiting for the Petrels to return.
19 December 2008
Deception Island today showed itself in its most deceptive way. We entered the caldera late because of strong headwinds on the way down. Quite a few guests spent much of the morning in their bunks not feeling very well. Then when we did arrive the wind seemed as strong inside the caldera as outside. We headed for Pendulum Cove, to go and have a swim in the thermal waters, but the waves looked daunting. We decided to wait until after lunch to see if it would get better, and immediately after lunch Arran, Dan and I took off in the zodiac to look for a suitable landingspot. It was a little hard getting into the zodiac from the ship, but getting onto the beach was no problem. As we were debating whether landing was a good idea the zodiac seemed to get a life of its own, and we soon realised debating was not necessary. It took us some ten minutes and some wet suits to get back to the ship. We were all soaked. So no landing.
We decided to wait for a while to see if conditions would improve, but in the end we had to sail across the caldera to Whalers Bay without having had our swim.
The evening was for Whalers Bay, and that was a good landing. A little swell and spray on the way down, but nothing too bad, and perfect weather for the walk up to Neptune's Window and for having a look round the deserted whaling station. The light was beautiful, as it often is there in the evening, and some people took advantage of these conditions to have the swim they missed in the afternoon. Whalers Bay almost made up for a day of waiting.
20 December 2008
The day of the iceberg graveyard. We started the day with some movement but in the end we had little wind at Trinity. Two great rides, each with their own moments. This always is a good place to be. So many icebergs, so many colours. And we got to see Snow Petrels today, that alone makes the day!
21 December 2008
Heading further south along the peninsula. Heading to Cuverville today. On the way down Dan and I talk about the things you can do there, you can walk up the hill, but only if there is some snow protecting the mosses. And we agree that it is highly unlikely we will get snow there.
When we arrive at Cuverville around dinner time, I cannot believe my eyes. The whole beach is covered in over 50 cm of snow! Where there is a beach, there is no beach, just snow. We land, some people walk along the very narrow strip of shoreline that is still visible. Most climb onto the snow and head for the small patches of rock, where the penguins are breeding.
Then the Cuverville magic starts. Wilsons Storm Petrels head inland, Penguins come ashore, and the evening light brilliantly shines over the mountains. The sky is bright with a hit of pink. It is breathtaking. Just half an hour earlier someone said to me that this was not a good place for an evening landing because the light was not good enough for taking pictures. To me Cuverville is the place where you do not need to bring a camera. You need to look out over the mountains, sit down at the beach and watch the penguins come home. That is all you need to do for a perfect evening.
22 December 2008
One of our busiest days with three different excursions. First, our landing on mainland Antarctica at Neko Harbour. Some ice in front of the landing beach, but quite an easy landing. Again, a lot of snow here, so tough going uphill. For those who made it to the top coming down was easy. And fast. I went halfway up with some of the guests and walked back down. I managed to get stuck in the snow a couple of times. Dan saw me struggling to get out only to call me on the radio, making me suffer a little more... Just before we took off again a Crabeater Seal came onto the beach, giving the people ashore the chance to take some more nice pictures.
The afternoon was for zodiac rides in Paradise Harbour. Always beautiful, and for some reason I always have good weather there. We had a good tour, and we saw some more Crabeater Seals there.
Then in the evening it was time for fun and games on the continent. Most of the guests came ashore to climb up the slope behind Almirante Brown for our sliding exercises. Some climbed up a few times and really got into it. I don't have my big "Tjalling suit" this trip, but the present inhabitant, Jan, kindly lent it to me for the evening, so I had a comfortable ride down again. Lovely. I was the last one, so by the time it was my turn there was a nice track too.
23 December
Today we reached our furthest south for this trip. Vernadskiy Station, the Ukrainian base. We got a warm welcome there from the station commander. I remember meeting him a couple of years ago too, and he remembered me. "Yes, you came with Lex". Nice man. The guests got the tour of the station. I got to stamp the passports and handle the transportation. I had to wait for the zodiacs to arrive at the jetty, got a little cold and wet, but very much enjoyed the peace and quiet. I was standing on a small track, in between two walls of snow taller than me. Again, not something I have done before.
The tour always ends in the bar, where you can get some very nice wodka. I was offered a glass by one of our guests, a very nice lady from Finland. I only ever drink wodka here, just the one, and I drink it the traditional way, it all goes down in one go. The best way. Getting out onto the balcony for clearer radio reception was a bit risky this time. Dan was down by the jetty and decided to try and hit me with some snowballs. He was far off the mark at first, but he is not one to give up, so he came closer and closer and finally managed to hit me once. It was funny.
Then, just before going back I was offered another drink by a couple of the Ukrainians, and I couldn't refuse, of course. I was in the last boat going back, always a dangerous place to be. We had a couple of crew members on board, who perhaps had more than just one or two wodkas. I was the only woman on board, and they kept apologizing in advance to me for all they were saying and singing.... I learned a few new songs and stories, though I probably won't repeat them.
The party continued on the ship with our traditional barbecue and dancing on deck afterwards. It was a little slow to start, but it was good fun in the end.
24 December 2008
On this ship you lose all sense of time. This is the day before Christmas, we have a Christmas tree here, presents, but no real sense of Christmas yet. Maybe tomorrow.
We are sailing north again through the Lemaire Channel. We really are sailing now, only the sails are up, no engine sounds. It's a beautiful day. On the way down we saw nothing of this narrow channel, now we get some lovely views of the steep rocks.
This morning we visited Petermann Island, one of my favourites. Another one of my favourites. The Adelie Penguins were there, looking beautiful as ever, and the Blue-eyed Shags. But my best moment was down on the rocks near the sea, waiting for a zodiac with one of the guests, being surrounded in a matter of minutes by several dozen Gentoos. A couple came over to inspect us, and they were pecking at my companion's boot. Lovely to watch.
Then it got almost even better. For the first time since I've been working on the ship we managed to travel north throught the Lemaire channel just using the sails. No engine, but real sailing. And we had blue skies, so everybody did get to see the steep cliffs on either side of the Lemaire. Just perfect. And just before dinner we sailed into Port Lockroy. I am always happy to be here, in this beautiful sheltered harbour, with a view of my favourite Antarctic mountain.
25 December 2008
Today was just a perfect day, with so many lovely moments. A day of moments. It's hard to pick up the best really.
We had a slightly shaky start, because just after landing at Dorian Bay it started to snow quite badly, and it looked like it wouldn't be a good landing. For a while, waiting for the zodiacs at the beach, I couldn't even see Europa anymore. That was a good moment though, because as I was standing there in the quiet, all by myself, a couple of penguins jumped onto the beach, I could see some of the mountains, and a tern was hunting about two metres in front of me, diving into the water, searching for food. It was so lovely and beautiful. Then the snow stopped, the skies opened, and it turned into a lovely landing after all. I wandered along the beach a little, just looking around, enjoying every moment.
Back on the ship it was time for lunch, and then Rick came over from Port Lockroy to give his talk on the history of the place. It is always good to see Rick, he is a lovely man, always kind and friendly and with a good sense of humour. He gave his talk, in great style, because the Christmas champagne had been opened early at the base. Then we all went over to the museum and post office for a look round and to do some shopping. The girls there were very nice and welcoming. And this time I had mail waiting for me at Lockroy, a postcard from a guide on the Multanovskiy! I loved it!! And I left my message behind on the board, as the Multanovskiy will be there in about a week. Some way to communicate!
Then we started to prepare for Christmas dinner, a crew effort. It all looked very nice, and tasted great. Many of us dressed up a little, I had brought my little black skirt, which looked great with my fashionable sports shoes... Oh well. It was funny to be so dressed up here. And a little chilly. Rick and the girls came over for Christmas dinner, dressed up too, and I think they enjoyed themselves.
Back out on deck Rick and I had a little dance together, he had said before he came he wanted to dance, and the music was provided by Dan singing one of Rick's favourites. Another one of those moments. Then it was time for the guests to take some crew pictures, and some pictures of the Lockroy crew, before they went back to their island.
By now it had started to snow again, and some people were up on deck starting a snowball fight. Most of us were still inside, but I was soon tempted out for some reason or another and became involved in the fight. I started off on the main deck, trying to hit Dan, Arran and Henk on the poop deck, but I wasn't in a great position. I got hit a couple of times, all they had to do was drop the snowballs down on my head. So I thought I'd get closer and went up on the poop deck. There I was told I was now part of their team, so I ended up throwing at the guys on the other deck. It was fun working out tactics and trying not to get hit. I did get a little cold in the end, as I was still wearing my skirt and fleece. It was great fun though.
26 December 2008
Sometimes life seems too perfect. We had our last landing this morning at Jougla Point, always a lovely spot. And the weather was absolutely perfect. Blue skies and sunshine. We went over to Jougla, had a soft landing, a walk along the beach, up to the Antarctic shags, down to the whalebones, and most people went up the hill to enjoy the view. I stayed closer to the beach for much of the time in order to be able to ask for zodiacs to come and pick people up. I wandered round a bit, taking some pictures myself of the Antarctic shags, and then just sat down to enjoy the quiet, the view, the penguins coming in. It was lovely. As usual on the last landing, we had some trouble getting people off the land, but we did manage to get everybody back on the ship before lunch.
later
Some days just get better. We've kept our blue skies, and we've sailed through some amazing landscapes, past amazing icebergs. We managed to get everybody up on deck several times, for Killer Whales, Humpbacks and arched icebergs. Just perfect.
Now we're sailing again, heading for the Melchior Islands. Our last zodiac cruise tomorrow, and then we're off on the Drake again. They say we will have more real sailing then.
27 December 2008
Our last zodiac cruise was a good one. I ended up in Sloopy, but it was high tide so we could reach all the channels. we saw some great blues in the ice, some beautiful icebergs, but the real beauty came at the end. In the Bremen channel a whole group of Wilsons Storm Petrels was dancing on the water, accompanied by some Cape Petrels and Shags. There probably was a lot of food there. They came so close to the little boat I could almost touch them. They were lovely to watch.
On the way back the ever charming Arran sat back and let me drive. I enjoyed that very much, and it went quite well, though we had a few waves crossing the bay. Arran promised to give me some lessons on the next trip, so I might learn to drive zodiacs this winter after all.
28 December 2008
A day of sailing. No engine, just the sails, blue skies and we make good speed. If this continues we will reach the Beagle well before New Year! And maybe the best thing of all for today, three Antarctic Petrels accompanying Europa on her way.
29 December
Less wind today, so we needed the engine, but we made good speed. A Minke Whale came to greet us, and we had a lot of albatross and other seabirds.
And other things to keep us busy. We may be on the Drake Passage, some things need to be dealt with throughout the trip. Like the paper work. We have a beautiful system on this ship called "Johan's Voyage Worm". You use it to do the accounts, find out how many birthdays there are during the trip, print on and off-board lists and lots of other things. This trip the worm has been playing up though. We found we suddenly had a stowaway trainee called Richard appearing on our lists. There is no Richard on board though. And then the worm decided it would no longer do the accounts. It's taken three of us several hours to work out what the problem is, and so far we've been able to solve half of it. But it's weird being out here, spending hours trying to solve database problems.
30 December
Still heading for Cape Horn, sails and engine, doing over 7 knots. We should see the Cape tonight, and then be in the Beagle Channel in plenty of time for New Years Eve. The winds are favourable, and they bring seabirds. Lots of Wandering Albatross this morning, Black-browed, White-chinned Petrels, Prions. Beautiful.
Over the last couple of days I've realised how my perspective has changed over the last few years. The ship is rolling a little, not too bad, but people have the impression that we are in bad weather. This rolling is not unusual though, and certainly not extreme. Average, I guess. We had a Drake Lake on the way down, so this may seem like much to guests, but for me this still is an easy crossing. I can look back on crossings where the waves came over the wheelhouse, and it was not safe to be out on deck.
I've not been seasick this trip, though I haven't felt great all the time. I know what to do and what not to do, and so I've been able to continue working every day. That feels good, I don't like being in my bunk all the time.
later
Some nights are almost perfect. We reached Cape Horn around 9.30 pm. Well, we got as close as we could. Still a lot of albatross around the ship, mainly Wanderers gliding over the waves. Beauty 1. Then the perfect sunset, glorious colours, just a few clouds to spread the light. Beauty 2. The rocks in the distance, one of them the Cape. We could see the lighthouse, the light, in this perfect light. Beauty 3. We were sailing all the way past, no engine noise, but we made good speed with just the sails. Quietly sailing past the Cape. Beauty 4. Beautiful light, not cold, dry. The best thing for me was getting one of the guests up on deck to see all this. He had been sick in his cabin since we started the crossing, and he did so look forward to seeing the Wandering Albatross. I talked him out of his bunk, and he got to see the Albatross. Beauty 5.
So it was perfect. Almost. I was missing someone. Five days to go.
31 December
Back in the Beagle, waiting for the party. A day of preparation, preparing for the new year, preparing to say goodbye to the ship, to companions, to the feeling of the trip, to the old year.
I guess it has been a good year, so much has happened, so much has changed, though not necessarily in the world outside.
3 January 2009
Well, it's the new year, and a couple of busy days behind me. We said goodbye to the guests and started preparing for the new group. Always a strange couple of days, the days of transition. All groups are different, but in some ways they are all the same. There are some people who get on your nerves at some point during the trip, many you like and talk to, and some you get to like more and you talk to a lot. That is a almost a constant. On this trip I met a nice Scotsman, who was enthousiastic and keen about the ship, the landscape and the birds, and who was always friendly. He was fun to talk to because of his kindness and the twinkle in his eye. I liked his sense of humour. Then there was the quiet man who came out to see albatross and got so sick he didn't see any for most of the trip. One of my best moments was getting him out of bed on the last evening, just before Cape Horn, and getting him up on deck so he got to see Wandering Albatross. And there was the doctor from the north, who brought his entire family and was very interested in the Antarctic and the ship. I enjoyed talking to him. He came to my rescue when I got stuck in the snow, something I appreciated very much. It's those people that make the trip worthwhile, quite apart from the landscapes and the wildlife.
Dan and I got our planning a little screwed up the last couple of days, and I haven't had time off yet really. The new guests arrive tomorrow and I am still exhausted. We worked until 4.30 am the last night the guests were on board, and I had to get up at 6.30 to help out with the accounts, and I am still paying for that. We also went to the Irish pub last night, so no early night then either. But that was my own fault.
My brain has gone haywire because I'm tired, so at the moment it takes me twice as long to do almost anything. It's weird. I keep losing track of things, and I keep losing things. I hope I'll be a little more lucid tomorrow when the new guests arrive.
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