5 February
Out on the Drake again. I was out on deck earlier, watching the birds breeze past. Not too many this morning, but always good to see both the tiny Wilson's Storm Petrels and the huge Wandering Albatross. It's a pretty grey day, a little drizzle and a lot of fog. You can't really see that far into the distance. There weren't many people on deck. The lecture on Seabirds is taking place now, so I do expect more people out there later on. It's a Drake Lake again, so far, and we're slowly moving south.
I'm still getting used to the ship. It's so much bigger than what I'm used to, and I've wandered down the wrong corridor already more than once. I'm getting the hang of it though, and I know where to find the bridge, the office, my cabin, the bar, the lecture room and the dining room. And I know where to find the way out onto the deck. My cabin here is huge, and luxurious. Two bunks on the same level, a desk, too much storage space for my luggage. Everything here is just much bigger, including the 5 zodiacs, the bridge and the office. Responsibilities are a little different here. We have a hotel manager on board, with a staff of cooks and stewardesses to take care of the food and household duties. Last night the hotel manager was ill though, and we had to go round serving wine, which was a challenge. Finding the wines one flight up in the bar and getting it to the right people didn't quite work out before the end of dinner. My own dinner got cold, but the galley girls heated it up for me, so I still had a good meal. The girls are very nice, and they work very hard.
6 February
We're rolling a little more today, though I would still consider this a Drake Lake. Some of the guests would not agree with this idea. We still have a few people sick, though not very many. Most people turned up at breakfast.
Again, not too many birds this morning, though I must also confess I wasn't outside very much. I've been reading up on a couple of things. This afternoon it is IAATO lecture time again, so we will talk about the guidelines that we will have to stick to while we are on land. I've done this one often before, but it is always good to freshen up. And I will be giving a talk on Deception Island as well. If it all works out we'll be landing there tomorrow.
Later
The IAATO lecture went fine, though it definitely isn't my favourite. I've been thinking of new subjects for lectures for next season and already have a lot of ideas. I'm still reading, and being down here means you learn a lot of new stuff very quickly. It also shows you that there is still a lot you don't know anything about, so there is a lot left to learn.
I've learnt about the ship too, and I don't wander down the wrong corridor too often anymore. I can get up to the top deck pretty quickly now. It seemed like a long way up when I first went up there, but it's the old rule again, as you go up more often it seems to be shorter every time. And I'm getting to know the names of the people, even though there are 53, and you don't get to spend that much time with most of them.
7 February
Some days it all works out. We had to change course yesterday because we were rolling too much, and started heading for the Aitcho Islands. We stopped rolling and people felt much happier. Then it turned out we would reach our waypoint quite early in the morning, and that got us thinking. We checked the schedule and found out Barrientos wasn't booked for the morning. So, a chat with the captain, and we could add an extra landing to the schedule, and a nice one too. So this morning everybody was woken up early for a landing before breakfast. We managed to get the zodiacs into the water around 7, and we set foot on land shortly after. A walk through the stream in between the mosses to the other side, where there were maybe fewer Elephant Seals at Seal Rock, but many more Fur and Elephant Seals on the other side. The Fur Seals were showing off, and seemed quite friendly. Less friendly were the two Giant Petrels killing and eating a penguin chick. A pretty gruesome sight, but fascinating. A little time around the penguin colony, and then back onto the ship for the crossing to Deception.
We arrived there just after lunch. People were anxious for another landing, and some turned up on deck with their lifejackets on even before we could see the island. The Russian crew thought that was funny, and stood up on the bridge having a laugh: "Life jackets, no island yet". But soon after we sailed through Neptunes Bellows, and we could land at Whalers Bay. Most people walked up to Neptunes Window, but I decided to follow the tidelines to look for washed up small animals. I managed to find a couple of Brittle Stars, an Isopod and a small Shrimpy thing. Very interesting, and I had fun looking. I tried to find some Brittle Stars to show to the passengers, and was happy to be able to do that.
Now we are out on the Bransfield Strait, heading for the Peninsula. I guess when people wake up tomorrow morning the world will look different, all white. We will be sailing in the Gerlache Strait, heading for Cuverville. Hope we will have a good day again tomorrow.
8 February
Not another busy day..... We started out at Cuverville Island,lovely little beach, lovely little penguins. Most of the snow has gone now, so good walking and penguin watching. Our arrival got delayed a little because a couple of Humpback Whales got in the way of the zodiacs. I was still at the ship, and saw it all happen in the distance, wishing I was there. Then on to the beach, and I came along with the last group of zodiacs. No whales, unfortunately. I spent most of my time on the beach at Cuverville, watching the Gentoos wander past.
Our trip back was interesting. It was the kind of weather that made us decide last time not to attempt a landing. No choice this time, we had to get back. It was a bumpy and a wet ride, for most people in this group a little unexpected. some were actually a little scared. We did get back safely. I just got soaked, trying to protect the camera of the man sitting next to me, mainly, but my clothes dried up quickly in the engine room, so I was dry again for the afternoon landing.
The continent on the schedule for the afternoon, Almirante Brown. I was in charge of the passports, so I took them, but was handed the stamp by the Argentine commander, so I headed straight back to the ship for stamping. No ink though, so in the end it was all a bit futile. Coming back I had the chance to enjoy some mate with the commander and two other Argentinians working at the base. It was nice to chat and to share the maté. They explained about the maté, so now I know how to make it for myself too. Getting to know so many different people is one of the reasons why I like working on the ships so much.
Then on for our errand for the day, picking up a spare part for the engine at Port Lockroy. That was a weird experience. When we reached Lockroy the wind had picked up and we were several ships down there. The first thing I saw as we were coming in was Bark Europa, and that made my day. It was lovely to see her there. Then we saw Hanse Explorer with some of her zodiacs, weird in these waves. Pavel, our best zodiac driver, went down to Port Lockroy for the part, and, ever the professional, was there and back before we even realised what was happening. I have great admiration for his skills, I must say. The only thing was that we had to give him some shelter to leave and get back onto the boat, and doing that meant that we slightly tapped a slightly big iceberg. Some ice on deck, and a little dent in the railings were the result. It was all a little like a film, so much was happening at the same time, but we all only got to see a small part of it all. The funny thing was that while we were doing all this it was Andrey zodiac driver at the helm...
9 February
A great day for marine mammals, lots of Humpback Whales and Leopard Seals. We started the morning at Petermann Island, one of my favourite places still. Most of the snow has now gone here too, and what is left looks green or pink because of the algae. The little Adelies are quite big now, and look very much like their parents, except for their white faces. They still chase their parents for food though. The young Shags are big too, almost ready to fly. The zodiac ride back took a long time too, not only because the ship had anchored quite far away, but also because we got a couple of Humpback Whales close to the zodiacs. We stayed close to them for a while, slowly and gently following them, and we got to see some lovely tails. Again, Pavel did his best to give people a good view of the animals.
After lunch Port Charcot. It took us a little while to find it as the captain didn't want to park his ship in uncharted waters, and we were on the other side of the island this time. So a longer zodiac ride and a little searching to be done. But we were well rewarded, once landed we got a good view of about seven Leopard Seals asleep on the icebergs. More pictures again....
The evening was for Pléneau and some iceberg watching. We got close to some bergs and enjoyed the blue and the white. The wildlife got in the way again though, with a lot of Leopard Seals in the water and on the ice. For about an hour and a half it was a mixture of bergs and seals, and when we had to get back most people thought we had been on the tour for a lot less. The people who had initially opted for the short zodiac ride ended up doing a long tour too. This is a pretty good place for icebergs, and I enjoyed the tour here. It is unlike Trinity in many ways, much more open, so the bergs are a little further apart, but you get some lovely big icebergs here.
10 February
These have been stressful days, and today I am just very tired. All I really want to do is sleep, and I haven't even started the tablets yet.... The captain told us yesterday we need to leave the peninsula half a day early because of some problems with the engine. Not great news. So our carefully arranged visit to Port Lockroy had to be cancelled. Checking the schedule we thought of an alternative, and though that one didn't work out, we did manage to organise a visit for today. So hurray for Rick and Hanna.
Telling the guests about all these changes isn't easy. There is a lot of explaining to do, and people are not happy, especially because there have been problems on this trip before. And this is a demanding group that is not easy to please.
It's been a long and hard five days. I don't know why exactly, but it is hard going. I have a feeling the people expected something else from this trip, especially where the ship is concerned, and that is clouding their vision in every respect. They don't seem to enjoy what Antarctica has to offer so much somehow, because too many other things get in the way, and that is a great shame. On one or two occasions, when we had some discussion going on, I had to tell people to go outside and enjoy what was happening there first before spending more time on these discussions. It seems such a waste sometimes.
This morning we got to visit Vernadskiy Station and Wordie House, our southernmost point again. It was nice to see the people at Vernadskiy and to talk to Yeugeni and Sasha for a while. Coming back so often in one season it is nice to see them every time and to talk about the way the season is going. Passports to stamp, zodiacs to organise. With the Russian crew on board this was a different visit. The zodiac drivers came into the station to talk to the people there, and to play a game of billiards. It was funny to see them rushing inside in their socks, and head, or rather slide, straight for the table. Hopefully next time we can just do Vernadskiy and give them some time there.
Later
Coming back up we have another beautiful Lemaire cruise, sailing north in the sunshine. Then a little further north, into Port Lockroy. Polar Star are still there, but they are just taking the last passengers off, so we can start landing at six.
Half the group is off to Dorian Bay, I take the remainder to the Base. Great to see Rick and the girls again, and to give them a big hug. The season is hard work for all of us, and we get a chance to exchange experiences. Or have a good moan in this case. A look around the station again, always nice, and all the passports. It is just such a good place to visit.
The funny is that Rick tells us his story of our visit earlier in the trip, our flying visit, and he says that the only thing that went smoothly that night was our pickup. When I tell him about our little iceberg encounter he realises it wasn't quite like that...
After the landing we sail, and after dinner we get our best sunset. Fire above the mountains behind us, just stunning. Everybody rushes out, camera in hand. It only lasts for a little while, but it is just beautiful.
11 February
Back out on the Drake. We started to roll a little during the night, which kept some people awake. I was awake for a while too, but mainly because I had so much going on in my head. Three more days to go on this trip, with lectures to organise and give, a triplog to write and finish, administration and other things to do. Then there is next trip to prepare, the schedule to check, programmes to start preparing. I now know who the guides are, so I know what lectures I can give, and I know a little better what to expect.
It is a quiet Drake again, we are rolling gently still, no great movement, so for the guests I hope it will stay like this. One or two didn't look too happy this morning, but most seemed alright. Even some of the ones that were sick on the way down are up now. Some birds around the ship this morning, even an Antarctic Petrel.
I'm not feeling too great at the moment. I am pretty tired most of the time, and have a feeling I could sleep for 24 hours. I just finished my lecture on De Gerlache and the Belgica, which went quite well, considering the state of my voice and my brain. I guess it should be time for a good book, some liquorice, and hot chocolate. Well, I can't complain too much. I just had my coffee and a piece of cake, baked on board Europa, and a present from Lockroy.
12 February
Another sea day. Not too bad, for me anyway. The sea is pretty calm, and there is time to prepare lectures and to look ahead to the next trip. I hope to be more or less organised before we get into Ushuaia day after tomorrow. We have a very full schedule of lectures lined up now, and the lecture room is in use throughout the day. I've never had such a busy trip....
13 February
Friday. But, so far, so good. The last full day of the trip, a day of preparation and of leaving. Saying goodbye at the end of the trip is usually hard, but it is different now somehow. I didn't really relate that much to the people on this trip, though some were nice enough. Maybe it is because there are more people and because it is a shorter trip. Well, we'll see. As the Russians here say.
We did get to see Cape Horn beautifully today. The captain took us very close, just a couple of miles, and you could see the flagpole clearly without binoculars. And it looks like we're sailing into the Beagle tonight, so we will have daylight this time. We won't get to Ushuaia before late night though.
No comments:
Post a Comment