We are heading north now and savoring our last days aboard Ocean Tramp. Laura and Fede have a wonderful tradition of beginning each dinner meal with a quote. The day a person is on dish duty is the day that person has to provide a quotation. Mine, last night, was from “Terra Incognito” a book by Sara Wheeler, about her time in Antarctica, as a recipient of the artist and writers grant proffered by the National Science Foundation. She quoted the famed mountain climber, Reinhold Messner from when he was slogging through the Antarctic snow: “It seemed to me as if I were restored to that time and that state when nature alone was God.”
Yesterday we upped anchor at 4 a.m. to get to a very different and special place: Deception Island, one of the southernmost South Shetland islands. This is a volcanic island, last active in the 1960s. It was difficult to see where one entered the harbor, which is the caldera formed by the volcano. We had been in open waters for a number of hours, with no islands to shelter us from the Southern Ocean, and were motorsailing with big swells coming at us from the west. As we were sheltered by the cliffs of Deception, the seas calmed and we motored into a huge harbor surrounded by red-brown rocky cliffs, with ribbons of snow sliding down from the volcanic cone.
We were not alone here as there was a good sized Columbian navy vessel and a small Chilean Research boat. And ashore, the remnants of a very active whaling station and after that was ended, a British base. We went ashore with low grey cloud cover and something between rain, hail and snow precipitating upon us. The beach was brown with lots of red volcanic pebbles and there was even green moss: more color than we were used to seeing. We all climbed up to Neptune’s window to get a spectacular view of both the caldera and the sea on the other side of the island. And the sun came out for us. As we came down we met members of the scientific crew off the Chilean boat and those off the Columbian, all trekking up our path. They were all very friendly. It was strange though at night to see lights when we looked out. And while it still was not dark ever, it was grey enough for us to need lights in our cabin late at night, for the first time.
On the beach we saw a lone chinstrap penguin and as we came closer, a skua nearby. Then the skua attacked the penguin, who puffed himself up and squawked and snapped back. The skua alit on the beach, about 5 ft from the penguin, danced around, trying to decide what to do. I saw another skua farther down the beach in the air, and this one suddenly flew away towards the other, leaving our penguin much relieved. He immediately flapped his wings and shook himself, before settling down again, to doing what penguins do, just standing there staring.
Down the beach we passed the huge rusting vats that had held the precious whale oil. They looked like a Richard Serra sculpture. I wonder if he had even been here? Then the rows of boilers, where gulls had nested on the flat tops. Beyond were the buildings the British used until they were forced to evacuate by the volcanic eruption. They were weathered grey, broken down and quite dramatic with the red-brown background, as well as symbolic of man’s measured time and small footprint in this vast and unowned territory.
After dinner we were visited by Argentinian friends of Fede, who arrived in their sailboat shortly after we. They were charming company. They came to visit and to get a good weather forecast from Fede, as they are waiting to cross the Drake Passage as soon as possible. Unfortunately, they will have to wait a bit longer for any decent weather. Fortunately, we have only to get to King George Island, up the chain.
Another awesome day ended with an ‘Oh Hell” card game that went late into the night, for some.
– Becky
