Grays and Whites
Ocean Tramp – Lori
The day for the crew begins at 4 a.m. to pack in a few extra hours for our travel day. We have been monitoring the weather, Damian advises a low pressure system is forecast, bringing high winds, so we need to be mindful of the time required to our ultimate destination (getting back in time for the flight out of King George Island). These are the longer days at sea; less about exploring (as we did on the outbound leg), more about the destination. That said, we still put the shout out if there’s a whale sighting as we moved through the Sikorsky Channel. While that has happened numerous times, we have not seen a lot of action, just whale “logging”. That’s exactly what you picture in your mind. They are just lying at the surface, like a 40-foot log, blowing every so often, but nothing particularly photo worthy.
It is cold, and early in the day there was a wee bit of snow accumulation on the boat! Lucky for us, the Baking Fairy appeared like magic, with a plate of freshly-baked-from-scratch chocolate chip cookies! And there is fresh coffee for everyone, so even a wet and dreary day looks better through chocolate covered glasses.
But the tropical sunshine we had the good fortune to experience last week has given way to the varying tones of black, white and all the greys in between. It isn’t postcard pretty, but it is the Antarctic. (If you look carefully, you will see a large cruise ship hidden amongst the icebergs; gives you an idea of the scale of the mountains down here, and the size of the ‘bergs.)
The weather is the final arbiter in all plans. Damian wants the best of both worlds for us – interesting places to see, while still watching out for our safety and timing. The decision has been made to travel out on the water for as long as we can, in order to stay ahead of the weather. The crew will push us through, taking turns at the helm on shifts, sleeping as they can, and motoring us on through the early hours of tomorrow, to ensure our group safety and comfort.
The rest of us take the day to catch up on downloads, some editing, and sleeping. If you’re not driving the boat, the best way to deal with the motion is being horizontal. Zzzzzzz.
Blog & Photo – Lori Ryerson
