Judith, Passenger
What a magical day!
Today we went more South, much more south. First breakfast with delicious Carrot Muffins.. From Port Lockroy to the Peltier Channel. Here we watched in awe at the largest tabular iceberg I’ve ever seen. We mentioned how incredibly stable it looked. Then, as we passed it at a safe distance, suddenly, there was a small slide of ice sliding off the side. Another one followed. Then even larger ones followed and we could clearly see the waves it created. Damien expertly steered Ocean Tramp away from the waves. But one wave seemed to rise higher and wilder than all the rest. And what a beautiful turquoise color it had. But very scary looking. Thankfully, it was ice coming up from below, and we didn’t feel a Tsunami at all. But it certainly quickened our pulse and we all agreed that that was a sight we would never forget.
The weather could not be better if we had designed exactly how we wanted it. Clear blue skies and wonderful sunshine. From here we continued into Lemaire Channel, also called Kodak alley for its amazing photogenic qualities. It’s a very narrow channel and only smaller vessels can go through it (and depending on the ice). As a matter of fact, at the end it looked like there was no way of getting around the giant Iceberg, blocking the exit. But our expert crew got around it and landed us in the so-called “Iceberg graveyard” where all the icebergs seem to congregate, as they can’t move any further unless the wind dissipates them. It is impossible to describe. Icebergs, large, very large and small, shining in the sun in all the beautiful colors – mostly blues and turquoise. Here and there a penguin porpoising through the water and fat Crabeater seals sunning on ice flakes. We laughed and reminded ourselves: Do you remember day 2, when we excitedly would point: “Look there’s an iceberg”, Well here there were icebergs everywhere, which our fabulous crew expertly steered around. Nobody was quite sure how far we could get. Lunch was Vegetable soup and cheesy biscuits. YUM!
We saw a cruise ship turn around, but we continued to Yalour Islands, where there were several Adelie colonies. We got ashore and enjoyed the busy little fellows. Their chicks were quite grown and almost bigger than their parents, with their fluffy baby feathers. We now continued, trying to find a safe anchorage for the night and through a very tricky entrance we arrived at The Vernadsky, Ukrainian, base. There is also a huge Gentoo colony here. What an anchorage, anchoring with 4 ropes keeping us in place between grounded icebergs. We all agreed that we have the best, and most professional, crew ever. The way they work together – it’s a joy to see.
Dinner was Chicken Curry & baked apple with sultana and whipped cream. Yum Yum.
We ended up watching Happy Feet 2. part, continued from yesterday and then most of us were very tired after a very eventful day.
Blog Writer: Judith Jacobsen
