11 February 2022 – Friday – Plans Change

We started the day with every intention to go ashore to visit an abandoned British station that was supposed to be interesting. As the fog began to lift in the late morning , we were able to see an ice field where we slowly motored through huge icebergs and flat sea ice with an occasional penguin or sea lion on top. This ship is built to go through ice. Being out on deck gives the visual and auditory experience of the ice. It is magical.

When we got near the spot for the abandoned station visit, there was too much fog, ice and wind to make a safe landing from a RIB and visibility was so poor that our intended ride around the area would have had no features. It was our furthest south point. 66.55 S latitude.

We turned north to look for a suitable landing area. In the meantime, Nathan, our photography wizard, gave an excellent class on iPhone photography. Features that are on the phone were suddenly and miraculously revealed. There was a lot of oohing and aaahing. Now if only we can recall all the features, it will be fun. Nancy and I decided that the class made the whole trip worthwhile!!!

Finally after dinner, the fog cleared and we stopped in a beautiful bay with a tiny landing spot. Only a few of us were willing to suit up to go ashore. It was well worth the short trip. We were on mainland Antarctica. Of course our previous stop was Antarctica too but apparently some people think that the Antarctic peninsula isn’t the real deal. Anyway, all four of us took the ride. Our boat sat in the bay fully lit and quite beautiful. There was a short hike to an abandoned and mostly demolished small building that had been used for 2 years as a survey base for geological studies. It was considered too limited to preserve so it was removed except for the cement base structure.
We returned to the ship and hung out in the “ice lounge” aka the bar well past midnight. Twilight is long lasting so it is easy to stay up late.

You may have seen my photo of a special Amaro drink that was made by the head bartender, Kraus. He is a wizard with mixing great drinks. So the bar is a fun place to hang out. It is also where we have have all our information lectures.
Another day of adventure…