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Published: February 9th 2008
Elephant Island
At least that's what they told us. This was as much as we could see of itThere are a few new pictures too at
by
SharonNee Sat 2/09/08 Well we finally have Internet connection again but I’m not sure exactly where I left off since my last posts were made from the Explorations Café so I don’t have a copy without access. I’ll check it later and add in anything I may have missed. It was a wonderful 4 days in Antarctica but not sure there’s any way to really describe it and I’m sure the pictures won’t do it justice. I’ll try to summarize each day below but will need to update some of the actual places after the Ice Captains presentation this afternoon when he’ll go over where we actually did go vs the plan. It’s back to school today with 3 lectures so we’ll be busy again.
Tue 2/5/08
The seas were much calmer today and we made it to the Elephant Island area earlier than expected. However, it foggy and we weren’t able to see much. We did see a few Icebergs, one of which was spectacular. It looked like there was a mural on its side. It had tipped over on
Elephant Island
Glacier on Elephant Island its side and where the waves had hit it gave it the look of mountains and clouds.
This was originally supposed to be a formal night but because of the scenic cruising it was changed to casual. Not sure if they’ll make it up later in the week or not. Luckily with 8:00 seating we had finished most of the scenery by dinner time though we did have a nice view outside the dining room windows. There was only 1 show for both sittings but it still wasn’t crowded. It was a comedian/songwriter named Billy Fellows. This was the only show I haven’t enjoyed this trip (and the rest of my table agrees). Several people walked out. There were a few funny jokes/songs but the one he did on Sesame Street characters didn’t make sense to me and the last one called “I’ve lost my aft” was really weird. I looked over at one of my tablemates during the song and we both shrugged our shoulders since we didn’t understand it. After that it was time for bed since we’d need to be up at 5 or 6 for our first real look at Antarctica.
From Capt Toomey's Log
Icebergs
Our first siting of real Icebergs :
12:00 - Entered Antarctic Treaty Zone @ Lattitue 62 degrees S. Longtitude 55 degrees 15 minutes W
16:00 - Arrived off Elephant Island
16:55 - Scenic Cruising to 21:30
Elephant Island, Gibbs Island, Aspland Island, EdieIsland & O'Brien Island
Cruised Bransfiled Straight Overnight
Wed 2/6/08
Today we were supposed to cruise the Antarctic sound starting at 6 a.m. followed by Paulet Island, Hope Bay and Deception Island. Again we ran into some fog, clouds, and ice but we did get part of the way down Iceberg Alley. I’ll have to update where we actually did go when I get the map they’ll be sending around with our actual route. We did see quite a few penguins in the water and one group of them on a snowy cliff. Hopefully the pictures came out. We had Ash Wed mass in the Queens Lounge which was good since it was very crowded again. He told us our penance was to not look out the windows but…. There was no show this night because of the scenery. I didn’t even go to the Dining Room for dinner since there was nothing that I could eat
Striped burg
Another iceberg with a stripe on Ash Wed on it. It is amazing how tired you get just watching scenery all day. Well you do have to move about the ship quite a bit to get the various views (i.e. Bow, Crows Nest, Lower Promenade, etc)
From Capt Toomey's Log:
05:00 - 07:40 - Antarctic Sound. Turned back because of ice conditions and fog
10:30 - 13:00 - Cruised Admiralty Bay on King George Island
Viewed Copacabana (SUA), Arktowski (Poland), Machu Pichu (Peru), and Commandante Ferraz (Brazil) Stations
17:05 - 19:30 - Cruised Deception Island
Sighted expedition ships ms Bremen & ms Lynbov Orlova
Cruised offshore overnight
Thu 2/7/08
Today’s scenery started a bit later than yesterday (between 7 and 8) and was scheduled to be Palmer Station, Lemaire Channel, Neumeyer Channel, and Dallman Bay. I think we went to all of them but again the weather wasn’t the most cooperative. In fact it snowed quite a bit at times especially when they were doing the Swim in the Antarctica in the Aft Pool. There were quite a few there that did jump in the pool (which was heated) but they were slow getting out! We
Mural Burg
Our favorite Iceberg that looked like it had a mural painted on the side of it saw lots of whales today some of them put on quite a show with waving flippers etc. We finished again in time for dinner. There were 2 shows again with another show by Marty Brill. He was as funny this time as last.
From Capt Toomey's Log:
7:30 - 7:50 - Stopped off Palmer Station (USA)
9:20 - 11:00 - Cruised to Lemaire Channel. Sighted motor-yacht Lady M
10:15 - Reached furthest south @ Lattitude 65 degrees 1 minutes S
88 nautical miles from Antarctic Circle, 1498 miles from South Pole
Turned back becuase of ice conditions
11:30 - 14:20 - Cruised Neumayer Channel Northbound
12:00 - Stopped off Port Lockroy; Sighted expedition ship ms Fram
15:45 - 16:00 - Attempted to reach Cuverville Island.. blocked by ice conditions
16:35 - 19:00 - Cruised Dallmann Bay northbound along west shore of Brabant Island
Cruised off shore overnight
Fri 2/8/08
WOW. What a day of scenic cruising we had today. I woke up before 6 and saw it was really clear outside with just a few clouds and lots of blue sky. Bernard woke us up about
Mural Berg
A side/back view of the mural iceberg where it shows it's been falling over. 6:15 and told everyone they should get up and out to see it so I threw on my clothes and headed out. We spent quite a bit of time in Paradise Bay which was really spectacular and then headed into some other channels ending with Curverville Island, where Bernard was stationed for a while. Lots of penguins, seals, a few whales, icebergs, and just wonderful views. One of the best was an iceberg with a bunch of penguins. I just missed seeing some of them jump up but did see them when a group decided to get off (though it took them awhile to decide). I think I got that on video. And we also had our first chance to smell a penguin colony. Oh boy that memory will stay with us too. Hopefully a few of the pictures come out. We’re now heading out to the open sea and on our way to the Drake Passage. We should round the horn sometime tomorrow night. It’s supposed to be much smoother (2-10 feet) than we had the other day. Well it’s almost time for Bingo so I’m going to head up there (haven’t played in several days) and then come
Iceberg Alley
Heading down Antarctic Sound aka Iceberg Alley. It was overcast and a bit foggy back to dress up for dinner.
Our table was joined by another officer (electrician) and his wife for dinner. It was very enjoyable evening and we didn’t finish until 10:15 so missed the Win a Cruise Bingo but did make it in time for the Indonesian Crew Show. It’s always fun to watch their shows since they work so hard on them and have a great time. It was a wonderful day all around and one that will always be remembered.
From Capt Toomey's log
4:00 - 5:15 - Cruised Dallmann Bay Southbound
5:45 - 7:20 - Cruised Gerlache Strait southbound
7:20 - 9:20 - Cruised Paradise Harbour
Viewed Almirante Brown (Argentina) and Gonzalez Videla (Chile) stations
9:20 - 9:30 - Transited Aguirre Channel (also known as Waterboat Channel) to Andvoort Bay
9:30 - 10:25 - CruisedAndvoort Bay
10:25 - 11:00 - Transitioned Errera Channel Northbound
11:15 - 11:50 - Cruised by Cuverville Island & Gentoo Penguin rookery
sighted expedition ship Pollar Pioneer (Australia) @ anchor
11:50 - 14:45 - CruisedGerlache Strait Northbound
Passed expedition ship ms Bremen
14:45 - 16:15 - Cruised Dallmann Bay northbound
Discovery
The exploration ship the Discovery (I think this is the one that used to be the Love Boat). It told our captain there was a lot of ice and we wouldn't be able to make it much further. They were looking for somewhere to land since they couldn't get to where they were scheduled. 16:30 hrs - Cleared Dallmann Bay headed for Cape Horn via Low and Smith Islands
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Janetq
non-member comment
RT Tickets
Sharon, I just got your message about getting the tickets for Canada. (Feb. 9) No one was there so will have to try and reach someone tomorrow or Monday morning. I take it you want 1 ticket for each night. I really don't think there are that many buying, it is so early to be thinking about Dec. (smile) Expect me.. I will do my best. Janet (Randy Travis Fan)