fog and icebergs

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February 8th, 2006,
evening after cruising the Gerlache Straight of the Antarctic Peninsula
We will be here for 3 days, weather permitting and
then make our way to Africa by the 18th.

Day 34 of our cruise of 105, 71 to go, almost a third over, pity.

Antarctica is cold and foggy.
After a first sunny day at Anvers Island, we have had 2 days of dodging icebergs, riding swells and canceling destinations. No hope of seeing Esperansa Bay, Elephant Island was a series of rocky spikes half covered with glaciers, the other half with fog. Deception Bay was just that, we could not see much of the hot watered volcanic activity where smaller ship bring in passengers for a swim; 2 of our passengers did the polar swim yesterday morning in the pool but I did not as I was getting over a cold.
Activities on board have almost all been cancelled to allow maximum sightseeing opportunity and for other reasons. We can’t play sports on deck so as not to drop a ping pong ball in the pristine unspoiled Antarctic, we can’t have blankets on open deck or towels as they could fly overboard and we can’t have shows at 10:15 pm because it is still light(maybe sights to see) and to eliminate undue noise. We also did not see South Orkney today- a banana shaped island!
So… yesterday all passengers were offered a FREE excursion to tour South Georgia Island at Grytvyken, on Friday. It is an ex-whaling station till 1960 just north of the Antarctic circle. I certainly hope we can cash in- As we will anchor off shore and tender in, they suggest we bring at least 3 days of pills( they also tell us no toilet facilities for tourists) in case a storm starts up and we can’t get off as planned. There we will see a museum, a church, old broken down facilities for processing whale and a cemetery; no smoking as the old oil cans leak. We are looking forward to this opportunity.

Hi Myrna, Ken and families
Hello my children

Ttys, love to all

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