Yankee Harbour

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Geo: -62.4905, -59.7569

Excellent day today. We stepped off the ship and onto Antarctica for the first time this afternoon. From our balcony, we could see that it was going to be a beautiful day and a perfect one to walk outside. The ship stopped in Yankee Harbor in the South Shetland Islands and launched the Zodiacs with the expedition crew members early in the morning. They selected the landing location on Greenwich Island, set up the day's group gear, and marked off the areas where the guests were allowed to wander. Although there are some no-go zones, guests are free to walk around on their own. Seabourn has made a point of saying that the guests are not shepherded around when on shore, but allowed to take as much or as little time as they like along the prescribed route. We went down to The Club when our group, the purple arm-banded group, was called about 12:30. We were the fourth group today and the five color-coded groups will be called in random order over the next five days. We had all the layers of clothes and gear on except for boots. Once all decked out, it is a bit hard to maneuver getting pockets opened and adjusting everything to be comfortable. Phil had to help me clipping my life jacket and attaching the walking pole to the backpack, and I helped him, too. I couldn't reach any of my pockets easily, so I put my Kleenex in Phil's pocket. It will be easier for me to open if I need them. Once we got to the staging area to find our boots, we got them on without too much fanfare although it wasn't easy. With all this gear, I feel like the Michelin man walking.

Before getting on the Zodiac, each person steps through a basin of liquid disinfectant to cleanse the boots. Just a moment in and out is enough. We were told how to enter the boat and get in place then the driver, Kate in our Zodiac today, gave a quick intro to the ride over. Just before we landed, she slowed the boat again and explained how to get out and reminded us what to do on shore and gave us our return time. Once ashore, expedition crew members were stationed along the route answering questions and pointing out special features that we might miss.

Yesterday, we went to bed thinking we would stop at Half Moon Island, but the weather there was not good so the captain took us to Greenwich Island in Yankee Harbour instead where the day was beautiful. It was sunny much of the day with cold, crisp air and very little breeze. We were pleased to see some of the 2,000 pairs of Gentoo penguins nesting on the island and one lone chinstrap penguin that seemed to be lost. The expedition guide thought he probably came over from Half Moon Island nearby. He stood in the same place for the entire time we were there.

The Gentoo penguins had some chicks on their nests—little heads poking out between the feet of their parents. Male and female penguins take turns incubating the eggs and caring for the chicks. The penguin guano is evident on the rocks, and the smell is strong—although not as strong as later in the season, I understand.

We saw two herds of elephant seals on the island lying close together in a circle. The guide said that they were molting their skin. One of the elephant seals was on the ice away from the rest. He was much more awake than the others and raised his head then his tail in a funny rocking motion every few minutes. He rocked back and forth four or five times, then lay down still again for a few minutes, then started over. I don't know what he was doing.

When we were ready to return to the ship walking back over the rocky landscape and a small patch of ice, we made our way to the landing location, cleaned our boots in the contraption built just for that, and waited a couple of minutes for the next Zodiac. The boot cleaner is a set of stiff bristled brushes set in a stand where one can scrape each boot back and forth to get all sides and the bottom cleaned at once. There are handles placed at waist level to grasp while scraping to make falling less likely. It worked well. Boots and walking sticks need to be cleaned thoroughly at each landing to avoid transferring any biological or geological material from one area to the next.

After all five groups had returned from the day's excursion, we met in the Grand Salon for the daily recap and briefing. Tonight, we will head for the Gerlache Straight for a possible landing tomorrow on Cuverville Island.

We had dinner in the suite tonight, the second night in a row, and watched the Steelers beat the Giants on the ship's satellite television. It worked well without any outages—only gaps during what Philip thinks were the local station breaks not covered by national commercials.

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