Antarctic Cruise 2008

We've got two perspectives on the trip.

Joanne's notes are here.

Igor's notes are here.

Joanne's Journal

Joanne hasn't pieced together a trip report yet. Watch this space.

Igor's Journal

This is sort of a daily log that I was keeping. My notes are in italics. I've
added some comments to explain a photo or expand the notes. These are in normal text.

15NOV08 The adventure begins. A cold front came in last night
just to set the stage. Usually, for Wisconsin Homecoming, it's 80 degrees
in Texas, so we often forget some of the warmer clothes.

We're at the airport, and the first flight has a 20 minute delay. Still
have more than 3 plus hours in Atlanta (ATL), so no problem yet.

16NOV08 Three quarters complete, ATL -> Buenos Aires Int'l (EZE),
10 hours, and made the bus from Int'l (EZE) to Domestic (AEP). Took 45 minutes.

Waiting for the gate assignment for the flight. Checked luggage was 15kg
and 16kg.

I had agonized over the carry-on limit of 11 lbs. They didn't check. In fact, we had
people board with two carry-ons or roller-boards.

17NOV08 Walking around Ushuaia and adjusting to time zones. Beautiful
day, clear and sunny, easily 55-60 F this afternoon.

Picked up a plug adapter for 220-110 outlets. Took a while to find it. A lot
of walking back and forth.

Tried first at an electronics store, they sent us somewhere down the street. That store
didn't have it but they suggested someone else from back where we had been. Funny thing is
I have one and forgot to pack it.

We did, however, find a good restaurant and they had hand crafted beer.

18NOV08 A lot of walking because of the schedule. Luggage in the lobby
by 10AM, which is also check-out time. But you don't board until 4pm.

Well, we made it. Went to the TAP office (transfer agent in Ushuaia) and almost
went cement diving an hour before meeting the boat. I got lucky and probably stretched
something sitting down, but seem OK at the moment.

Cast off is around 6:30 pm. Still a beautiful sunny day in Ushuaia.

Going to be well fed, as usual. If I'm smart I skip the appetizers before
each dinner.

Didn't stick very well to my diet. Something about the first rule of travel: "You
never know where your next meal is coming from." I gained about 14 pounds over the
three weeks.

19NOV08 "Sailing" in open water now. Cleared the Beagle Channel about 10pm.
Just got the 7AM wake-up announcement. 10 degrees C , we're running in front of a
low pressure system. So, weather right now is fine.

Fog moved in around noon. Not much to see. Fog still around at 9pm. Might make
landfall tomorrow at 6:45am, but fog may stand in way of seeing anything.

Should have out first landing tomorrow. First one at 9am, after breakfast
(usually around 7:30am), then a second one in the afternoon. Both on the Falkland
Islands west shore.

22NOV08 Rock Hoppers and Black-Browed Albatross sharing a rookery on the
"Devil's Nose" on West Point Island. (THR 11/20) Gentoo penguins on Saunder's Island.

Spent Friday (11/21) in Port Stanley. Opted out of a 9 km one-way hike to Gypsie Cove.
Missed out on the Magellanic penguins. But we found a step down transformer for
Joanne's battery charger. Need to experiment with the adapter plug and see if together
they get me long enough for the outlets. All the ship's outlets were recessed.

Today (12/22) is first of 2.5 days at sea, from the Falklands to South Georgia.
Mild seas but rocking and rolling. Not much pitching though. Because we were with
the wind and not out running it.

Discovered that I could take a glass of ice up to the cabin. That cooled down the
scotch nicely. But needed a way to keep the glass from pitching off the desk when the
ship is rocking. Found out the sneakers work well as a cup holder.

Rough position, 52-18' South (lat), 52 West (long) at 8AM

22NOV08 (cont) No land, so just presentations on board. I skipped the
Biology lecture but sat through Birds and Shakelton Part I.

A lot of roll but no pitch. We're running slower than the current. So, some
extreme list (so far) but no crashing waves over the bow.

Finished with dinner, late breakfast tomorrow, 8 am. But ship is doing some large
tilting, hard to say how much sleep tonight.

Decided my entry for the iceberg contest will be 54 S, 6:30pm, Wed 26th. [Way
off, 11/24 as soon as we got to S. Georgia.]

24NOV08 Crossed the convergence yesterday, arrived at South Georgia
today. Very windy, we skipped the 6am zodiac ride. Got to the Bay of Isles and
took a 1.5 hour zodiac ride even though it was windy in spots.

A lot of fur seals and birds. Saw a couple of King penguins on the shore.
Much bigger colony expected this afternoon. Saw some blue-eyed shags as well.

Cold and damp, hunting jackets appear waterproof. Gloves OK, pretty water
resistant but might leak a bit around the seams.

Landed at Salisbury Plain this afternoon. Huge King penguin colony, and fur
seals. Took about 85 photos.

Snowy Sheathbills are as bad as the NZ Kia Parrots. Attaching backpacks,
life jackets, and ropes.

25NOV08 The hearty ones got up at 5am for a hike over the pass to
Stromness. This was roughly the pass that Shakleton took. We slept in.

Weather changes a lot here. The sun is out now, but we still have a little
wind and drizzle.

This afternoon should be Grytviken. Population 2??? We will be walking around
the old whaling port, so I've got my short lens on the DSLR.

Grytviken was all afternoon. A lot of walking, end to end, but worth it. Marginally
sunny/cloudy day, but not very cold, until late afternoon when the wind picked up.

Grytviken is located near the center of a semicircle bay. It is an abandoned whaling port.
It was a processing site. One edge is the cemetery, where Shackleton is buried. The other edge
contain the King Edward Point research station. The British maintain a post office and
have passport control. Further up a hill at King Edward Point is the cross monument erected by
Shackleton's men. A single road runs between the three following the waterfront.

Rough position, 54-15' South (lat), 36-45' West (long)

25NOV08 (cont) The wildlife is slowly retaking Grytviken. Elephant seals,
aggressive females that would approach you, and King penguins. One in particular
was the "star."

At day's end, while waiting for the zodiac taxi to get back to the ship, we
spotted a single King penguin walking/waddeling/swaggering down the single road.

It looked like the new sheriff was coming into town. The tour group folks froze
in their track taking photos (me too) and the seals just ignored it.

The bird just continued to strutt down the road, checking for outlaws. Stretching
its neck, looking around, and then continuing to walk down the main (only) road.

26NOV08 Gold Harbor, large overhanging glacier (Bertrab Glacier).
Wet landing and should be lots of wildlife.

My cold has moved to my throat. I have little to no voice today. I feel fine,
just can't make much noise. Kind of like St. Louis, when I missed the brewery tour.

Gangway (zodiac loading) will be at 9am.

Plodding around in the tussock grass and swamps was very tiring. Not sure if any
photos will be of any quality. 1 hour hike out / 1 hour back. Legs are very tired.
Took a shot of the King penguins and chicks looking down from the hill.

26NOV08 (cont) After lunch we visited a fjord (Drygalski Fjord). Ship was .
maneuvering between some huge icebergs. They were all piled on the southern edge
of South Georgia. Blown across the Scotia Sea from the Peninsula.

Took a lot of iceberg photos. May have caught some penguins on one berg.
But they will look small (and did).

27NOV08 Thanksgiving at sea. There are only 3-4 Americans on board so
I don't expect turkey and dressing on the menu today. I've been joking that if they
have turkey it will probably be black and white, and taste like fish.

We are about 12 hours out from South Georgia. Elephant Island is about 800
miles, so we will be at sea for 2 days.

1 knot = 1.85 k/hr roughly. 1.85 x .62 = 1.15 miles/knot. We average about 13
knots per hour or 14.96 mph. 800 / 14.9 = about 54 hours. Once we get there, Elephant
Island, the Antarctic Peninsula is close at hand.

I'm doing a little better today. Still drippy but not as congested.

28NOV08 Friday, still at sea. Fog and bumpy. Slept a lot and finished the
Silva book. Got fog and then snow this afternoon.

Cleared up late and got a few sunset photos from the bridge. Nothing spectacular
but good shots. Tomorrow Elephant Island!

29NOV08 Had great weather at Elephant Island. The swells (4-6'),however,
made loading and unloading zodiacs at the gangway tricky. Not much spray during
the "cruise."

Rough position, 61-10' South (lat), 55-14' West (long)

Point Wild, and the associated beach, is where Shackleton's men spent 4.5 months
waiting for rescue.

Now much of the beach has been washed away and it is taken over by penguins
(chinstraps). Had the waterproof along for the zodiac cruise, so the resolution won't
be great. But, I've got some chinstrap photos now. Kind of a distance view like the
one I took in the Galapagos.

The weather was tremendous. The Captain took us near an iceberg with a large
group of penguins on it. During the trip we had a lot of penguins swimming along
side the ship. I may have gotten some penguins breaching photos.

I'm going to need another 6 months of dieting to lose the weight I'll gain.
The food has been very good. And, the soup has been a welcome item for both lunch
and dinner.

30NOV08 Off Robert Island in the South Shetlands. Fog, may move a little
south to a different bay. Sounds like seals and Gentoo penguins. Probably a bit cooler
than yesterday.

01DEC08 Approaching Deception Island. Trying for Baily Head, a tough landing
if the weather is against us. Weather was against us, just a ship cruise. 50+ Km winds.

We're inside the caldera, good harbor but wind is still howling outside. Sun is
out, so very wierd conditions. Going to have lunch and see what the plans are.

Too windy to land and too windy to maneuver. Making escape tricky. The Captain
is giving himself a lot of room for slippage. 50 km = "Strong Breeze."

Still having trouble with the DSLR. It isn't coming up in the right mode.
I should figure out what it takes to restore the defaults.
(Menu 2 - reset defaults)

Wind still howling, ship alternates between level and pitching. Then a spray
of water hits the window. That wouldn't be so bad, but we are on deck 6, 3.5 floors off
the superstructure, more than 35 feet off sea level.

This run saves us about half a day. Though we essentially lost Deception Island
and the hot mud/water pools. Sounds like the hot pools in NZ.

02DEC08 Beautiful sunny morning. Wake-up announcement about 6-6:30am.
We're in Wilhelmina Bay ( 64-40 S , 62-02 W ) Antarctic Peninsula on the side.

DSLR still a little flakey. But, got some good photos of the snow, land, ice in
the water. When it is responding I set it to "3 Bracket" mode. (0.0 0.3 0.7)
The snow is pretty bright in the sun so the +0.7 might be too much.

As long as it is misbehaving, I might as well "burn" memory and then throw 60%
of the photos away. Need to save a few waterproof shots for Adelie penguins.

Spent the whole morning in the zodia, looking at bay and glaciers. Took the
waterproof. May have a photo of an Orca. A pod was hunting in the bay. Also had a
Leopard seal and her pup on one of the ice flows.

02DEC08 (cont) Spent the afternoon at Danco Island. Large Gentoo colony.
Steep hill to climb.

Dinner this evening was an outdoor BBQ on the back deck. Each of the staff
and a number of the passengers had big floppy hats, much like the large foam fingers
folks have at football games. Outdoor dining, disco music, and snow (which seems to
usually happen on BBQ night. Not much different than tailgating at Homecoming.

Joanne and I wore the tuxedo T-shirts and went as penguins. We had been waiting
for an appropriate moment. Another potential Christmas Card, though no obvious
penguins in the background.

03DEC08 Early AM around Danco Island was clear and calm. 7am wake-up,
snowy, 20 km wind. Hard to say what the last day will be for weather.

Two chances to land on the continent. This afternoon would be the Argentinian
Reseach Base. Looks like more gentoo penguins, no hint of Adelie.

The weather is the main determinant.

Then two days at sea to get back to Ushuaia, via the "Drake Passage."

Got to Neko Harbor ( 64-51 S , 62-31 W ) but had 30 km winds and too
much floating ice. Had a large flow blow into the starboard side with a large bang!
Would have smashed the gangway if it had been further up the ship. The morning
landing was cancelled.

The captain decided to head for open sea and wait out the strong winds.
No prediction for afternoon activities.

We stopped in the channel, about where we were yesterday. An inlet or bay
in the Gerlache Strait.

03DEC08 (cont) Very gusty, and snow, but they've found a rock outcropping.
Most of the passengers risked the landing for a little time on the continent.

The spot was Orne Harbor ( 64-37 S , 62-32 W ). Very windy, so we're bundled up
for the photos. The ride back was a little exciting but we didn't get drenched like one
of the groups.

The expedition leader was trying hard to make at least one landing on the continent.
He figured maybe 12 or 14 passengers would be crazy enough. Turned out 88 of 108 wanted
the chance to go.

The photo is a little dark because it was taken through a window. It was that cold
and windy.

04DEC08 100 miles out into Drake's Passage. Long night of Rock & Roll
but no major calamity.

Sunny, with a lot of sea birds, but also a 35 km wind. So the boat is still
rolling.

Joanne is sleeping in. I'm going down for a bagel. I don't expect a full buffet
today, not after last night's adventure in a rolling dining room.

The tables are bolted down, so are some of the chairs. The ship pitched enough last
evening that we lost some plates and some chairs came loose. One whole table of 10 was
knocked out of their seats. Lot of noise but everyone cheered when they raised their
glasses, showing they had "saved" the wine even if losing their dignity.

04DEC08 (cont) A little calmer this afternoon. Sun's out but we still
have a 20+ kn wind. But the ship is considerably more stable. Still have another
day to go at sea.

Starting to wrap up loose ends. Collected the rental foul weather gear. (Gortex
waterproof pants for Igor.) Tossed the gum boots on the pile for the next cruise.
(and in the process lighten the bags going back by 6 lbs.)

05DEC08 Calm last night, but picking up this morning. Nice sunshine, so
motion must be wind related. Still making good time toward Cape Hope.

Morning wake-up says we're 70 miles out. ( 57-14 S , 66-24 W ) Looks like
we're still averaging about 13 knts/hr.

Assuming we make the Beagle Channel this afternoon, it should be a relatively
calm evening. Mostly spent packing for travel tomorrow.

Saturday will be a long day. We leave the ship at 7am, I assume local time,
which has also been ship's time.

Pickup for the airport is 1pm. So that leaves 5 hours to kill in Ushuaia. Ugh!

Looks like 30+ people on the 1892 flight to Buenos Aires. At least we will have someone
to talk to while we wait.

Might also be a chance for last minute souveniers. Penguin related no doubt.

06DEC08 Up at 6:00am , 6:30 Breakfast, 7:30+ bus off the ship, but then
a 5 hour wait in Ushuaia. Most stores don't open until 9:30-10:00.

Airport was a mess. Not obvious where to go for paying the departure tax. The sign
on the window had nothing to do with taxes. Only two gates but couldn't get them to
commit to a gate until the last minute.

Tightly cramped seats on the USH -> EZE flight. The flight was 40 minutes late. Made
the plane in EZE easy enough, though we only had 15 minutes to kill. They started boarding
1 hour before flight departure.

Currently on the EZE -> ATL flight. Waiting to order my first scotch.

07DEC08 About 1 hour out of Atlanta. Been a surprisingly bouncy ride.
Not violent, just enough to keep the seat belt sign lit.

Got some sleep on the flight. Exhaustion and scotch most likely, since I usually
don't sleep much on planes. Should be able to make it through the next 8 hours.

We have a 4 hour layover in ATL. Self induced, I wanted the 1st Class seats rather
than the ComAir coach seats. Air Argentina had been cramped, I didn't want to end the
with a similar ride.

Once we get to ATL we're going to go the the American Admiral's Club. The Delta club
didn't have free internet. Should be able to send out a few "Made It" notes from the
Admiral's Club.

6am and it is still dark out. Only had about 4 hours of twilight/dimness in the
Antarctic. Usually the sun was bright by 4am.

Took about an hour to clear customs. Bags made it to ATL, appears they are checked
to Austin.

Flight came into Terminal E. American operates out of T (opposite end). Went to the
Admiral's club and succumbed to the email sirens. Lots of junk mail but no crisis.

Flight home leaves from A33. We've transfered our waiting to the Delta Crown Club
in terminal A. Don't care about the bar, just the coffee. 1.5 hours left of waiting and
loading starts for the flight to Austin.

Flight from ATL->AUS was uneventful, just the way you like it.

End of Igor's Log

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