Sailing Antarctica Seas!: Merry Christmas!

Friday, December 25, 2015

Feliz Navidad! Merry Christmas! Beautiful and sunny this am. We anchored at midnight. So we did not have to go on watch. There were sails to furl and other tasks, but the previous group chose to stay up to do the fun stuff… in the dark!

We had to wait for paperwork to be done before we could go to shore. Port Williams is a very small town on the edge of the water and surrounded by beautiful mountains. Many have a fair amount of snow. Sun, rain, wind, and more sun rotated through as we waited for customs to clear us.

Getting into our life vests.

We were finally given the go ahead and the zodiacs began to ferry us to shore. We all carried a sack lunch in our back packs. A few people chose to stay in town, although nothing is open on this holiday, and the rest of us went hiking.

Loading up the Zodiac!

Half the group did the “up the mountain” walk and the rest did the “along the river and see beaver dams” walk. I did the second one. The terrain and flora were amazingly similar to the Pacific Northwest!

Wearing the "fox" hat Hal gave me! Ready to go to shore!

It was a very nice walk, though incredibly boggy in areas. We were all warned to wear good waterproof boots. We sure needed them! My pants got very muddy as well! We had sun, rain, hail, wind, heat, cold… changed every few minutes! Even bigger changes than in WA.

Beaver dam.

We stopped for a nice picnic lunch then headed back. We got back to the meeting point early, so a few of us went back to hike a part of the “up the mountain” trail. Damaris and I walked part of the way then sat on a log and chatted for a bit then headed back down. It was very pleasant.

Tree fungus/parasite???

Note: very muddy pants and boots!

The transport vehicles took us back to town. One shop opened for us so we could buy some local souvenirs. Also the little market opened so we could buy other little treats. Then we wandered around town for a while. Not much more to see.

Interesting flora. These puffs were nice to pet!

The zodiacs took us back to the boat. We were planning to set sail at 6pm, but we are having more problems with customs. As soon as that is resolved, we will set sail.