Sunday, January 3, 2016
There were really strong winds overnight… gusts up to 45
mph, I think. Made for some rockin’ and
rollin’ in the Europa! Can nestle in bed
pretty well, but makes showering or using the restroom a challenge!
We have been basically the only ship on this trip, but we
are starting to see other ships now. In
fact, there are about 45 ships coming to Antarctica this season, compared to
only about 25 last year. So some of the
more popular destinations have to be signed up for ahead of time… which is
difficult with a sailing ship. So there
are some minor conflicts on who gets to land at which location at a specific
time. Due to weather and other boats, we
started our day by landing at Gonzalez Videla Station.
The weather made the landing challenging and rather
exciting! The zodiacs were maneuvered
around and among ice berg in windy conditions with choppy surf. Woo Hoo!
This is a research station run by Chileans. It is staffed for the winter only. There are lots of Gentoo penguins, including
a rare blonde one! This was the muddiest
penguin colony that we visited. They are
all around the station making it difficult to keep the site clean!
There is a historical monument to the UK expedition team of
Lester and Bagshawe that stayed for a year over the winter of 1922 doing
penguin research. They stayed under a
water boat that had been abandoned there eight years previously. It is an amazing story that is worth reading
about!
We returned to the boat and inclement weather pretty much
confined us to the boat. Gordi gave an
excellent lecture about whales during the afternoon.
Plan A was to get the repaired yard back up on the
mast. But the weather delayed that as
well.
The other Plan A was to have a hike and a zodiac cruise
after dinner. But the weather put a nix
on the zodiac cruise. So we just did the
hike. But we had to get there
first! The weather and ice bergs made
for an exciting zodiac trip to land! Our
zodiac skipper was working hard at not playing bumper cars with the ice bergs!
We landed at Brown Station, a research station run by the
Argentinians. It is rarely occupied,
only 3-4 weeks out of the year. Just
enough to keep it a part of the Antarctica Treaty. Otherwise, they would have to dismantle and
remove everything. It was a bit of a
trek to the top of the mountain. The
precipice was narrower than expected and we could not all gather together at
the top. We trekked through some deep
snow and slush. Warmed us right up! The weather hampered our view from the
top. Still pretty, but could not see
everything as we had hoped.
After some group photos at the top, we headed down, and here
was the highlight! We got to slide down
most of the mountain! Due to deep snow,
the going was a bit slow at times, but still a fun slide!
Back on our exciting zodiac ride to the boat, then shower
and bed. Will be up to see the sites
early in the morning!
Stacy, Vet at Sea
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