Tonight was the Captain's farewell and thank you to the staff and crew. Rosemarie and Pat put together a 15 minute slide presentation that will be sent home with the guests and was previewed during the festivites that included the singers and band. We, along with a huge number of crew paraded onto the stage. Someone shouted out "who is driving the ship?" to which the captain replied "I have no idea!"
The clouds were mostly down so views of the volcanoes were limited from the ship, but the shore excursion that went to the water falls got a 5 minutes view of Osorno.
Several of us went to the fish and handicraft market. Each time I am there is seems to have expanded with a lot more places geared to tourists - especially eating fish!
Friday, 19 December 2014
Wednesday, 17 December 2014
December 17 Its all about food.....
Now that the penguins and glaciers are behind us the emphasis has been on food! Tomorrow is the final gala with the captain. We get to parade around the Grand Salon, then off to dinner and a special show "Like a Rock", as much as I would like to think, I don't think I was the inspiration as tonight's show is called "Rock the Boat". Oh well, I have still inspired a lot of people to collect rocks and bring them to me for identification. Unfortunately that is a challenge - Jack Souther always used to look at these pebbles in disgust say "gravel" and throw them away!
We are entering the Gulf of Corcovado, but despite the best effort of "the whale guys", John and Sean we haven't seen any Blue Whales. They think they may still be farther out to sea and haven't migrated down this far yet. Despite being out on the decks and in the observation lounge you can tell that the mind of the people has switched from what is happening on board ship to what they are going to do when they disembark. Most of the conversations are about flights, etc. Tomorrow is the Captain's Farewell dinner and we get to parade around the Grand Salon with the officers. Tomorrow's performance is called "Like a Rock" I would like to think that I inspired the them, but I think not, however, I have people collecting rocks and thinking about landscapes!
We are entering the Gulf of Corcovado, but despite the best effort of "the whale guys", John and Sean we haven't seen any Blue Whales. They think they may still be farther out to sea and haven't migrated down this far yet. Despite being out on the decks and in the observation lounge you can tell that the mind of the people has switched from what is happening on board ship to what they are going to do when they disembark. Most of the conversations are about flights, etc. Tomorrow is the Captain's Farewell dinner and we get to parade around the Grand Salon with the officers. Tomorrow's performance is called "Like a Rock" I would like to think that I inspired the them, but I think not, however, I have people collecting rocks and thinking about landscapes!
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| Mom enjoying her lamb chops! |
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| Soup being poured. |
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| Observation lounge with information and people waiting to be fed afternoon tea! |
Tuesday, 16 December 2014
December 16 Its about food....
Here we are in the Fjords of Chile. Unfortunately the weather is really bad and the outer decks are closed because the wind is blowing at 55 knots and higher. We have been doing lectures, but there are fewer people coming out to them as people shut off and switch to other things (like bridge, eating, dance lessons, trivia games, and more eating, etc.) - there is still a lot of interest in the charts as people do seem to like to know where they are and where they are going. I gave my last lecture of this cruise this morning on the observations of Darwin on earthquakes.
The special event today was "galley lunch". The food stations were set up in the galley so it was an opportunity to see behind the scenes. It is actually amazing how large the kitchen is.
The special event today was "galley lunch". The food stations were set up in the galley so it was an opportunity to see behind the scenes. It is actually amazing how large the kitchen is.
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| Italian Ice pilot Giovanni and Canadian John Ford (toothed whale expert) at breakfast. |
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| Sean, our other whale expert (baleen whales) at the charts for the morning session with passengers - note our "table" and geological maps. |
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| Galley lunch also included amazing displays of food! |
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| Desert were awesome - not chocolate sculpture! |
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| Vegetable display. |
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| Kitchen sculpture! |
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| whole baked salmon and chef! |
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| Andy (aka Andres, part of the expedition staff) enjoying sushi. Andy is a chef and has his own restaurant. Driving zodiacs is the fun side of his life! |
Monday, 15 December 2014
December 15 Punta Arenas
Today we sailed into the bay off Punta Arenas, to see the Holland America "Zeedam" anchored in the bay. Seabourn and Holland America are owned by the same people. The sun was shining in the morning and I must admit it was nice to see trees on the slopes of the hills. Mom and I headed into town for a couple of hours to check things out - at least until the rain and wind started up!
The afternoon was spent catching up on some work, but I did decide to go to the concert tonight. They have some wonderful entertainers on-board. They have a pianist who plays in the observation lounge in the afternoons who is wonderful. She doesn't seem to mind when we spread the charts out on top of the grand piano and carry on conversations while she play. Yesterday as we sailed through "glacier alley" I was in the lounge later than usual and it turns out she sings. She has a wonderful voice and it was fun to listen to her jazz tunes as we sailed through the scenery.
Tonight I decide to take in the performance of the flautist, Suzanne Godfrey. She is from London and came on board in Ushuaia. She is also a wonderful performer. The other surprise a couple of days ago is the band that is on-board. After coming back from Ushuaia, I walked through the outside patio/swimming area and there was an amazing band playing. It turns out they have been with us all the time, but usually play at night, so this was the first time I saw them.
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| Statue of Magellan in the square. |
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| Buying a shawl for my collection. This is the lady that knit it. |
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| Dilapidated old pier - but covered with seabirds. The Quest and Zeedam anchored in the background.
We will be at sea the next two days, making our way north. The captain announced this afternoon that because we have made good time, we will be able to make our stop in Puerto Monte before heading to Valparaiso, but will be missing Chiloea. As a repeat visitor to Puerto Monte, I have actually never been to Chiloe, so was hoping that we would put in there. Oh well... there is always the next cruise!
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Sunday, 14 December 2014
December 14 Ushuaia, Beagle Channel and O'Brien Canal (AKA Glacier alley)
After our rough crossing of the Drake, by late evening we could feel the swell lessening and the brutal crashing against the hull diminished. This morning, several outer rails were found to be loosened and some light fixtures had become dislodged. Fortunately there was no other damage and people had a good nights sleep. Staff looked incredibly relieved this morning and ready to start the clean up. There were three other ships in harbour, some planned some not. Ushuaia had actually been closed for two days due to the storm, so if we had been on our original schedule we would not have been able to dock. The Corinthian and Silver Sea were in dock. The Corinthian had had a technical problem and had to cancel an Antarctica trip and the Silver Sea was held due to weather. There was another ship anchored, but I didn't get the name.
The clearing after the storm was wonderful. We were treated to some spectacular views from Ushuaia - I don't think I have ever experienced it so clear and warm! Mom went on a catamaran trip down the Beagle Channel and I joined five guests on a two hour horseback ride. The ride wound through the Southern Beech forest. Called the Lenga, the tree shares its roots not with the beeches of North America, but rather with a group of species found primarily in New Zealand and Australia, dating back from the era of the Gondwana Supercontinent (~200 million years ago). The ride ended on a beach along the Beagle Channel, of course named after the ship the "Beagle" that carried Charles Darwin on his voyages throughout South America.
We got away from Ushuaia at 1:30, making the O'Brien Canal around 4:30. Conditions were still perfect for wonderful views of the glaciers. Luqui and I provided commentary from the bridge, as we sailed past the glaciers.
The clearing after the storm was wonderful. We were treated to some spectacular views from Ushuaia - I don't think I have ever experienced it so clear and warm! Mom went on a catamaran trip down the Beagle Channel and I joined five guests on a two hour horseback ride. The ride wound through the Southern Beech forest. Called the Lenga, the tree shares its roots not with the beeches of North America, but rather with a group of species found primarily in New Zealand and Australia, dating back from the era of the Gondwana Supercontinent (~200 million years ago). The ride ended on a beach along the Beagle Channel, of course named after the ship the "Beagle" that carried Charles Darwin on his voyages throughout South America.
We got away from Ushuaia at 1:30, making the O'Brien Canal around 4:30. Conditions were still perfect for wonderful views of the glaciers. Luqui and I provided commentary from the bridge, as we sailed past the glaciers.
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| Entrance to the O'Brien Canal from the Beagle Channel. |
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| Glaciers are named after countries. This is Holland Glacier. |
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| This one is Italia. |
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| Sail boat in front of Italia. |
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| Expedition Leader, Robin West and the Captain in the Bridge. |
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| France. |
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| Germany. |
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| Romanian glacier. |
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| Head on shot of the Romania glacier. |
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| Ushuaia from the dock. The Quest on the left and the silver sea on the right. |
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| Mounting up! |
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| View back towards Ushaia. |
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| Riding along the beach. |
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| The Beagle channel and horse. |
Saturday, 13 December 2014
December 13 The Drake
Expedition staff were still out on deck this morning, but by the afternoon, all the outer decks had been closed, so we spent the time indoors with guest on the 10th floor observation lounge watching the waves and reveling in the ones that reached our height. If you get sea sick this is not a great place to be. There has been a lot of talk among the staff about other voyages and how bad they were - but I think our 2009 experience crossing the Drake in the Lyubov Arola was right up there at the top! We had higher waves (8-10-12 m) and a smaller ship. That was decidedly uncomfortable! You could not walk, the ship rolled up to 32 degrees, and staying in your bunk was almost impossible (some of the smaller expedition ships have seat belts for the beds). This is mildly uncomfortable, but not life threatening. Fortunately neither mom or I seem to suffer from sea sickness. I learned another trick today that some of the other expedition staff seem to swear by - and that is to put an earplug in your non dominant ear....they swear it helps!
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| We decided to put up the Christmas tree this afternoon! |
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| This is the other end of our cabin - note the "electronic" window! |
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| John Fonseca and I on duty in the aft lounge. |
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| Noon staff meeting to talk about the weather! Beaufort scale - what all of are talking about is being in this kind of storm in a sailing vessel....it must have been horrible!!
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Friday, 12 December 2014
The Drake
Well this afternoon at around 2 PM we left the protection of King George Island and headed out into the Drake. The seas have become progressively rougher. Currently we have waves between 6 - 8 meters with a few larger ones. The larger ones make the ship shudder and lurch - the spray is reaching the 10th story!! The crowds thinned for wrap-up, but still a substantial number showed up, however, the dinner crowd was a bit thin. We had a small private reception after wrap-up with some of the senior officers and members of the hotel staff. The main work of the expedition staff is now done.
For these past six days in Antarctica we were up at 5 - 5:30, eating
breakfast, donning our gear, getting the zodiacs ready, and then loading the
first passengers. The passengers are split into 5 colour coded groups of
about 85 passengers. The groups are rotated, so everyone got a chance to be
first (or last) in the sequence. When possible, staff have also been taken
to shore.
We have large zodiacs (Mark VI) that can
take 16 passengers and smaller ones that take 8 - 10 (Mark V). Several of
the staff are dedicated zodiac drivers and others like me, are lecturers and
interpreters. What is nice is that the ship's hotel staff look after the guests
in terms of getting them into life jackets, boots, etc. and also have staff on
shore to help load and unload passengers. Some of them volunteer everyday
- others are not so happy to be on the cold, windy, shores! After landing, a flagged route is set out and we are positioned at sensitive and/or
interesting locations. There are strict rules about not getting closer than 5 m
from the wildlife...mind you, sometimes you find your self with a small friend
at your feet....
Now for another 30 hours or so of the washing machine that the Drake can be!
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