January 7
After 96 hours and 550 nautical miles we sight land at 5 AM. We sailed towards the island only motoring when we had to sneak through a narrow passage. We are mostly tired, but so excited to go explore. First though we have a celebratory meal of pancakes and then a much needed nap with no boat rocking. We are the only boat anchored at Half Moon Island. One huge advantage of being on this smaller boat is that we can harbor where the larger cruise ships can’t After the nap we will put together the dingy and go ashore. We can hear and smell the penguin rookery.
It is a cold, snowy foggy morning when we arrived to Half Moon Island.
Fortunately by the time we headed to shore the sun had come out, but it wasn’t much above 32 degees
Voy gives us an orientation about observing penguins. We are not allowed to approach them, however, the penguins are quite curious and will often approach us. They are quite accustomed to being observed by humans as they get plenty of visitors from the cruise ships. Penquins also make what is known as a penguin highway. This is often a snow path to the water that they all follow. Today though there is more rocks than snow. We are warned to not step on the penguin highway or use it as a pathway. Before heading to the island we sanitize our boots, we will also do that when we get back on the boat. We will be visiting several colonies in the next couple of weeks and don’t want to spread disease between the different colonies.
Finally it is time to load up the dinghy and head to Half Moon Island. We are going to be on the look out for Gentoo, Chinstrap and Adelaide penguins. We don’t have to go far as soon as we land on the rocky beach we are greeted by some chinstrap and gentoo penguins. The penguins are easy to tell apart. The chinstraps have a dark line that runs from the back of their cheek to under their chin.; The Gentoo are larger and have an orange bill.
We beach our dinghy and get ready to go exploring.
The penguins come to check us out before heading down to the water and diving in.
Just watching them waddle around is so entertaining. We are also amazed at how agile they are when they are making their way thru boulders.
The chinstrap penguins are very adept at moving up and over boulders.
We spend some time exploring the island. Voy tells us that Half Moon Island and our next island destination we will be able to walk on rocky terrain. After that as we head further south our hikes will mainly be on snow.
It is full on summer in Antarctica.
I have a feeling that seeing calving glaciers will be a daily occurrence .
We are excited to see an Adelaide Penguin. They are becoming less common as the other two species are taking over some of their breeding grounds.
Adelaide Penguin
These two chinstraps met on an obvious pathway. They greeted each other and continued on in opposite directions.
After spending several engaging hours it was time to return to the boat.
Near where we returned to get our boat we passed by this boat and could only wonder the history of why it was here,.
It felt good to stretch our legs and for all of us to see Penguins!
We headed back to the boat for the task of sorting food. We needed to see how the fresh food fared after the Drake Passage. It was a group effort to sift thru the boxes and reorganize them. Don and I were the dinner cooks and made a delicious beef stew with the help of Ryan. There are several really good cooks on the trip so eating well is going to be easy.
After we ate Voy pulled out the maps and showed us our tentative route. There are a lot of factors to consider as we look at our route. One of which is how much ice will be in the passages that we need to go thru. The other big factor is the weather. Most of the participants have been on longer expeditions and realize that these are factors that are out of our control. We are ready to go to bed and feel so relieved that we are done with the Drake Passage that is until we need to return to Ushuaia. Don’t want to think of that!
January 8
We awoke to a cold and foggy morning. It was time to find our heavy warm jackets. After a breakfast of eggs and veggies cooked by Don and I, it was time to pull the anchor and head to Deception Island about 40 nautical miles away. We raised the sails, but soon had to take them down as the wind died. On our way we passed by Bailey Head and Sewing Needle Rocks. Warm clothes feel good.
We were told that these rocks were a good navigational sign for the early sailors.
On route we were able to observe 5 whales as they swam by our boat.
In the early 1900’s when whaling was at its prime, this area was filled by whales. One report was about a sailor who counted over 300 whales from the ship deck.
Our home for the night is Pendulum bay which is located in Deception Island. Deception Island is a collapsed volcano that has since flooded. It is very protected. No complaints as the Drake Passage is still fresh in our minds. After setting the anchor we ready the kayaks and the dinghy. There are 4 kayaks so Don and I, Ryan and Beth load up into the kayaks and paddle about 2 nautical miles to the other side where we are going to see some hot springs. Several years ago, it was permissible to dig holes in the sand and let them fill with hot water. This was an area that cruise ships could anchor and the impact on the beach was too great. We are impressed that we are in Antarctica and watching steam rise from the water.
The warm moist air feels so good.
Time to exchange places with the kayakers and let the dinghy riders paddle back to the boat.
And here we are paddling in Antarctica!
We get back to the boat about 10:00 pm and look forward to Beth and Ryan making dinner. It is after 11 when we finally head to our berths. It never gets dark, but dusk is from 11pm to 4 pm more or less.
Tomorrow there is wind in the forecast so the decision is make to enjoy this area for another day and take the opportunity to go hiking. We also are looking forward to checking out the Weddell Seals that look like huge boulders on a beach near us.
Jan.9
The radio is kept on all night in case an important message is broadcast. Last night though the message was comical. A voice came over the radio and said “Ryan you are needed and thanks for being adventurous.” Ryan jumps up and begins to put on warm clothes and then realizes that the message was meant for another boat. Before gearing up for a hike on the island, Ryan and Beth treat us to a great breakfast of meat, potatoes and veggies. On to the shore we go and get to see up close the Weddell Seal. It is described as a sausage shaped seal with a small head and short foreflippers.They are often seen just sleeping on the beach. Once on shore we get a good view of this mammal. They totally ignore us and the temptation is to see how close we can get. We know the rules and keep the proper distance.
They can be up to 10 feet in length . They survive the winter by using their teeth to keep a hole open in the ice. Older adults often have quite worn teeth.
Quite fun to observe.
And if you were patient enough like Julia, one was able to get a couple great photos.
Julia stays back to watch the seals, while the rest of the crew take off on a hike.
It definitely feels like one is walking on an old volcano.
Beth, Ryan Don and I enjoy the ability to take a walk. Sounds like our next destinations will be snow covered.
Jim poses with our boat in the background.
Ryan, Beth and Jamie check out the summit while Jim, Don and I enjoy the rock formations on the beach.
Time to head back to the boat and enjoy a peaceful evening.
This is what calm looks like.
Jan. 10
The wind came up during the night, but we are quite protected at our anchorage. This morning we are heading over to Whalers Bay before we begin our sail to the Trinity Islands. Whalers Bay is a historic Site that compromises all pre 1970 remains on the shore. This includes artifacts and structural remains of an earlier whaling period from 1906-1912 associated with Chile. A Norwegian Whaling station from 1944-1969 and a period of British scientific and mapping activity from 1944-1969. There is a cemetery here containing 35 burials and a memorial to ten men lost at sea.
It is a chilly morning with snow falling as we head over to check out the buildings.
We can only imagine the activities here when whales were being processed.
This above write up was attached to one of the buildings
On the shore was an old wooden boat. It may be similar to the ones that Shackleton used on his expeditions here.
The gravesites caused us pause as we thought about how the men here survived or didn’t with the conditions they encountered.
One reason that this area was evacuated was due to the volcanic eruptions.
We hiked up to Neptunes window before boarding the boat to our next expedition.
We were going to be back into weather as we headed out under sail to Trinity Island. It would be a 60 nautical mile crossing. We encountered sideways snow. 6 foot seas and 40 kilometer guests. It wasn’t a fun voyage for some of us. We also started to see icebergs which added some challenges to our route.
Beth enjoyed steering around some of the icebergs.
Eventually made it to a protected area. Jamie, Ryan and Beth hop into the dinghy to do some exploring while dinner is made. They find a penguin rookery to check out tomorrow. All is well until the middle of the night when the tide and winds shift bringing icebergs toward the boat. I was awakened at 1:00 am to go up on deck for ice watch and was given a pole to ward off small chunks of ice. If larger icebergs approached it would be all hands on deck. We did have some large ones coming our way, but they got grounded before we needed to pull anchor and move out of their way.
Jan.11
Today started out as a blue-bird sky, no wind and the warmest day yet. It is going to be a great day to explore the area by kayak and dinghy. After breakfast Ryan, Beth ,Julia and Jim hopped into the kayaks to begin to explore the area.
Jim is easy to see!
And so is Julia
The kayakers paddle past an iceberg and almost as on cue a group of penguins start hopping on to an iceberg one by one.
We are amazed at their agility. It is pretty steep as they use their bills to gain purchase.
I don’t think we will ever tire of observing penguins.
Don, Jamie, Ryan and I changed into kayaks while the kayakers headed back to the boat. We thought that we would meet up shortly with the boat as we paddled towards our next anchorage. It was a beautiful day and the scenery couldn’t be better. We stopped where we thought was the meeting place. We waited and waited some more. Meanwhile the first kayakers headed back to the boat and Voy suggested that they should go sledding.
The sledders got distracted having lots of fun and consequently there was a late rendezvous with the paddlers. Meanwhile the paddlers tried using the radio that was given to them only to discover that the batteries were dead. I needed to take a pee brake and unfortunately took on some water getting back into my boat. Nothing happened but….. When we finally saw the boat we were relieved but also a bit concerned as we talked about the what ifs. There was a group discussion and an agreement followed that once a plan is made it should be followed and all safety items (ie radios) should be checked before departing. We made it to the anchorage and Don and I made a shepherd pie. Thanks to Jeff for sending the recipe over the in reach. We are using the in reach for tracking and also to stay connected with the folks back in the states. We still have lots of light left and Voy suggests going to a nearby rookery.