Today was a full day of exploring various sites in the western Weddell sea, which lies on the east side of the Antarctic Peninsula. An early morning effort to go ashore was stymied by high winds and replaced with cruising through Fritjof Sound, a spectacular narrow passage choked with ice. After lunch we landed at Paulet Island and visited with 120,000 pairs of Adelie penguins and viewed the stone hut in which members of a Norwegian expedition spent the winter. But the highlight for many was long after dinner, during the lazy and prolonged Antarctic sunset. We approached Snow Hill Island with intent to make a landing but fast ice (sea ice attached to the shore) prevented us from getting close enough.
But it did make for a thrilling time as Captain Leif Skog maneuvered the Caledonian Star through the outer fringes of pack ice, making full use of the ship's ice-reinforced hull design. We enjoyed watching the bow cut through and push around ice floes, and the evening sky surrounding us was radiant with beautiful pastels and reflections of sunset colors.
