Deception Island & Gerlache Strait
After a quiet night in Fosters Bay we awoke to a strong westerly wind. The wind was fairly rushing over the sea lifting the tops of the waves and whipping them off in sheets of white foam. The sky slowly cleared from a grey murk and slowly gave way to a beautiful pale blue. However the wind was giving no indication of abating and so we had to abandon any idea of making a landing at Deception Island and decided to head off south. As we sailed through Neptune’s Bellows it was possible to appreciate how ferocious the wind was as the waves crashed on to the rocks causing the drops of water to be broken to fine mist which in itself was immediately whipped off and away.
Once through the Bellows, we saw a large group of Chinstrap penguins off to port side effortlessly porpoising their way through, on their way to their feeding grounds. Onboard during the morning, we had occasion to further our knowledge on penguins with Richard White’s lecture. After that, we saw Jon Bowermaster’s film entitled “The Birth of the Winds,” a documentary on a kayaking trip in the Aleutian Islands.
By mid-day we were out in the middle of the Bransfield Strait. Some of the waves we encountered were 5 to 6 meters (15 to 18 feet). The seascape was incredible, dark grey waters with a tinge of purple. As far as the eye could see, the surface was lacerated with long thin lines of white foam and, perpendicular to the wind direction, dark grey ripples forming and disappearing. Every now and then a seabird could be sighted making a mockery of the conditions.
Our ship is faring well with occasional dips into the waves followed by a spectacular fan of water opening up from the bow. The fan of water rises high into the air and then, caught in the gale force winds, is propelled into the window panes of the bridge. On the other side of the ship (and snuggly protected from this onslaught), we eagerly take our photographs and make appropriate ooooh and aaaaah sounds. There are few of us at lunch today.
By early afternoon the winds are gusting at 60 to 70 knots, and the waves are over 7 meters. The Beaufort scale indicates that we are in a Force 12 hurricane! The sky has partially cleared and the sea is now a deep green color. The occasional birds continue to amaze us with their expert flying in such conditions.
In the late afternoon and in the lea of Brabant Island the situation has considerably quieted and we are treated to the amazing scenery so typical of this wonderful place. Icebergs dot the landscape and the mountain slopes are clad in their white finery of snow and ice extending all the way down to the waters edge. After tea we hear Tom Smiths’s lecture on seals in the Arctic and the Antarctic.
After dinner the weather has changed dramatically and we are now enveloped in mist and occasional snow storms. We have not made it ashore, yet there is a general consensus that it has been an amazing day and we all feel grateful to our Captain and the rest of the crew for safely getting us through the storm.
After a quiet night in Fosters Bay we awoke to a strong westerly wind. The wind was fairly rushing over the sea lifting the tops of the waves and whipping them off in sheets of white foam. The sky slowly cleared from a grey murk and slowly gave way to a beautiful pale blue. However the wind was giving no indication of abating and so we had to abandon any idea of making a landing at Deception Island and decided to head off south. As we sailed through Neptune’s Bellows it was possible to appreciate how ferocious the wind was as the waves crashed on to the rocks causing the drops of water to be broken to fine mist which in itself was immediately whipped off and away.
Once through the Bellows, we saw a large group of Chinstrap penguins off to port side effortlessly porpoising their way through, on their way to their feeding grounds. Onboard during the morning, we had occasion to further our knowledge on penguins with Richard White’s lecture. After that, we saw Jon Bowermaster’s film entitled “The Birth of the Winds,” a documentary on a kayaking trip in the Aleutian Islands.
By mid-day we were out in the middle of the Bransfield Strait. Some of the waves we encountered were 5 to 6 meters (15 to 18 feet). The seascape was incredible, dark grey waters with a tinge of purple. As far as the eye could see, the surface was lacerated with long thin lines of white foam and, perpendicular to the wind direction, dark grey ripples forming and disappearing. Every now and then a seabird could be sighted making a mockery of the conditions.
Our ship is faring well with occasional dips into the waves followed by a spectacular fan of water opening up from the bow. The fan of water rises high into the air and then, caught in the gale force winds, is propelled into the window panes of the bridge. On the other side of the ship (and snuggly protected from this onslaught), we eagerly take our photographs and make appropriate ooooh and aaaaah sounds. There are few of us at lunch today.
By early afternoon the winds are gusting at 60 to 70 knots, and the waves are over 7 meters. The Beaufort scale indicates that we are in a Force 12 hurricane! The sky has partially cleared and the sea is now a deep green color. The occasional birds continue to amaze us with their expert flying in such conditions.
In the late afternoon and in the lea of Brabant Island the situation has considerably quieted and we are treated to the amazing scenery so typical of this wonderful place. Icebergs dot the landscape and the mountain slopes are clad in their white finery of snow and ice extending all the way down to the waters edge. After tea we hear Tom Smiths’s lecture on seals in the Arctic and the Antarctic.
After dinner the weather has changed dramatically and we are now enveloped in mist and occasional snow storms. We have not made it ashore, yet there is a general consensus that it has been an amazing day and we all feel grateful to our Captain and the rest of the crew for safely getting us through the storm.
