Antarctica - Journey's End

As the old saying goes "All good things must come to an end." I can't even begin to describe all the wonderful experiences I had on this journey.

I was blessed to have some fantastic travel companions and made some new friends.

Our program director Andrea was a true delight. She had a wonderful personality and made the journey so much fun.

There were 4 program directors for the entire ship. Top: Marta and Andrea  Bottom: Sebastian and Martin

Martin, Andrea, Sebastian, and Marta

They all helped make this a fantastic journey.

The dreaded Drake passage was fairly calm and easy going for the trip across to Antarctica. I did experience a little sea sickness the first day but nothing major (so thankful for the motion sickness patches).

Ship's Log: Thursday, January 19 - We woke up to a very subtle rolling to remind us that we were at sea. While the Drake Passage is notorious for its rough condition, we have been lucky to experience the opposite phenomenon known as the Drake Lake! The wind that was blowing though, was coming from the east, which is unusual, as it almost always comes from the west.

The return trip was not so smooth. Even with the patch I was really sick for one day and didn't venture very far from the couch in my cabin.

Ship's Log: Thursday, January 26 - Our final night on the Drake brought what some of us had hoped for – a little shake (but not too much). From around 2-4:00 am M/V Corinthian was tossed well enough to wake many of us from our sleep, before subsiding as we neared the southern tip of South America. Soon after reaching the protected waters of the Beagle Channel, the Bridge reported 50 knot winds with 70 knot gusts off Cape Horn where we had been only a couple hours before.

The program directors put together a short video of our journey and it captures the essence of this most fantastic experience. I hope you enjoy it.

WOW!!!! is about all I can say at this point. Who knows where my next journey will take me.

Polar Plunge

Tuesday, January 24, 2017 - afternoon

Ship's Log: The Expedition Team had told us that our landing at Whalers Bay would be an opportunity for the brave (or was it the foolhardy??) to go for a plunge. About thirty guests and several members of the ship’s crew changed into their swimming gear (or not) and went into the sea. Whilst the sand was hot for the first few inches, the temperature of the water was only around 32⁰F, so few people stayed in for more than a matter of seconds.

There was no way I was going to pass on the opportunity to take a quick dip in the frigid Antarctica waters. I had worn swim trunks under my nice and cozy thermal ski pants and heavy parka in preparation for the big event.

We proceeded to take off those warm clothes and progress towards the water.

A mighty brave gesture before hitting the water.

At first I waded in slowly but as the water inched up my body I realized that it would be best to go QUICKLY and take the plunge.

YES, it was COLD!!! 

It didn't take too long for me to head back to shore to bask in the nice 40 degree air temperature.

There was a ready towel to help with drying off as quickly as possible.

I earned my membership into the Antarctic Polar Plunge Club!

The certificate reads:

This certifies that on January 24th in the year

Two Thousand and Seventeen

RUSTY NEWTON

did most sturdily enter the invigorating waters of the

Southern Ocean at Whalers Bay

Latitude 62º 59' South and Longitude 60º 33' West

when the observed temperature of the ocean registered 3º Celsius

(when the waters of the beach were NOT warmed by thermal upwellings).

We do solemnly acknowledge that this was an act of indubitable courage (as

well as extraordinary, incomparable foolishness). Based on the Expedition

Leader's observance of this act of absurd heroism, and the Ship's Doctor's

confirmation of the said person's temporary loss of any common sense, we

consider the bearer of this certificate a key member of the

Antarctic Polar Plunge Club.

NOTE: I am VERY thankful for Andrea, Mike and other fellow travelers who bravely stood on the beach and took pictures to help me document this fantastic event. 

Deception Island

Tuesday, January 24, 2017 - afternoon

Ship's Log: At 3:00 pm we navigated through Neptune’s Bellows, the narrow entrance to the collapsed caldera that is Port Foster in Deception Island. There is a submerged rock in the middle of this comparatively narrow channel and everyone appreciated the skill of the Captain and his Officers as we sailed past towering cliffs on our starboard side.

Whalers Bay - 62°59’ South, 60°34’ WestThis small bay is located on the eastern side of Port Foster and was named by Charcot as many
whalers used this sheltered anchorage. The area was discovered by Nathanial B. Palmer in 1820 and was subsequently used by Norwegians as a whaling station between 1910-1931.
The island has a long and dark history of sealing and whaling, and a continued history through most of the 20th century as a British research station. Two volcanic eruptions at the end of the 1960’s concluded the occupation of the station and destroyed all of the buildings and other structures at the site.

It took us 3 hours to reach Deception Island from Half Moon. 

You can see some of the old boiler tanks where the whale blubber was processed.

Neptune's Window

Walking along the shore we saw some seals

Salps (a barrel-shaped, planktonic tunicate. It moves by contracting, thus pumping water through its gelatinous body. Salp jet propulsion is one of the most efficient in the animal kingdom.)

Sea urchins 

There was an abandoned whaling water boat. 

The building were crumpling and falling down after years of abandonment following the volcanic eruptions in the 1960's.

Half Moon Island

Tuesday, January 24, 2017 - morning

Ship's Log: Half Moon Island, 62⁰ 36’ South, 59⁰ 55’ West
This crescent-shaped island is 1.25 mile long and is located on the eastern side of the much larger
Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands. It was known to Sealers as early as 1821, although was seemingly only named in the 1930s.

We arrived at Half Moon Island and by 8:45 am, passengers were disembarking Zodiacs and heading uphill and for another fabulous landing. The weather was most cooperative with no winds, gray skies, with high clouds providing some atmospheric drama and ideal light for photography. At the beach we found another abandoned water boat from the whaling era and a few Antarctic Fur Seals sleeping around it. The Expedition Team marked a path through the guano and algae-stained rocks towards the main Chinstrap colony. The Chinstraps provided much entertainment, especially when they erupted into a loud synchronous, almost deafening, cacophony. Many of them had cute fuzzy gray chicks. 

Ken, one of the expedition leaders resting on the zodiac before we start loading to transfer to the island.

The remains of a whaling water boat laid on the shore. You can see the line of Chinstrap Penguins acroos the top of the hill.

Clean penguins resting on the beach after their swim.

The reddish color is penguin poo and gets the color from the seafood they eat (mainly krill). The Chinstrap Penguins are the most numerous penguins in the world. It is estimated there are 12 to 13 million located on the barren islands of the sub-Antarctic Region and the Antarctic Peninsula.

A dirty penguin. Yep, when poop where you live you tend to get dirty. Oh, and the smell was memorable!

The grayish chicks blend in well with the rocky surrounding.

Here is a closeup.

We had fun watching them waddle around. They weren't afraid of us at all.

Enjoying the warm sun.

Fur seals on the beach sunning as well.

A little disagreement over who had the right to occupy this space.

We returned to the ship and began moving to our next area to visit.