Antarctica Day 3 and next

Antarctica Day 3

Today was expedition cruising at its best - the Captain has been reminding us, our itinerary is totally based on weather and ice conditions. This morning we were supposed to enter the Antarctica Sound (Iceberg Alley) and see Paulette Island. Our approach to the Sound was blocked by pack ice that had not been reported. It was a huge area of sea ice and some icebergs that the winds had blown up from the southwest. After looking around for a while the Captain decided to head straight for Elephant Island. There was an expedition ship on the north side of the ice and we were on the south… There were 12 miles of ice between the two ships and both were looking for a channel to get through - neither found one. We finally doubled back to where we had started in the very early morning hours and then headed northeast. We had lost so much time that now there was no time to go to Elephant Island and we are headed straight for Port Stanley in the Falklands (plan D). We passed a number of huge icebergs but less and less of the small ones as we went north; by bedtime, there were none to be seen. For the many times that I’ve said I find the sea endless fascinating, I have to admit I miss the icebergs!  Especially the ones with penguins on them.

At Sea Heading to the Falklands

We left Antarctica at about 1:00 this morning and woke up to gray, foggy skies but again we have smooth passage in the Drake.

This morning was the Penguin Races; I had my penguin all dressed up in my sparkly necklace… we didn’t win the race but she was the best dressed penguin! Jim played in the Texas Hold’em tournament and was the 3rd out - good thing we aren’t gamblers.

We had lunch at the table with our Ice Pilot, Captain Pat Toomey. We had eaten lunch at his table a few days ago and he is really interesting… we are taking him to the Pinnacle tomorrow night as he will disembark in Buenos Aires. He gave a talk this afternoon describing what we actually did and the routes we ended up taking. He had done one just after Ushuaia detailing Plan A, the best possible itinerary and the one we would do if everything was perfect.

All in all it was a quiet day after the excitement of the Antarctic and it was nice not to be wearing the extra clothes and going in and out on the freezing decks for pictures. It’s still freezing out there, but I don’t have to go out.
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