Captain’s Log: Days 8-10, Hydruga Rocks, Mikkelsen Harbor, and Brown Bluff

March 21-23

Hi All,

Some one asked us about the food: well….while we desire and need to, we haven’t missed a meal….yikes!!! Breakfast and lunch are buffets which seem to be our most favorite meals. Dinner is ala carte and smaller portions….TG. There is a smaller, more private restaurant on the 8th floor, The Rockhopper, that serves excellent steaks, pasta, fish et al and sides. But the night we went, the heater was broken and it was quite cold…so we haven’t been back!! Breakfast…lots of fruit, oatmeal, eggs any way, bacon, toast, bagels are standard, then eggs benedict, French toast, a verity of pancakes, chicken fried steak, biscuits and gravy plus a lot of sides. Lunch: salad bar standard, some delicious soups like seafood chowder, wonton, lentil et al, then hamburgers, pulled pork, brats, fried chicken, veal cutlet, roast beef, lots of pasta, Asian dishes, and many different vegetables….yummers. Dinner: soup or salad for starter, then the entrée – steak, lamb shank, veal shank, salmon, different pasta, beef short ribs, steaks et al with delicious sides. Dessert: well after a few apple cobblers, chocolate brownies we have settled in to mainly have the homemade ice cream of the day!!!

March 21, Day 8: Hydruga Rocks, Access Point: Another glorious start of the day!! The sea was clam, sun shining, and very little wind….almost perfect!! Hydruga Rocks were named after the Latin name for Leopard seal as a large number were here in the past. We were greeted by a dozing elephant seal (our first) and after making our way over some very slippery rocks w/o falling I knew it would be a good day:))) This whole area was covered with Chinstrap penguins, our first true sighting of a large colony. I especially liked when the Chinstrap’s stretched their heads up as they called out and shaking there heads side to side. Most were molting and a bit cranky trying to shake off the old feathers. As well, we saw many Antarctic fur seals playing and tussling with each other and some taking baths in the water….wow, wow, wow!! There also was a very large Weddell seal that was mostly asleep but occasionally stretched it flippers with a scratch or two….LIG for the seals!! We also saw a large group of blue eyed shags (or cormorants as we call them)….love to watch these guys fly. They would mix in w/the Chinstraps so sometimes you were not sure which was which!!

The afternoon was a bit different….a storm is brewing far away but the clouds started to roll in. The sky had become quite overcast and gave us a sense of the changeable nature of Antarctica. We went to Recess Cove, our 2nd continental landing. Another short but steepest yet hike yielded some spectacular views over the bay and glaciers galore. However, most of the mountains were covered with low clouds but sometimes you got a peak of one. We did a zodiac cruise after the hike and again were treated to huge glaciers, lots of crevasses, and unique icebergs. Our guide Julia called the icebergs, “the artwork of the ocean”!! During the cruise we saw `4 more Humpbacks, pretty close and finally I got the iconic tail shot!!!

March 22, Day 9: Mikkelsen Harbor: OK folks a “moderate” storm is coming and the Captain says it will hit between 11:00am and noon so we need to be back to the ship by 11am….so an early start…ugh!! Antarctica has been showing us all her faces on this voyage, which for me is perfect….we love all facets of Mother Nature as long as we are safe:))) “The old maxim that nothing in Antarctica is predictable except the unpredictability of Antarctica was ringing true”. Whoever wrote that however did not have windyty as it was definitely predicting this storm with purple/magenta wind and sea colors….for Kathy and me…anything greater than blue is bad:))) We have had a few days of fresh snow mornings and bluebird skies followed by golden afternoons and fairytale sunsets. Vicki, one of the naturalist wrote it best “The sky manages to be all of the colors simultaneously, but not any one specifically, lemon yellow, bright apricot, burnt gold, mint green, deep amber, powder blue, rose pink, fading into deeper, more velvety tones as the night creeps over and the stars appear”….whoa!! Unfortunately it was too rolly for a landing so just a 2.5 hour zodiac cruise…dress warmly, the wind will pick up and yeppa…I did dress warmly but my face and hands got pretty cold.(I have to take the glove off my right hand to handle the camera so yikes…even with glove warmers the poor right hand was abused:)))

We entered the swelly zodiac….sir, please time the step on the zodiac on the upswell….hmmmm, ok….NOW SIR…OK….and yes I did land on my feet to everyone’s applause and given a “5”….but, several people did fall on others…yikes!!! It was already windy….10-20kts, and sleeting….ODG, I hope my clothes are really waterproof. Our guide Leo said he kind of liked days like this where the distraction of the backdrop is removed and you can focus on the luminous colors of the iceberg in front of you and….that whale over there. We had an excellent whale show…many tail/body shots and one time the whale surfaced 30′ from the dinghy with a big blow….yeppa, I tasted my breakfast again….I know, TMI, but just the noise of the surfacing whale before you can find and focus is quite nerve wracking as you know something huge is near you!!!

There is a small emergency hut, one of ~30 throughout the Peninsula maintained by Argentina, supplied with heating propane and food, which we saw from a distance as well as a large Adelie penguin colony on the same island.

So all safely back by 11am, all 16 zodiacs lifted and stowed and we set off by noon….such punctuality, high fives all around. We all enjoyed a hearty and hot lunch as we watched the wind go form 20, then 30, then 40-45kts, and the seas go from 3′ all the way to 12′ in a matter of a few hours. FOTUNATELY all this weather was off the stern so the ride was actually quite smooth…just a mild and gentle roll…whoa!!! No landing for the afternoon:((( as we made our way up and around the Peninsula to a safe haven harbor. But, Julia gave a nice talk on the intelligence of whales and dolphins!!!

March 23, Day 10: Howard, our Expedition Leader, had fallen on some slippery rocks a few days ago…I was there and yeppa, he took a good tumble, and it took a few days but by yesterday afternoon he was immobile…the doc feared some internal damage. The ship does have an x-ray machine and knew Howard had fractured a rib. So Leo, one of the Guides, an Argentinean and teaches at the University and has been in Antarctica for 20 years studying seals and penguins, called the Argentina base, about 10nm from our anchorage at Brown Bluff and called in a few favors for their medical faculty to see Howard. They were not taking any visitors due to Covid protocols but made an exception for Howard and Leo!! The ship took Howard back to the medical facility early that morning and with the use of ultrasound found nothing else wrong just a broken rib and some bruising….sort of like take a few aspirin and call me tomorrow:)))

Esperanza Research Station: Very curious but this station has several families in residence….one of 2 stations that do. You can even get married there if you want.

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/hope-bay/attractions/esperanza-station/a/poi-sig/1445615/1333054
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esperanza_Base

We could not do a landing as again too swelly but we all landed the zodiac entrance from the ship and off we went to a bright sunny, blue sky glorious day. Lots of glaciers, icebergs, a big and beautiful volcanic brown bluff….duh as the place is called Brown Bluff….and a few glacier calvings…no I did not see one, just heard the loud crack and then the aftermath…..lots of Adelie penguins and a few leopard seals….and in fact, one big guy became quite enamored with our zodiac and stayed/played with us for a good half hour….our guide tried to leave it but it followed and played in our wake…even other zodiacs came over to watch Leo the Leopard…yes we had to name him….stayed with us….ODG, what a treat….now I took a gazillion pictures and only maybe a few dozen are decent…Leo was quite frisky and picture shy!!!!

That afternoon we took off across the Scotia Sea to South Georgia Island. We were certainly a bit sad to leave and felt like the seven days with 11 landings/zodiac cruises went by in a flash…many landings running together in our minds. In fact that evening Stephi, the Geologist, did a wonderful memory jogging summary review and of course, writing these blogs and reviewing the 3000 pictures has brought it all clear once again. But before that, Leo, held a session on his 20 years of research on emperor penguins, and crabeater, fur and elephant seals….his pictures were amazing!!

The Plan: Cross the Scotia Sea ~850 miles to South Georgia Island, taking the next 3 days, ~70+ hours, arriving at Gold Harbor around noon on Sunday, March 26….there is supposed to be a very large Emperor penguin colony there!! BTW, Shackleton in his 22′ wooden boat James Caird sailed these same waters with 5 other men but leaving from Elephant Island in 1916. We were supposed to cruise by Elephant Island but it was socked in by the storm and had 30′ seas…easy decision to skip. It took Shackleton 16 days to cross and they went through 2 gale force+ storms…we are taking 3 days in moderate conditions….Kathy and I keep looking at the seas and saying no way…in fact Kathy says if I had to do that, just throw me overboard and be done with it….these men showed such heroism and desire to survive…incredible!!!

Hope all is well!!

John
we feel like we have won the lottery…..WE HAVE CREW:)))