Sailing the South Atlantic

 

The Albatross Dining Room

 My special box of chocolates.

 The mudroom.

 The kayaks.

 Selfie on upper deck.

 One of four life boats - each holds 51 people!

 Bruce and John

The bridge and deck seven above.

Friday, October 25^th.

Another relaxing late morning wake up. Showered in the small stall in the loo, which went well because the ship was not heaving. After breakfast we had a compulsory briefing in the Lounge about Zodiac Safety. Jonathan led the presentation and he was emphatic about the dangers of this area of the world if we are not careful and thoughtful. He told us about the 1,2,3 steps for getting into the zodiac, step on the inflated side, then the inside step and then onto the floor. He clearly laid out the dangers of falling into the water and told us that the water temperature will be around +1 to -1 in which we will be lucid for about 90 seconds before we become unresponsive and unconscious. He explained how fast weather can change from calm to wild and windy with potentially hurricane force winds, and how quickly ice can close in around our craft and perhaps strand us on our landing. After reading the books about Arctic and Antarctic exploration disasters, I have no doubt about what he related and want no part of any problems.

Next on the agenda was boot fitting. We were called down to the mudroom by room number and given the chance to try on a pair of neoprene wellies (they call them ‘bog boots’). We were also given a small life jacket that we are to wear each time we leave the ship. It is very thin and not at all bulky. It inflates like an airbag when it hits water. We are all assigned a small bench space where we are to leave our shoes and whatever we are not taking for the landings and kit up into our boots and life jacket before disembarking. We are all issued with an identity card that we must swipe to leave the boat and swipe again when returning to the ship. In this way they can account for everyone. Upon returning to the ship we are to leave our boots, life jacket, parka and any wet items in the mudroom to dry. Both when leaving and returning to the ship we are to walk through a disinfectant bath to make sure that we do not transmit invasive seeds, bacteria or viruses from one location to another or to the pristine Antarctic environment.

Lunch was again buffet style and delicious. After which John and I went out to the forward bow position to take a few photos as today the seas are calm and the forward section of the ship is deemed to be safe and dry. I also made a visit to the bridge to see the captain and his officers and the controls of the ship.

We had a lecture in the lounge by Keith on general geology. He gave us a short history of the three types of rock and the pressures the earth exerts on each of these rocks and how they are transformed. The most interesting thing I learned is that despite the fact the Falklands are geographically closer to South America than South Georgia, because of the movement of the tectonic plates, they are actually drifting from Southern Africa towards South America and South Georgia is drifting in the opposite direction towards South Africa.

After that we watched a 90-minute documentary on the Falkland Islands War as told by the local people. The war was basically started because two politicians were struggling to maintain power and needed something to feed nationalistic fervour. The dictator of Argentina, General Leopoldo Galtieri, decided to make a statement by threatening to invade the Falklands saying that they belonged to Argentina. In Britain, Margaret Thatcher’s government was being undermined by the civil unrest in the country due to the striking coal miners and other unionist issues. She vowed to protect and defend the British people living on the islands. The Argentinians invaded and the British set sail. Apparently, the British assumed the Argentinians would then retreat, but Galtieri could not without losing face. As a result, there was a full out war that lasted about two months killing 1000 soldiers on both sides and a handful of local people. It made me think of the lyrics to this song:

There's dead men in the South Atlantic
Doesn't it warm your hearts
To think that they died for you and me
Oh God, what a farce
There's crippled men back home in England
It's meant to warm our hearts
They think they fought for peace and freedom
Poor boys, what a farce, what a farce (New Model Army)

Dinner was again delicious and with each meal we get to meet and talk to other people and swap stories. There are a lot of British people on this voyage.

In between each of these viewing I went out to get some air and enjoy the voyage. The weather is getting cooler and it is usually quite windy but if you are bundled up with wind breaking gear it is quite doable. There are many serious photographers on the ship and they are out trying to get shots of the albatross, petrels and fulmars that are flying around following the ship.

In the evening we were invited to movie night in the lounge to watch: Shackelton, with Kenneth Branagh, which chronicles his 1914 expedition aboard the Endurance. We watched the first half of the movie (as it is 4 hours and will be shown on two different nights). It was interesting to me as it delved more into the history and the struggles Shackelton had in raising the funds necessary to mount a voyage of this magnitude just as the first world war was about to begin.