December 28, 2017

    During the night, the winds picked up and the waves became higher. You could feel the rolls in our low midship cabin. The air temperature is about the same at 0° C, but the winds were northeast at 47 km per hour gusting to 59 km/hour and there was snow falling, when an announcement was made at 7:15 a.m. that the areas that were scheduled to be cruising today, Paradise Harbour and Cuverville Island, now were choked with ice and not safe.  People were advised to hang on to railings and be careful moving around the ship. The exits to the outside decks were barricaded. On Deck 8 we cut through the covered pool area and the indoor temperature was about 14° C, so cool that the hot tubs and the pool had steam rising from them. Also by the bar were two 50 cups thermos covered in quilted covers, one containing hot chocolate and bouillon for people to drink to warm up.

   The route for the start of the day was to go on the west side of Advers (Amberes) Island north and back into Gerlache Strait to find a spot with less ice, the waves are about three to four meters high so there was quite a lot of rolling to the ship.  After breakfast, we climbed up to the Crow’s Nest Lounge on Deck 9 to look at the books and maps of Antarctica. There were several dozen people there, about 25% of the amount of people who were there at noon yesterday, when the windows offered a great view. Today the view is shrouded in low cloud with the snowy land blending in with the clouds.

   One of the TV channels shows the current position of the ship and another channel shows the view from the bow camera also broadcasting commentary from the bridge. The narration is also heard on the outside decks and in the Crow’s Nest Lounge.

   There was an Antarctica Expedition Team lecture, “Seabirds of the Southern Ocean” presented by Dr. Peter Carey about the flying and non-flying birds of Antarctica.  Then an early afternoon Antarctica Expedition Team repeat lecture given by Gabriela Roldan called “From Companions to explorers: Women in Antarctica”.

   The ship travelled through a few hours of a snow storm, which deposited large wet snowflakes on the decks and windows as the ship cruised the Palmer Archipelago. The snow changed to rain later in the afternoon as the wind blew to over 120 kilometers per hour and fog came in to reduce the visibility to about one kilometer.

    Our evening dining group met in the afternoon for two hours to play Canasta.  We have planned for another round tomorrow.  Before dinner we went to Happy hour and ordered the same kind of wine so that the second glass was just $2 US, before going to dinner.

  Tonight, we ordered Udon Noodle Soup, Grilled Eggplant with Kalamata Olives, Tomato, cucumber, palm hearts mixed salad and bean soup for starters.  Main course was Crispy Sweet & Sour Shrimp on rice and Yucatán Salad with grilled Chicken.  The desserts chosen were Sacher Torte and Mango Cream Horn.  During dinner, the ship travelled along Bransfield Strait and passed the western side of Deception Island with its steep rocky shores. There is a large penguin rookery there and with the sun partially breaking through and the visibility improved so photographers could zoom into the shore and see the hundreds of penguins gathering at a small beach break in the steep cliffs.  Then Peter Carey mentioned that the plan for tomorrow was scenic cruising at Hope Bay in Antarctic Sound.  The ship will be heading due east and a bit north across Bransfield Strait during the night.

    The entertainment tonight was X-Over Duo a man and a woman who are classically trained vocalists singing movie scores, opera classics and pop songs.  We skipped the show to go outside to see Deception Island.

Final Steps 13,204