Where We Be
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| The calm before the storm -- a beautiful zodiac excursion around Foyn Harbor on a glorious day |
| Antarctica -- Foyn Harbor & Return |
A zodiac excursion of Foyn Harbor turned out to
be the last meaningful activity of our cruise. All
other activities were canceled due to a double-
whammy: a crew member medical emergency
that had us beelining it to the South Shetland
Islands for a medical evacuation, combined with
a brewing storm in the Drake with predicted
wave heights of ten to thirty feet, potentially
resulting in a thirty-degree tilt of the ship. We
secured our room and prepared for the worst.
After the crew member was airlifted off King
George Island, we headed towards the storm,
hoping to beat the worst of it. Crossing the
Drake in a storm is like being a metal ball in one
of those handheld mazes where you tilt the
board this way and that to get the ball rolling
where you want it to go: sometimes you race
forward, other times you slip back, other times
you lurch to one side or the other. Two days of
this will test any person's patience. Suffice it to
say we made it and were glad to finally reach
the Beagle Channel where all was calm again.
We enjoyed a final celebratory dinner and
drinks and debarked the ship the next morning.
be the last meaningful activity of our cruise. All
other activities were canceled due to a double-
whammy: a crew member medical emergency
that had us beelining it to the South Shetland
Islands for a medical evacuation, combined with
a brewing storm in the Drake with predicted
wave heights of ten to thirty feet, potentially
resulting in a thirty-degree tilt of the ship. We
secured our room and prepared for the worst.
After the crew member was airlifted off King
George Island, we headed towards the storm,
hoping to beat the worst of it. Crossing the
Drake in a storm is like being a metal ball in one
of those handheld mazes where you tilt the
board this way and that to get the ball rolling
where you want it to go: sometimes you race
forward, other times you slip back, other times
you lurch to one side or the other. Two days of
this will test any person's patience. Suffice it to
say we made it and were glad to finally reach
the Beagle Channel where all was calm again.
We enjoyed a final celebratory dinner and
drinks and debarked the ship the next morning.
| This map of wave heights from a storm in the Drake, combined with a crew member medical emergency, changed the trajectory of the last few days of our Antarctica trip |
| View as we sailed out of the calm waters of King George harbor |
| Final dramatic view of a mountain peak poking up through a melted circle of snow |
| Here you can just see the top of Trinity Church, the most remote Russian Orthodox church in the world |
| King George is the largest of the South Shetland Islands and is home to multiple research stations (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, South Korea, Peru, Poland, Russia, Uruguay, and the U.S.) |
| Under different circumstances, we would have spent our last tour day visiting Deception Island -- an active volcano in the South Shetlands -- but a crew medical emergency required us to detour to King George Island instead |
| View looking aft as we said our farewells to the Antarctic Peninsula |
| Apparently the ship caught fire when an oil lamp got knocked over during a party, eventually causing the ship to explode, since it was full of whale oil at the time |
| We also saw the burnt remains of an old whaling vessel |
| We saw some truly dramatic icebergs in Foyn Harbor, including this one that looks like a steam locomotive |
| Fortunately the captain was able to run the ship aground and get everyone off in time |
| An Antarctic tern rests on the ship's rusted remains |
| Foyn Harbor |
| King George Isand -- South Shetland Islands |
| This brave little ship in King George harbor makes our ship look positively gigantic |
| When we finally made it back to the Beagle Channel (phew), we were given certificates detailing where and when we first landed on the Antarctic continent. Here, three passengers holding certificates pose with members of the crew. |
| Beagle Channel |
| We finished up the cruise with Beef Wellington for dinner and celebratory drinks at the bar before calling it a night |