Deep South Adventures Day 7
When we got up this morning we were farther south along the actual Antarctic Peninsula instead of islands around it.
Today we reached the farthest south we’re going this trip. Unlike what I said about the record in Tasmania 5 years ago, this time I REALLY think we won’t break it.
There was lots of ice around, but it didn’t seem too rough. So, hopes were high that we’d get to go ashore.
The zodiac folks got out to scout and check conditions.
But, the wind was picking up.
The zodiac dock is right below our room, so when I heard them talking about high winds, I know what was coming.
And, if you look at the snow off of this iceberg’s top, it does seem windy.
So, as feared, they canceled the third landing in a row.
Very sad. The first three all canceled.
But, they said “We’ll do the Polar Plunge right here! Get your bathing suits on!”
So, we did.
But, before letting you jump off a ship into the very cold antarctic water, they made us all take a Covid test first.
After swabs up the nose, we went out and jumped off the ship.
Sadly, I tried to bring my GoPro for this, in it’s waterproof case, but I was told to leave it behind. They were worried about the safety strap getting caught with the cord for the camera.
I’m told the ship’s photographer will have the images and video of everyone who did it available later. So, photos and video once I have them.
These are the coordinates were we jumped in the water.
While the water was very cold, and surprisingly salty, it was the air that really got us. You’ve got to walk out to the side loading area in just your bathing suit in the wind too high to let people get in ships.
That’s cold.
Then, they tell you to jump in.
The water is cold. And, the steps up high. I could not get my foot up to them and had to use my knee.
When we got back to the room, the butler for our room knocked on the door.
“That was amazing!” He shouted to us. “I saw you both jump in the water!”
One of the waiters at lunch was equally impressed.
Sadly there was someone on another deck who had indicated less respect for larger people doing it.
My wife had this reaction.
Especially as we went in and he did not…
Then, they moved the ship again to a place we could go ashore.
At lunch there was much discussion if our bad luck would continue.
We pulled into a very protected cove to increase the odds of a landing.
They said it was good, and got out the boats.
Because the original ship we were on got cancelled only 2 months ago, we rebooked on this one last minute. So, we were not at the top of the list for passengers.
We were in group 10 of 10 to go ashore.
I won’t lie, watching everyone else go while we waited, the weather shifted and we worried they’d cancel was the toughest part of this trip for me so far.
I was ready and waiting hoping that the weather would hold off.
When they finally called out group, close to 3 hours after the first one, we dashed to the loading area.
But, it went well, we got in the boat and headed to shore.
A fairly unedited video of us getting to shore:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKvl54HR-4c
And, there we were. On Antarctica.
Penguins. Icebergs breaking off the glacier near us into the sea. The whole thing.
You’re supposed to stay 5 meters from the penguins, but if they come towards you, you don’t have to back up.
There were times I had to say “Get out of my way penguin, I’m trying to use this path!”
This guy had a great hat.
As we were the last group, we were still on shore when they gave the talk about what we’ll be doing tomorrow. So, it isn’t totally clear to us.
More worrying was the ice really started to build up.
So, we came back to the ship and the boats were raised up.
We had a nice, if a bit late, dinner.
When we got back to the cabin there were signed certificates from the captain and the expedition leader about us going swimming.
