Jan. 16 Antarctica Day 1

 Sunrise 3:41 am

When I opened the curtains at 6 am I was disappointed to see nothing but fog. However, 15 minutes later I caught the first glimpse of Antarctica all snow and ice covered.


Each minute the scenery just kept getting better. We sailed past bergie bits (small remnants of icebergs), growlers (larger remnants of icebergs) and huge icebergs so close that it felt like we could reach out and touch them.


At Palmer Station, (64.77836° S, 64.07685° W) 8 of the 35 crew came on board. Their first stop was at the buffet where they were overwhelmed by the variety and the fresh fruits. They gave two presentations in the theatre about the research that is being done at their station from studies on phytoplankton to whales. They stayed on board as we sailed as far as we could into the Lemaire Channel.

As we were approaching the Lemaire Channel, the clouds were like a tablecloth covering the 3000 foot high shear cliffs.


After we took the Palmer station crew back to their station with supplies of fresh food, we sailed toward Port Lockroy on Wiencke Island, a UK station that is now maintained as an historic monument. There is a colony of Adelie penguins on the island. 


We continued our sailing up the Neumayer Channel which runs between Anvers Island and Wiencke Island. There was a pod of whales feeding and breaching and Gentoo penguins along the shore. 



Tonight we are going to drift with the icebergs. The ship uses GPS to hold its speed in relation to the icebergs.


Was it cold today? The high was 1C, but the winds were up to 51 knots making it feel like -20C, but still not as cold as it is at home today. 

Sunset 11:14 pm


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