Day 7 St Andrews Bay - Moltke Harbor (11/5)

I got all suited up and was just about to get in the zodiac when a big swell came up and just about washed the boarding crew overboard. They have been launching from the stern much like we do on our swim platform but the swells were washing over it so they changed to the starboard gangway. I was probably about half way to the platform when the swell came in. After that they suspended trips ashore and will have to figure out how to get those on shore back. We are headed to a more protected spot this afternoon where launching should be easier.

All made it back safely but two hours earlier than planned. We are now going to a new spot for this afternoon and will try to return tomorrow to the location that was so difficult this morning. That spot has the largest king penguin site on the island and the numbers were clearly visible from the ship. The winds and seas are predicted to be better tomorrow. The staff works closely with the captain and can make changes as need be to get better opportunities for shore side excursions since that is what it's all about.

I finally got off the boat this afternoon at a new beach and had a good shoot of the penguins, seals, etc. I even saw a rare "blond" fur seal which happens but is not common. The real treat was afterward when we took a two hour "dinghy" ride over to the foot of two enormous glaciers that dumped into the head of this bay. I have never seen a glacier that ended in water so it was a real experience. The best part was that the sun came out after lunch and this place really becomes spectacular when the mountains are isible. Tomorrow we will go back to the place where we had all the problems with rough water this morning and see if it improves. Since I could see from the ship the number of penguins (probably a million or more) that are on shore I really want to see it up close. Sunny skies would also be a bonus. At our daily debriefing they answered a question that I had asked yesterday and that was "what does penguin taste like?". As with most explanations we've heard, the answer was quite detailed and quite lengthy. On the staff they have a historian who actually lived on South Georgia at one time, a bird guy who gave the answer to my question and who lived in Antarctica at one time, and a marine mammal guy who is very involved with the orcas in the NW. That guy lives in BC and when I asked if he remembered an incident about 20 years ago where a Chilean sub ran into a sailboat off Victoria he said absolutely he did. Small world. The leader of the staff is from Pointe au Baril (on Georgian Bay) and his family ran the marina there. I showed him a picture I took last year of the lighthouse at the point and he recognized it right away. Again, small world.

Apparently I was the talk around the ship as "the passenger who slipped on the gangway" and the reason they suspended shore transfers and painted on more non-skid on the gangway this afternoon. What happened to me was nothing compared to the crew at the landing who almost got washed overboard by the big swell. I talked to the staff member that was down there and he said the water came up to his chest. One minute later and that would have included me as well. Just so you know, we all wear self-inflating life jackets while off the ship.