Antarctica & Cape to Cape on Cloud 2-21-24

[markandjie]

3 hours ago, highplanesdrifters said:

And like @FauxNom pointed out there is a pushy shovey lot on board.

 

 

Oh man, you weren't kidding when you said viewing areas are more limited than on SB Venture.

[highplanesdrifters]

Just now, markandjie said:

 

Oh man, you weren't kidding when you said viewing areas are more limited than on SB Venture.

 

Exactly!  It's the only front deck space.....AND it's not always open.

[highplanesdrifters]

Salisbury Plain, South Georgia.

 

No words needed, except....

 

Penguin Soup

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jpalbny]

Wow! Great shots. 

[highplanesdrifters]

Just now, jpalbny said:

Wow! Great shots. 

 

Awww, thanks.  Means a lot coming from the best.

[markandjie]

7 hours ago, highplanesdrifters said:

Salisbury Plain, South Georgia.

 

No words needed, except....

 

Penguin Soup

 

So glad you had a great experience there even without a landing! 

[highplanesdrifters]

Just now, markandjie said:

 

So glad you had a great experience there even without a landing! 

 

I'm a convert.  The cruise at Salisbury was incredible. 

[highplanesdrifters]

Possession Bay, South Georgia

 

In the interest of over stimulation EL Claudia scored us an afternoon landing. We had shoreline entertainment and a short hike up a rocky stream bed to the main King Penguin colony. There was also a small Gentoo outpost and a few elephant seals.  As you look through the photos and videos notice how some Kings strive to be taller.  As opposed to fighting and bashing each other, this is how they show their masculinity. They have no interest in Beer Pong. 

 

Legendary Brent Houston encourages guests to stop, slow down and just observe. You might not see everything, but you will see more. Great advice.

 

An easy wet landing with no swell.

Critters everywhere.

 

 

 

The Kings stretched all along the beach will the fur seal pups scattered amongst them.

 

 

We joined the line of Kings headed up the hill to the colony.

 

 

Along the way seals and their pups nestled and played in the Tussock grass.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Striking their pose. 

 

 

When they molt, each little feather is replaced.  Imagine.

 

Worth the short hike up.

 

 

 

What possessed them to go stand on the other side? This one cracks me up.

 

 

Barbershop quartet? Actually many small groups standing around to see who is tallest. 

 

 

Time to make the donuts.

 

 

Scratching contest.

 

 

Playing pups.

 

 

This pup was at war with the Gentoo. He followed him everywhere and nipped away. He would occasionally snip at a King just for fun. He has organized a Beer Pong game at 3pm.

 

 

And then weather moved in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[highplanesdrifters]

Purple is bad.

 

We all know this. We knew it was coming. It's bad.  Captain gave a special briefing. 

 

 

We were scheduled for 5 days in South Georgia.  We got 3 of the most amazing days anyone could possibly imagine in one of the most amazing places on the planet. The bonus round really kicked in after day 2.  We've got one heck of a storm to outrun and some rough days to come. Tristan here we come.

 

 

[bohaiboy]

Is that Captain Freddie?  We have a friend on the Cloud and they are hightailing it already as per Cruisemapper..  The Wind is there also and supposedly heading to Falkands, which would be in to the storm.  I Wonder what they are doing?

[highplanesdrifters]

Just now, bohaiboy said:

Is that Captain Freddie?  We have a friend on the Cloud and they are hightailing it already as per Cruisemapper..  The Wind is there also and supposedly heading to Falkands, which would be in to the storm.  I Wonder what they are doing?

 

Yes, Captain Freddie.  What a great guy.  Hightailing is an understatement, clicking along at 18 kts. No swell at the moment which makes it a sweet smooth ride. There are an inordinate amout of Bergs. Double night watch. Glad he's at the helm.

 

As for The Wind, she's been drawing the short straw in the weather department.  Perhaps she's headed for shelter in the Falklands, who knows.

 

Hope your friends are enjoying!

 

Current position

 

 

 

Revised itinerary. Other than an extra sea day I wonder what might happen after Nightingale.

 

 

Old itinerary.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Fletcher]

What is Jamestown doing on that itinerary?  It's at least two days sailing NORTH of Tristan da Cunha.  People often muddle things up here because the administration for the British Overseas Territory is vague to people who don't have an atlas.  

[highplanesdrifters]

Just now, Fletcher said:

What is Jamestown doing on that itinerary?  It's at least two days sailing NORTH of Tristan da Cunha.  People often muddle things up here because the administration for the British Overseas Territory is vague to people who don't have an atlas.  

 

 

I asked the same question.   It's been corrected. What a shame, I was looking forward to more muddling. 

 

 

[southerngoose]

One of the fun things about traveling is learning about new places in the world.   I thought "Inaccessible Island" was a joke.   But no...it's the name of a real place out there!   I can't wait to hear what you do/see on Inaccessible Island, since very few people get to go to there.   I hadn't even heard of any of these islands until this thread.  It's interesting to read about them and imagine life living in such remote locations.

 

[bohaiboy]

According to someone on the Wind today, they have two excursions planned for today.  They are not scheduled to leave until today.  Cruisemapper shows them anchored in one of the fjords near Gryviken.  Windy.com shows most of the bad weather staying north of SG and max winds 38 ks.  It is moving more toward the Cloud, so maybe that's what Freddie saw.

[bohaiboy]

7 minutes ago, southerngoose said:

One of the fun things about traveling is learning about new places in the world.   I thought "Inaccessible Island" was a joke.   But no...it's the name of a real place out there!   I can't wait to hear what you do/see on Inaccessible Island, since very few people get to go to there.   I hadn't even heard of any of these islands until this thread.  It's interesting to read about them and imagine life living in such remote locations.

 

Some of tose islands appear to be uninhabited even.

[highplanesdrifters]

Just now, southerngoose said:

One of the fun things about traveling is learning about new places in the world.   I thought "Inaccessible Island" was a joke.   But no...it's the name of a real place out there!   I can't wait to hear what you do/see on Inaccessible Island, since very few people get to go to there.   I hadn't even heard of any of these islands until this thread.  It's interesting to read about them and imagine life living in such remote locations.

 

 

We often joke with friends and our TA - " I didn't know it existed, and I didn't know I needed to go there". 

 

We'll see if mother nature decides to let us in.😅   

 

As an example, Shag Rock South Georgia. I didn't know it existed. It was a wildlife extravaganza, one of the highlights of the trip. 

[highplanesdrifters]

Just now, bohaiboy said:

According to someone on the Wind today, they have two excursions planned for today.  They are not scheduled to leave until today.  Cruisemapper shows them anchored in one of the fjords near Gryviken.  Windy.com shows most of the bad weather staying north of SG and max winds 38 ks.  It is moving more toward the Cloud, so maybe that's what Freddie saw.

 

Would love to know if your friends are able to get any excursions. Grytviken harbor is blocked by icebergs. Not as much protection to launch zodiacs.

 

The Captians decision to leave SG early was fully supported by the guests. The area is chuck full of icebergs.  Hard enough to navigate and pick your way through with calm seas, imagine a storm tosing them at the ship. As mentioned Captian has his team working double duty. They have done an amazing job. We are past the ice for the most part. Although the weather is miserable we are staying ahead of the worst.

 

[highplanesdrifters]

Grytviken and Bootgate

 

What and eerie and surreal place.  Due to bird flu, Shackletons grave and the whaling station were closed.  The church, museum and gift shop were open.  A nice hike was offered.  It was a bit of a bust for us as someone had pilfered one of each of our boots.  Staff helped us search high and low. Nothing.  We were the last excursion, time was running out we had to find something that could work.  Lovie got one boot that was wet inside and I got one that was too small. We did a hobble to the Museum and just enjoyed the glorious scenery and sunshine.  Luckily we had been here before. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was in the touch section of the museum.  The Penguins have been everywhere. Its hard to resist the urge to give them a pet.  Now I know what they feel like.

 

 

One of our friends got chased by a bull fur seal. Glad she didn't have this sunk into her backside!

 

 

Ironic, mom and nursing pup enjoying the day under the vestiges of a past best forgotten. 

 

.

 

Shackletons Grave seen from the Zodiac.  Lucky for us we had our tipple last time we were here.  Matt did arrange a toast before the briefing.  Nice touch.

 

 

 

[highplanesdrifters]

2 hours ago, bohaiboy said:

According to someone on the Wind today, they have two excursions planned for today. 

 

Just heard Wind got two zodiac cruises in on the North part of SG. YAY for them!

[highplanesdrifters]

After hightailing it out of SG we sailed through Icebergs extrodinare.  One of the most fascinating was the Jade Iceberg.

 

Dan Olsen gave a great talk on Glacier Ice.  He is a crowd favorite.  Intelligent and one of the funniest people on the ship.

 

 

Here's the latest science. Hope you enjoy.

 

Jade icebergs are formed under very different conditions, when mineral-rich seawater freezes to the underside of an ice shelf in layers, then eventually breaks off and floats away.

 

These jade bergs contain layers of the pure blue-white ice from the glacier and greener ice below, formed from frozen seawater. Some icebergs of blue glacial ice contain green stripes of marine ice, formed by seawater freezing up into basal crevasses.

 

A number of theories have previously been put forward about why frozen seawater turns such a remarkable shade of green, including the presence of dead phytoplankton or dissolved organic carbon.

 

The researchers found that these materials were not present in large enough amounts to explain the colour. The scientists also believe that these mineral-rich ice blocks could play a role in promoting biological activity in the Southern Ocean, by transporting nutrients to areas where iron is in short supply.

 

Iron is an essential trace nutrient for the growth of marine phytoplankton, which are the tiny plants at the base of the Antarctic food web.

 

Here's the eye candy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jpalbny]

Outstanding color (sorry, I can't use the "u" or my spellchecker would go on strike) in those icebergs, and captured so well in your photographs! I definitely need to do a C2C cruise one of these days.

[highplanesdrifters]

Just now, jpalbny said:

Outstanding color (sorry, I can't use the "u" or my spellchecker would go on strike) in those icebergs, and captured so well in your photographs! I definitely need to do a C2C cruise one of these days.

 

Colour, take that spellchecker .  I've long since stopped caring about my spelling mistakes and typos.  I'd never get a post up.  Sorry to all those who are stickers, I'm probably nails on a chalkboard.

 

We're really just getting in to the true C2C part. It's already been quite a  trip.  As mentioned we were reluctant to come back to Antarctica and South Georgia because the first time was so perfect.  This time has been even more incredible.  So much so, we will never be able to return.  Except maybe in 2027, don't have anything planned for that year yet. 😁

[highplanesdrifters]

We are on our third sea day. It's been a hectic trip and the chill time has been wonderful. The Sea has been calm with mostly rain and fog. A patch of blue appeared briefly yesterday. Gough Island is the plan for tomorrow. 

 

In the meantime how about a few more Icebergs.  They have been particularly plentiful and spectacular this trip. Many are from D28 which smashed into the continent a few times and broke off a few more.

 

Dan Olsen, explained that icebergs are a very important part of the eco system.  They carry nutrients, disburse them to the Phytoplankton which feed the krill, which feed almost everything else. They also create upwelling as they melt which brings even more nutrients to the surface.

 

These lovelies were on our way to Fortuna Bay. What a backdrop. Add to this the Penguins, seals, Albatros feeding and fliting about. Sensory overload.  

 

 

 

 

 

A long moment of Zen

 

Leaving South Georgia Captian Freddie slowly made our way our way to D28A, 13x15 mile biggie while passing hundreds and hundreds of bergs. A most relaxing sea day until one attempts to go outside and photograph in the wind and sleet. 😄

 

These neon colors are as we saw them.

 

 

 

D28A 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[lincslady]

Unbelievably lovely photos.  Thanks so much.