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17.02.2016: Day 5 - Open sea en route to South Georgia
We had two full sea days to sail from the Falkland Islands to South Georgia. It got colder and the sea got rougher. It was still tame compared to what it could have been like but we were rolling a great deal more.
We were woken up at 1-50am when something fell off and made a bang. The same must have happened to our neighbours because we could hear them getting up to investigate aswell. I eventually found the culprit - the telephone receiver that is on the wall had fallen off and hit the corner of the table when we hit one of the larger swells.
During lunch (carrot and ginger soup, potato fritata and salad) the ship tipped to such an angle that people were sliding away from, and into, the tables whilst sitting in their chairs and everybody shouted "Woooo" each time it happened! It was a lot of fun but we all knew it could get much worse. These waves are not even two metres high - in the Drake Passage 8 to 10 metres are the norm rather than the exception!
Most people were walking like drunken sailors and bumping into each other. You always need one hand for the ship! The souvenir shop opened and there were several talks by the staff about South Georgia, crossing the polar convergence (a band of cooler water rich in krill and other food sources which is why the whales travel so far to get here), a mandatory IAATO safety and information briefing so that we can land on South Georgia and we were told that the clocks will go forward one hour tonight. So one hour less sleep, or as one passenger said, one hour less rocking and rolling!!
Our evening meal was Samosa and spring rolls on a crispy vegetable salad and spicy chili vinaigrette followed by Cumin rubbed pork fillet served with potatoes, glazed apples and Calvados Jus for me and Roquefort omelette and salad for Kirsten and fruit compote and ice cream for dessert. I got my extras but Kirsten nicked one of them!!
After dinner Ignacio (Nacho) was the first staff member to do "Story time" and told us about his life as a clown juggling on the streets of Ushuaia his home town. He showed a video of him juggling on board the sister ship Ortelius during his first, and only other cruise as a staff member, whilst he was talking.
We chatted to other passengers for hours afterwards and didn't get to bed until 1am! At this rate we are going to be exhausted!
18.02.2016: Day 6 - Open sea en route to South Georgia
It was hard to get up for breakfast the next morning at 7-45am and we didn't get there until 8-30am. We sat down next to Jana and Carolin just as Jana was shouting at the other occupant of the table, a very large Australian, "If you mention a boyfriend one more time I get very angry!!" Ooops! What had we walked into?
Apparently the above mentioned corpulent male had been trying to find out for days if Jana had a boyfriend and it had obviously got on her nerves. She shared her opinion to the people still at breakfast and I'm sure the guy couldn't leave fast enough! At least he left her alone after that.
There were several presentations during the day. Kelvin, who is one of the staff assigned to the divers, gave us a presentation about whales but focussing on the types we would hopefully get to see, including Southern Right Whales. (We spent two weeks watching them at the Valdés peninsula in November.)
Lunch was Beef Consommé, warm baguette filled with ham and cheese and vanilla cream for dessert. Then there was a mandatory talk about the Dos and Don'ts for South Georgia which included a video and throughout the morning and afternoon we were called up to the lounge deck by deck to hoover our outer layer of clothing, back packs and camera bags before we could go on land. They are trying to prevent any seeds and plant material being brought onto the island and taking root. Particular attention was needed for all velcro straps.
Just before 5pm a shout of "Whales" was broadcast over the loudspeakers. We were at Shag Rocks a group of rocks jutting out of the sea not far from South Georgia where there are a lot of krill which is the main food source for whales. It's a great spot for whale watching if you happen to have a boat!
We spent well over an hour there watching southern right whales and the captain, who is a fervent whale watcher himself, slowed the ship down and we cruised around in circles so that everyone could take photos. It was freezing cold out on deck but there were plenty of places for all the passengers, some of whom have huge lenses!!
We continued our route and during recap Kelvin showed us some of the photos he'd just taken of the whales, Jim told us about the schedule for tomorrow and Christian told us about James Cook who discovered the islands.
Dinner was baby greens with goat cheese and white balsamic dressing, long line caught and certificated Falkland Island Tooth fish (local to the Falklands and South Georgia but with too much of a fish taste for me) with green pea risotto and cherry butter followed by buttermilk and yoghurt squares with jelly on top and chocolate sticks.
Days 5-6: Open sea en route to South Georgia
Story time was by Amos, the professional photographer, who showed us some of his photos and videos including how a leopard seal grabs a penguin around the ankle, biting the skin and then shaking it until all its skin comes off so it can eat the penguin! Yuk!! And right after dinner!! But there were some great underwater shots and we found out that diving the South Sandwich Islands was the reason this cruise came about.
