Antarctic Cruise Day 25 / 40 - Pebble Island & Saunders Island, Falkland Islands

Antarctic Cruise Day 25 / 40 - Best laid plans...

Trip day: 25 / 40

Port days: 8
Sea days: 16
Countries: 4
Continents: 3
Ports/Landings: 5

This morning, we found ourselves anchored just off Pebble Island in the Falkland Islands.   We made our way from Stanley on the east end overnight.  If you look at the map, you'll see the track continues to Saunders Island. More on that in a minute...

Let me clarify something.  These days, "anchored" is mostly a term, not an actual action.  In some rare instances, we do actually drop an anchor.  In most cases, however, they use a system called "dynamic positioning" (DP).  Think of it as a GPS hold.  When the bridge engages the DP system, the ship automatically holds its position dynamically, automatically adjusting for wind and currents.  It engages the bow thrusters and rotates the azipod main propulsion propeller modules as needed to keep the ship in position and oriented properly.  Essentially one-button hold for a ship.  It's pretty cool.

With temps in the 40s, moderate breezes, and swells, it all looked good for a Zodiac landing this morning.  The Zodiacs were out, scouting the potential landing sites as we ate breakfast.

At 7:30AM, expedition leader, Mark, announced that the Zodiacs were ready 15 minutes early and guests could embark between now and 10AM for a landing on Pebble Island.  We finished breakfast and returned to the room at 7:45AM to brush our teeth and then get ready with long underwear, our waterproof pants, waterproof boots, and expedition parkas.  As we started getting ready, at 7:50AM, the captain announced that the weather was changing quickly and all Zodiac operations would terminate in 15 minutes, so if you want to go, go now.  We went into hurry-up mode, but three minutes later, he was back on the speaker announcing that the operation was terminated immediately.  Our expedition was done before it started. 

That is part of expedition cruising.  You travel to some of the most inhospitable places on the planet and are at the mercy of Mother Nature.  This morning, she seemed a little angry. Even though we didn’t get off the ship, and we weren’t docked, I’m still counting it as a port day.

We went out on the deck and watched as several Zodiacs returned with the few guests that made it out in the short window from 7:30-7:50.

Our intrepid science team

As we watched folks move (or try) from the Zodiac to Polaris, we understood the captain's decision.  Safety is their #1 concern.  Watching people essentially have to be tossed from the Zodiac to Polaris as they rode six-foot or better swells cemented why the decision was made.

Several petrels (and the occasional albatross and cormorant) were supervising operations from above.

This petrel was inspection proper motor operation

This petrel suggested that the operator face the other way

Zodiac pilots waiting their turn to hoist onto Polaris

Getting the Zodiacs into the ship is a pretty slick operation.  The massive side door is opened and the winch extends out.

Once the boat is tethered, the winch raises the boat out of the water

The operators ride up and then hop into the ship as the Zodiac is rotated and brought in

With all the Zodiacs loaded and everyone aboard, at about 10AM, we started heading for Saunders Island.  The plan was to try another landing there early this afternoon.  When we arrived, it looked potentially promising.  They launched a Zodiac with a team to assess landing areas.  When they returned, we saw that they were loading the Zodiac rather than deploying more – not a good sign.  It turned out we had not misinterpreted as the captain announced that not only were they canceling this afternoon’s operation, but that we are abandoning tomorrow’s as well.  The weather simply is expected to create unsafe conditions for the Zodiacs to operate.  So, for us, days 2 & 3 in the Falkland Islands were a bust, but day #1 made it all worthwhile.  Tomorrow will now be a sea day as we sail to Ushuaia, Argentina.

While we were eating, a playful group of Commerson’s dolphins put on a lunchtime show for us, darting about up and down the ship.  They are highly visible just under the surface, making them easy to spot and watch as they crest to breathe.

One up and one just under the surface

A small blow

A good look at the blowhole

At 2PM, as promised, they attempted to launch a weather balloon for the NOAA.  These launches are significant as there are only two marine-based launch sites – the Polaris and her sister ship, Octantis.  This time, the launch was successful and live atmospheric data immediately began streaming to the ship.  Once the biodegradable latex balloon pops, the data will be compiled and sent to the NOAA to help with weather predictions.

Chief scientist Dr. Daniel explained what was going to happen

The team inflated the balloon with helium

Everyone wears gloves so skin oil doesn't start the biodegrading process

Carefully, carefully...

At the launch site

Dr. Daniel explained about reporting package that hangs under the balloon

This will unwind and hang, and transmit data on wind, humidity, temperature, and more

Dr. Daniel also said that it was expedition leader, Mark's birthday today so he would have the honor of leading the countdown and releasing the data package, of course, after a round of Happy Birthday and blowing out the LED candle

Almost ready

And...liftoff!

Data was immediately streaming in and being charted in real-time in Expedition Central

It is quite interesting to me that while we are enjoying a luxury cruise, we are also part of significant research on marine life and now participating in improving weather forecasting for NOAA.  It’s pretty cool.  With the still wind potentially endangering the launch, the team decided to overinflate the balloon to ensure a rapid ascent.  Because of that, it reduced the maximum height it achieved before bursting.  Ultimately, the balloon reached 24,602 meters before it plummeted into the ocean.  For the metric-challenged, that is a little over 15 miles high.

I'm sure that the entertainment manager, Arann, had to scramble to put together entertainment and activities for tomorrow. Since it was supposed to be an expedition day, he was off the hook, but now with it as a sea day, he needs to come up with things for us to do.  He whipped together a grand finale Baggo, trivia, and lectures.

During tonight’s daily briefing, Mark announced that since we are underway for Ushuaia ahead of schedule, they have worked out with port authorities to allow us to dock early, of course also paying more in port charges.  Our new plan is to spend tomorrow, Friday, in the relative shelter of the Beagle Channel for some scenic cruising.  That’s good as right now as I type this, we’re getting tossed around quite a bit.  They advised us to put anything breakable away.  It should be an interesting night.  Once we reach the Beagle Channel, we should be protected from the winds.  This new plan will put us into Ushuaia Saturday morning rather than early afternoon as originally planned.  They are rearranging all the excursions, moving them earlier in the day to allow for more time to shop and tour on our own in the afternoon.  Sunday, about 12 people will disembark and about 190 will embark on the trip to Antarctica.

Before dinner, we stopped by the Aquavit Bar.  One of the bartenders, Arnell, told us about a bird egg he found among the shrubs on the ship and he had it at the bar.

Finger included for size comparison

He had already alerted the science team so we expect that Christopher, the resident ornithologist, will investigate.

As we ate dinner, Arlona looked out on the deck and saw this falling.

Yes, that’s hail.  We are heading into even cooler temperatures over the next 15 days so I guess we should expect that.  Yea.

After dinner, we came to our office, AKA Explorers’ Bar.  As the vocal duo began performing at 8PM, we were in our seats at the bar – the only patrons in the place.  I have to admit, it is very nice having a private luxury yacht.

We’re looking forward to visiting the Beagle Channel again tomorrow.