Day 12 - Elephant Island

Date - 27 November

Weather -  Overcast, thick fog, snow

Sunrise - 3.45am

Sunset - 10.56pm

Seas - Relatively calm

Overnight we turned our watches back one hour as we continued south west from the South Orkney Islands to Elephant Island. The sea is now relatively calm as we have gone through the storm and the wind has settled overnight. We are now experiencing long days of daylight. 

At dinner time as we sailed out to the open ocean from the South Orkney's the sea became very rough. Fellow Aussie, Lorraine, and I quickly went down again with a bout of mild sea-sickness so we skipped dinner and went straight to bed with another sea-sickness pill. I woke this morning feeling fine due to the calmer seas and a good night's sleep. However, Henk seems to have caught the 24 hour bug that seems to be going around the ship and the doctor has confined him to the cabin for the day. I played 'nurse' and brought dry toast, soup and tea throughout the day and Henk mostly slept. He felt better this evening. He missed the zodiac expedition in the late afternoon. 

We spent the day at sea with lectures throughout the day. The first was titled "Antarctica - Continent of Extremes" and was a fascinating overview of the world's fifth largest, windiest, coldest and driest continent. Currently, of particular interest to scientists is the discovery below the mass of Antarctic ice of giant lakes and water courses. 

The pre-lunch lecture was titled "The True Seals of Antarctica - Part II" given by the ship's marine biologist. All the presentations have been very informative and accompanied by photos and videos. We should be seeing the Crabeater Seal once we get to Antarctica as it's the most common and abundant marine mammal on the planet.

The afternoon lecture "Antarctic Explorations - Historical and Cultural Background" outlined human knowledge of the great south land and concentrated on the many expeditions throughout the past two centuries. An interesting feature was looking at class and exploration and how the different classes became involved as society changed. 

There was a special treat for afternoon tea in the ship's library where pancakes, icecream with a variety of sauces and hot chocolate were being served. We all couldn't resist having some.

Our destination for the day was to Point Wild, Elephant Island. Port Wild has great historical significance as it is where Shackleton's crew beached after "Endurance" sank in the Weddell Sea. Port Wild is named after Frank Wild who led the party of 22 crew who remained at the site living under two lifeboats whilst Shackleton and five crew set out in a lifeboat to South Georgia. They were rescued four months later. 

We anchored at Point Wild at five fifteen and the snow caused a condition called "sugar ice" on the water which looks like floating icing sugar. Although the water was calm there was a large swell to contend with. We left the ship at six thirty and it was challenging to get on and off the ship's steps at the side of the ship and into the zodiac. The swell was high and unpredictable. 

From the zodiac and through the constant falling snow we saw our first sighting of chinstrap penguins which were dotted on the icy rocks. 

Our zodiac skimmed over a lot of "sugar ice" and crunched its way over the tough brash ice. 

We came within metres from where Shackleton's men stayed for four months before being rescued. It was a very tiny rocky area at the bottom of a steep cliff and it's unbelievable that they could have survived in such cramped, freezing conditions. In the midst of this extraordinary isolation were tiny chinstrap penguins and a small bronze bust of Captain Louis Pardo Villain. 

Villain was the captain of the "Yelcho" who along with Shackleton rescued the stranded crew. Nearby our zodiac came close to the large glacier, Furness Glacier, that came down to the sea. It was a beautiful sight. It snowed the entire time we were on the water and it was magical. Our zodiac was covered in snow. A large, curious leopard  seal also came close to the zodiac and chinstrap penguins swam nearby. I'm just sorry Henk couldn't join us but he is on the mend and should be fine for when we reach the Antarctic Peninsula tomorrow. 

Dinner was delayed to eight o'clock due to our late expedition to Point Wild. The recap of the day and the briefing for tomorrow wasn't held until after nine thirty. Excitement is growing as we get closer to the Antarctic Peninsula.