Day 5 - At Sea to South Georgia

Date - 20 November, 2016

Weather - Getting colder and overcast, light snow at evening 

Seas - Relatively calm in the morning, increasingly choppy in the afternoon

We woke to relatively calm seas so we have been lucky so far as we proceed south east towards Sth Georgia which is about 1200kms from the Falklands. We were kept busy during our day with briefings from the crew. At nine thirty we had to attend a compulsory briefing on the Island of South Georgia. Lack of attendance would mean that we weren't allowed to venture onto the island. To ensure everyone attends each passenger had their individual ship card barcode swiped before entering into the lounge for the briefing. 

At the briefing we were told that we are now moving away from accessible medical care and that we needed to take care as our actions could not only affect ourselves but those of other passengers. We were told to be aware of our personal limitations and not to take any undue risks. We were shown graphic photos of people's hands which were bitten by seals because they got too close. Thankfully, there are two doctors on board, one for the passengers and one for the crew.

The briefing on South Georgia was comprehensive and included a video which was especially focussed on bio security as there is very careful management of the island's environment. The island is currently the home of three government workers, 30 million nesting birds and thousands of other animals such as fur seals and penguins. The western part of the island is exposed to fierce winds so we will be landing on the eastern side which is somewhat sheltered by the enormous snow-covered mountain range. It will be interesting to see what the weather will be like because on the island it rains for 300 days each year. 

Following the morning's briefing we had to carry out meticulous cleaning of the gear we will be wearing and taking onto the island. This included scrubbing down our Wellington boots and waterproof trousers with a solution called Vikron, vacuuming our backpacks to ensure there were no grasses or seeds caught in the seams and checking the Velcro on our gear to ensure they were not carrying any threats. We then had to sign a declaration that we had taken these preventative measures. 

The afternoon talk was on Shackleton's expeditions. The excellent old photographs of the journey highlighted the extreme difficulties of his journeys and why Shackleton is considered a great Antarctic adventurer. Henk also went to the talk on taking photos in the snow and making the most of the camera settings.  

We have been told that the number of birds we will see from the ship will increase significantly the closer we get to South Georgia as the birds frequently leave the island to feed and return to the nesting areas. Tonight and for the upcoming nights the ship goes into blackout to avoid bird strikes as the birds are attracted to lights. The crew have taped up windows that do not have curtains and all passengers have to close their curtains whilst the cabin lights are turned on. 

Just prior to our nightly briefing and dinner we noticed it was snowing and we went out onto the deck to enjoy it. It was very exciting. Dinner was a la carte and we chose the Patagonian Fish which was delicious.  

Tonight we have to put our watches forward by one hour as we approach South Georgia. At our briefing we were told that the weather forecast is looking good for landing on Sth Georgia in one day's time. 

It was a good day at sea.