Our joy of being in Group 2, the second group to get our flight to King George Island, was short-lived. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 10am, but the hour came and went… as did 11am and 12pm. Then we were told the plane needed a tire change, which meant another hour’s wait. We started to doubt if we would actually get there today, especially as some large clouds started to move in.
The weather in Punta Arenas and Antarctica is notoriously difficult to predict and flight cancellations, especially in the afternoons when the winds pick up, are very common. Luckily, at 2pm, after six hours of waiting, we finally boarded the plane.
The landing strip on King George is nothing more than a gravel track for the military base serving the Russian and Chilean stations. Before we were allowed to disembark we had to be fully kitted out in waterproofs and muck boots. I was feeling confident – how cold could it really be? I was used to British weather after all. Well the answer came rather swiftly. It was actually a balmy four degrees Celsius… until you got out into the wind! Suddenly gloves were on, jacket was fully zipped, hood got done up, and even the second pair of gloves came out! It was CHILLY!!
Landing on King George Island – in a penguin plane!
We navigated the gravel path that leads from the airport to the beach. Awaiting us were the zodiacs that would take us to the ship docked about 500m out in the bay. Each zodiac takes about 10 people, five on each side. As we watched people boarding, we noticed that the waves were breaking over the boat and splashing the person at the rear (normally the one getting in first). A quick glance around and we realised we were due to be first onto the next boat. Without saying a word, Adrie and I had the same thought: pretend to take a picture or something and let someone else get in first.
It served us right though. Instead of being the first and hence at the rear of the zodiac, we ended up at places 4 and 5 i.e. in the front of the zodiac on the left hand side. And where do the waves come from when the zodiac is moving forward? And which way was the wind blowing? About halfway to the ship, not 200m from shore, Adrie’s gloves (both pairs!) were soaking wet and freezing cold. Not a good start to Antarctica.
We boarded the Sea Adventurer – a vessel just over 100m long – with 110 other passengers and about 80 crew. We were finally ready to see Antarctica.
The crew is very big on safety and seems very coordinated. A few more safety briefings on board the ship and a mandatory evacuation drill followed before we could all relax. We were on our way to the seventh continent!!
But no relaxing just yet. Loud on the PA system: “Humpback whales off the starboard bow.” I was still trying to work out my port from starboard when he said, “that is the right hand side at about 4 ‘o clock”. Sure enough there were about a dozen sighting of flukes and fins and blowholes. Adrie had never seen whales in the wild before so she was beyond excited. We quickly got the binoculars out and braved the cold outside.
The plan tomorrow is to anchor at Portal Point and make for land to set foot on Antarctica. For many people on board, this will be their seventh continent, so you could feel the excitement in the air. The only problem is the sun does not go down. Being late December and so close to the summer solstice, it still feels and looks like 5pm at midnight. I think official sunrise is at 2am but the intervening hour between sunset and sunrise is more like a prolonged twilight.
We made a quick midnight trip to the bridge out of curiosity. The First Officer kindly showed us all the equipment and how to plot a course. We spotted icebergs on the radar and then investigated them with binoculars. Apparently, the officer said, we had just missed a huge humpback breach right next to the boat. We were gutted, but hopeful that we’ll see many more ourselves.