Thursday, 3 August 2017

27 December 2010

All night the ship thrashed and pitched and rolled back and forth and side to side in the tumultuous ocean waters. Many times there were loud crashes which shook the whole ship as it lifted up in the swell and slammed back down. There were not many people at breakfast. I can’t believe I even ate. All the violent motion was sickening and I thought I might vomit a few times.

I was sitting at the breakfast table as we sailed into Deception Island. It’s a crescent moon shape with only one entrance and exit. There was a large cruise liner ship sitting just inside the entrance of the island. Sebastian announced that the winds were reaching 50 knots so we would not be able to land at the hot springs. We would wait until after lunch to set course for Half-Moon Bay and the Shetland Islands.

Deception Island
After breakfast I napped until lunch. I headed up to the bridge after lunch to watch the ship sail out of Deception Island. The rocks framing the entrance were brown volcanic pillars. Not much snow accumulation. As soon as we exited the calm waters of Deception Island the waves increased in violence. The boat lifted up and dropped down hard several times splashing water all over the windows of the bridge. Even gripping the railing tightly we were jostled around. I stayed for a while to take photos and videos then made my way back down to play cards.



Peering through the telescope





First Mate sipping mate

On the Bridge

But instead of playing cards I returned to the bridge with the camera of a girl from Dallas to take videos and photos of the crashing waves for her. The motion of the ship was overpowering to my stomach and head. I could barley stand up and I was overcome with nausea. I returned with her camera with a few good pictures and video footage and then I napped for a few hours.



We arrived near Half-Moon Bay just before dinner but Sebastian said it was too windy and conditions were not right for a landing. But we will wait here, where it is a bit calmer, until after dinner. We were to have tiramisu for desert but the rocking of the ship caused it all to be tossed on the floor so they substituted pineapple rings with whip cream. Following dinner we were treated with a showing of Meet the Fockers in the conference room. There was a talk earlier in the day about seals which I did not attend because I was napping. After the film we walked back upstairs to see the last of Antarctica and the Shetland Islands pass by into the fog. A light snow covered the deck outside.

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