Day 11: S Georgia Island

Day 11: S Georgia Island

Weather: Sunny and cold, and with wind very cold

Quote of The Day:  Are we kayaking? Are we hiking?

Department of Explanation: How cold is cold? Basically the staff studiously avoid giving us temps. THB has a rough rule: the base temp is 35F (1 or 2C); add a few degrees if it is sunny and little widn and subtract degrees the windier it gets. And that means the temp varies dramatically within a few minutes

Department of Disappointment: It may read that THB and DB are upset that kayak opportunity after opportunity is cancelled. Actually, we are fine with it if the staff decides it is a good time to go out: there’s not much worse than kayaking into a headwind…well, worse would be kayaking into a freezing headwind.

THB went commando: no patch or meds to offset seasickness yesterday. Therefore THB woke up today without extreme dry mouth (the side effect of most of these drugs).

Two more items go missing: DB’s back-up glasses and one of THB’s 3 hats. Back from our excursion we give the room a thorough search and the glasses are found. Hat: tbd. We do have an excuse: we have two sets of kayak gear in our room (no small thing when it includes a massive dry suit), and we’re constantly trying to figure out the next activity’s attire requirements and get dressed accordingly in what appears to be 5 minutes less time than is comfortable to get ready.

There was a possibility of kayaking today. Morning was cancelled due to high winds. Thus the entire ship did an outing to Fortuna Bay: lots of King Penguins and a smattering of Fur seals spread over a large expanse.

Pics from Fortuna Bay:

Molting

Chick and mom

Waiting for the "adult swim" whistle to blow

There was a possibility of a hike of 3.5 miles this afternoon, following in the footsteps of Shackelton. Cancelled due to too much snow and high winds.

There was a chance of kayaking this afternoon: cancelled due to high winds.

THB went on the excursion to the defunct whaling station. There was a 3 mile roundtrip hike to the base of a small waterfall. It was a bit of slog in wellies and marshy, dry riverbed, and rocky conditions. It felt good to get some exercise.  DB decided to let THB solo, a good decision.

Pics from the afternoon excursion:

Selfie

THB's escorts through the fur seals