After a fairly windy day of motoring and no sailing because of the direction in which our next anchor is going to be dropped, the plans for tomorrow are as follows: we will pass through Graham Channel, which is a narrow waterway with some spectacular views. Anchors aweigh by 04:00 AM.“Who does not want to be woken up to witness this?”

Dead silence, so way before breakfast the deck of Europa is crowded. Europa slows down to avoid damage caused by larger bit of ice. Up high an ice watch keeps a keen eye on the channel. On a much larger scale one can hear something like the tinkle of ice cubes in a glass of whiskey.

The sun rises in colours twice beyond imagination, since it’s all reflected in the completely motionless water. The light is playing games with anything in the path of her glistening rays. When all of us think the ship will have to turn back, Klaas knows where to turn port or starboard for a way through. We stand in awe under a bright blue sky, not knowing yet that a magnificent day is going to be closed with a chunk of apple pie and cream.

Joop

In the middle of the night the ship start rolling again. We left our anchorage and are sailing from Barrientos to Hannah Point. With breakfast the view on starboard is filled with a long line of glaciers and rocks. The weather deteriorated.

It is cold, lots of wind with sleet snow. It is going to be tight if a landing with our zodiacs is possible at all, with these waves, but we are lucky and manage. On Hannah point we are greeted by large numbers of Chinstrap and Gentoo Penguins and....by snow blowing horizontally in our faces, typical Antarctic weather so it seems.

In Antarctica there is a big risk that you become a slave of your own camera, so this snow has a positive side, the camera stays in the backpack and I have to look with my own eyes.

If you follow the behaviour of a group of penguins for a while, you will notice all kind of family scenes. Daddy comes home and enthusiastically greets Mamma; the kids play touch and run. Two other kids try to push a young away that is being fed by a parent that is coughing up some food. The result is tough reaction from the parent followed by a chase, but they are stubborn and keep on trying. We also see a lonely Macaroni penguin.

Walking through al these volcanic features, we find beautiful coloured stones in bright green and orange, all made by volcanic activity. A little later a large Giant petrel is landing in front of our feet and sits there for minutes and just as we are walking back to our zodiacs, we are getting a show of two mating Elephant-seals.

Soaking wet we arrive back on board of our EUROPA where hot coco and a grand evening meal from Marianne and Aleida is waiting for us.

Nathalie
 

The wilderness of the southern oceans carries unexpected surprises. After two landings on Barrientos Island, skipper Klaas announced an 0400 departure from anchoring off Aitcho Island. No one but the people on anchor watch have witnessed this departure.

Curiosity made me rise from my softly rocking cradle in the intestines of the ship. Her skin was caressed by the sun and a gentle breeze. Already we were cruising the south of multiple glaciers that fed the ocean with lumps of ice of sometimes awesome dimensions.

Historical words were repeated adressing the sailor on ice-watch: Livingston (Island) I presume...

Joop