Position (lunchtime): 62° 57’S, Long. 60° 40’W Speed: 6 knots Course: 229° Barometer: 979.9 hPa
Wind: 11 knots Air temperature: 4°C Sea temperature: 1.2°C
And yet, there is only one great thing, the only thing, to see in huts and on journeys: the great day that dawns, and the light that fills the world. —Inuit Poem
We weren’t quite up by 5.50 when Judd came on the PA to wish us a good morning and tell us that we were going to be passing into the caldera mouth of Deception Island in 10 minutes. This is also known as Neptune’s Bellows; luckily we have reached it on a good day!
We reached the flydeck just as the ship was coming past the first jagged cliffs of the entrance. It’s a curious sight coming into the circular lagoon, mists swirling and light snow. Gulls are wheeling round the rocks. As the mist cleared we could see the derelict buildings of Whalers Bay.
We were up on the deck by 7.15, wearing all our layers and the obligatory life jackets and looked out to see Judd is in his Zodiac wearing a Santa hat, Terry has a Santa hat with a reindeer face on it, and Maggie has Christmas dangly earrings and a badge with a flashing light. Christmas has come early to Polar Pioneer.
The island and harbour have been created through volcanic eruptions, the latest in 1969. There is volcanic steam coming from some areas of the beach, and the mist still surrounds us. There are several enormous rusty, circular structures that were used for storing whale oil and a set of boilers for the whaling operations, now home to gulls. At the top of the beach are some dilapidated wooden buildings, partly filled with volcanic ash, one half submerged. The back of the beach has two graves and cairns in tribute to dead whalers.
After everyone had landed, Maggie called us to the round rusty buildings and handed out carol sheets! We stood in the darkness lit just by the light coming in from the doorway and the rust holes in the roof. We did a pretty good job of our singing despite not all of us knowing the hymns, and the acoustics of the whale oil drum were excellent! White Christmas, Silent Night and Oh Come All Ye Faithful probably came out the best. We finished up with Judd bringing Lynnette into the centre of the circle and everyone singing Happy Birthday!
The beach is covered with whaling remains, many whale bones in the sand, wooden boats and burst- open barrels, their wood now fragile. About halfway along the beach we met a Weddell seal, which obligingly posed for us to photograph it. The sun started to come out and the fog lifted.
Judd and Terry took us back to the ship in the last Zodiac, a little downcast as it is our last landing, but also really looking forward to Christmas lunch! We are having it early today on Christmas Eve as tomorrow we will be right in the middle of the Drake Passage and many people may not feel like lunch.
We dressed up for Christmas and the chefs had decorated the dining rooms and set the tables with crackers and bottles of red and white wine. They had produced a superb Christmas lunch; terrine of red snapper, scallops and smoked salmon with lime coconut dressing, red lettuce and fresh brown bread rolls, followed by turkey, stuffing, pigs in blankets, carrots, broccoli, roast potatoes and gravy. Asko taught us to say Happy Christmas in Finnish. Henri gave Lynnette a birthday card with gentoo penguins on which everyone had signed! Eva is learning about the British and Australian tradition of kissing under mistletoe and is carrying some round with her. There was lots of photograph taking by the expeditioners.
We pulled the crackers and donned our cracker hats. Judd arrived dressed in an impressive Santa suit, complete with boots and beard and an Aurora Expeditions kit bag to enthusiastic cheers from everyone. Everyone got a gift from Santa.
After lunch some went up to the bridge as we were leaving the caldera. The mist was closing in and the view was not as good as the morning. There was a definite contrast in the height of the waves between the protected harbour and the sea outside and lots of white crests.
Dinner, a cold buffet, was not very well attended as it was getting much rougher, and many people stayed in the bar or retreated to their cabins to lie down. Terry came into the bar and strapped everything down. He says the conditions are ‘below average’ as the waves are now coming above deck 4. Up on the bridge, Judd described it as ‘medium’. Sitting on the chairs at the front of the bridge was like riding a bucking bronco; the ship plunged heavily into the waves, huge amounts of spray everywhere. We saw an albatross circling and Cape petrels following the ship. We were trying to estimate the height of the waves, but with the swell and wind-generated ones together, the best we achieved was ‘huge!’
Feliz Natal – Bwon Natale – Urolyk Kerstfeest – Hauskaa Joulua – Joyeax Noël.
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