Graeme Ger Antarctic: Half Moon Island and Deception Island

10 Jan 2012 Early zodiac launch at 8.45 am as we have a 3 hour sail after lunch to the second stop for today. Our first landing is on the beach at Half Moon Island. This is a chinstrap penguin's island. They have a cute face with their little distinct chinstrap. Not a bit scared of us and seem to have no concerns with us being so close to their rookery. They are always on the go, either on their way to the beach to fish and completely filthy or on their way back sparkling clean. They just walk straight passed us without any care and they take little notice of us. As usual the creche where the parents and the chicks gather is full of noise and non stop activity. A couple of lazy seals on the beach were useless. Ger wanted to poke one with her stick to see if it was dead or asleep. We talked her out of it. Nice pleasant island but cloud base very low so not a great view of the nearby Livingstone island with a big mountain.

After lunch 3 hour sail to Deception Island where it was pouring with rain and the sail in through the narrow opening of this still active volcano was very interesting. There is a big submerged rock in the middle so the Captain needs to follow a narrow passage close to the walls on the starboard side. About to board zodiacs but can't decide if I will go for the polar dip, well, got the budgie smugglers on but think they could finish up Krill smugglers if I go for the polar plunge.

The weather turned on us. It was raining and very windy. Less than 2 hours ashore walking into some very strong winds. The old whaling station closed in 1964 when the volcano erupted and it was not looking safe for anyone to stay here. We were ordered to dash back as the wind was getting up to 40 knots(72km/hr)and that is their limit for using the zodiacs and a night on the beach was not going to be a good idea. Surprisingly the ride back and getting off the zodiac onto the gangway was not as bad as some of the earlier transfers where we had large swells. All back on board but drowned rats by 6pm. Looking forward to happy hour where we can all say we would have done the polar plunge had they not banned it. Ship cannot pull up anchor to leave until the wind dies down so at anchor for a few hours. Planning here is an ever changing situation.

After dinner Brian told his story on how he transported an Elephant's skull on an international flight as luggage from Zimbabwe to Calgary Zoo in Canada. In Brian's normal style he had us rolling with laughter at his exploits. As someone said it would not matter if you could not understand his language he would have people laughing as he puts his whole body into every story. He is so entertaining and informative that we all love to listen to him and he loves to talk.