Port Lockroy and the Lemaire Channel

Paradise Bay, Forbidden Plateau. Temperature 32F. Foggy with light snow.

We used the Zodiacs to cruise by an unmanned Argentinean research station and then watched the antics of penguins hopping on and off ice bergs. Suddenly a pair of humpback whales were spotted and all 5 rubber Zodiacs took off in hot pursuit. We got lots of good whale pictures at one point getting to within 50 yards of them. Back aboard ship we warmed up with tea and coffee in the library and watched the scenery as the ship crossed Gerlache Strait to Port Lockroy where we can send mail.

S64°49"; W63°29" Port Lockroy.

We went ashore here to visit the British station. Bought some stamps for our post cards and left them to be dispatched when the two men staffing the place are re-supplied. They have special Antarctic stamps. The ship brought some food supplies to them: eggs, smoked salmon, cheese. We bought some tee shirts. There is a visiting 36 ft. yacht, going solo around the Southern Ocean tied up behind the station. The Australian, who is planning to winter over here, asked permission to come aboard the Cal Star for a shower. The ship invited him to use the sauna. We saw him afterwards on the bridge, thanking the officers. (Though freshly showered, his clothing still stank.) They gave him a big box of fresh fruit, butter, eggs and other foodstuffs to take back to his yacht. He'd rowed to the ship in a little double ended dory, they took him back in a Zodiac, towing the dory. The Port Lockroy staff also came aboard for a couple of beers in the lounge and were also shuttled back.

The ship cruised up the narrow and scenic Lemaire Channel with all hands on deck in a fresh breeze and 38F weather, photographing the ice floes and their occasional Leopard seal. We spotted Minkes breaching, but didn't get close enough to photograph them. The Lithium batteries for the digital video camera have an exceptionally short life in the cold weather. The display will show 25 minutes of operating time left (out of 60 at the start of a charge) and then suddenly the low battery alarm will flash and the camera shuts itself off. We're pretty much forced to use the big, 180 minute, batteries. Letizia Ray, a fellow passenger from Montreal, who is using the same Sony digital video camera, reports the same experience.

The crew and dining staff set up an outdoor barbecue on the rear pool deck for the evening meal. Just as it was to start, the weather closed in and it started to drizzle. While the naturalists recapped in the lounge, everything was hurriedly re-positioned to the dining room to the enormous relief of the passengers.

We anchored for the night just south and west of the Lemaire Channel.

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