Another clear morning as we checked out the surrounding area. In the distance we see Port Lockroy. Port Lockroy is a British base and in 1994 was recognized for its historical importance and designated as Historic Site and Monument No 61.There is a post office here as well as a gift shop. Today it was closed so we won’t be visiting. One of the jobs of the people working here are counting the number of penguins and their chicks on the island. They also regulate the number of ships and visitors to the area. It was obvious that the penguins were quite used to visitors.
Port Lockroy
Our plan for the morning was just to take a ride in the dinghy and observe the penguins from the water, but when we saw the chicks we decided to observe them on shore. It was another fascinating morning as we got to see numerous chicks and their proud parents.
A lot of the penguins had two chicks in their nests.
They seemed to always be under the eye of one of the parents. One would go hunting while the other one stayed with their young,
They live in harmony with the Wendell Seal.
They were quite intrigued with Jim as they circled around him. We thought that Jim must have the talent of a penguin whisperer.
These two Antarctica Shags were nestled between the penguins. It didn’t look like the most comfortable nest.
By mid morning it was time to move on as a storm was approaching and Voy wanted to get to a very protected area. We are beginning our journey back to Ushuaia and this is our last protected anchorage. This next anchorage will be in the Melchior Islands. We left Port Lockroy about 10 am. It was a beautiful clear blue sky.
There was some wind but overall the joinery to our anchorage was rather pleasant.
Some of us enjoyed the weather from the cockpit while others took advantage of getting some sleep.
Voy knew that our anchorage would be very protected and that we would also need to put out lines to the shore so that our boat would not swing. When we arrived about 4 pm we began the task of making out boat secured. Anchors went down and several lines went to large boulders along the shore.
Task completed and boat is secured. Just as we were finishing the last lines, the boat Life explorer motors in. Voy was somewhat surprised to see them as they had not indicated that they were coming here. This is a rather small anchorage and having two boats in close proximity could cause problems if the wind picks up. Life Explorer followed our example and set out lines to the shore to secure their boat as well. They also put out a lot of fenders alongside their boat in case it got close to our boat. Hope that doesn’t happen.
The next activity was taking a hike up a hill close to the boat. Our clear skies had given way to clouds and one could feel that the weather was changing. It was quite the slog to the top as the snow was quite soft and we would sink in as we climbed.
It was hard to tell where the top actually was.
We also knew that we did not want to get close to the edge as there was a steep drop off with crevasses.
Not sure if we made it to the top, but this was as far as we were going to go.
We had some great views of the two boats in the anchorage and of the next bay.
Clouds are moving in… the calm before the storm
We all had lots of fun sliding down the mountain.
When we arrived back to the boat Voy was ready to take us on to our next activity. We were going to go check out an Argentinian Refuge House. This is a building that is opened to the public and has survival supplies.
This was the sign on the door.
Inside were several rooms with beds and supplies.
There was a note describing the supplies.
We also liked a map on the wall.
It made us realize what a small part of Antarctica we had visited.
On the way back to our boat we passed by several chinstrap penguins that were having quite the conversation.
And a seal that was showing off their flexibility.
We also were blessed by seeing several whales. It was another very full day in Antarctica! We don’t have to worry about ice watches tonight. Soon though we will be back to around the clock watches so we are all trying to get some good rest before the Drake Passage. Jamie, Julia, Ryan and Beth stay up after a very late dinner and enjoy a game of cards as well as drinking some wine. Don, Jim and I are already in bed and enjoying the land of dreams.