Antarctica - Part 5

 A little bit of sadness overcame many of the passengers.  We are about halfway through our trip and already we are getting ready to head back to Punta Arenas.  On the brighter side we've made 5 landings and seen a lot of Antarctica.  Our next and last stop is Deception Island, where we've stopped before.  This time we are going to Whalers Bay, where whalers use this place to process the whales that they killed and used as a base for their whaling activities about 100 years ago.  In those days whales are killed for their blubber which is processed into oil.  The oil can be used for many purposes - lubrication for machinery or made into candles.  There was a big whaling industry in the US in the 17th to 19th century.  Commercial whaling was banned by the International Whaling Commission in the 1970s'.  You can read more about Whaling in the United States here.

Deception Island

Seals on the Beach

Leftover Storage Tanks

An Abandoned Building

In the foreground is a cemetery, marked by a couple of cross

More Storage Tanks

A Collapsed Building

Passengers are asked if they want to do a Polar Plunge.  Some brave souls at some of the landing sites did that.  Here at Deception Island a young man from Germany stepped up to the challenge.  He was in the water perhaps for about 30 seconds.

Getting Ready for the Polar Plunge

Before we head back across the Drake Passage we took a final cruise around one of the bays.  There were icebergs all over the place.  We did not land anywhere but getting close to some of the gigantic icebergs is quite an experience.  In a couple of months this area will all be turn into ice.

A Gigantic Iceberg

Lots of icebergs

Surrounded by Icebergs

Leaving the mother ship to cruise around the bay

These icebergs are big!

Our ship's position on March 11th - Brown Bluff in the Antarctic Sound

Our location, at the tip of Antarctica.  We did not land here

This will be our last stop in Antarctica as we start to cruise across the Drake Passage.

Crossing the Drake Passage on March 12, 11th day of our Cruise

It takes 2 days to cross the Drake Passage.  The water here is one of the roughest in the world.  Fortunately, this time I was ready and put on my motion sickness patch early.  I spent the early part of the crossing in bed and even skipping dinner.  I slept through the rough waters at night.  In the morning I felt good and did not have any seasickness at all.  The patch is working.

However, we are still in very rough seas.  The captain had to closed off some outdoor areas where there is potential for someone falling overboard.  You could see the waves going up over 10m high.  At dinner time we hit a patch of rough seas and the dishes in the dining room were flying.  You have to hold on to something solid to walk around.  Luckily we are on a fairly large ship.  Otherwise we'd be thrown all over the ship.

Note:  at the time of finishing this post I've been back in Arizona for about a week.  It takes time to catch up on the post and memories.