Antarctica Live On Board

[The-Inside-Cabin]

We left San Antonio a little late this evening.   Our Seabourn parkas were waiting in our staterooms.   So far the weather on this cruise has been fantastic.   Hope the weather stays good when we get to Antarctica. 

Edited November 30, 2018 by The-Inside-Cabin

[florisdekort]

Hello,

 

So the first Antarctica cruise of this year is underway. I really don’t know what I can add to the excellent information provided above from last year’s sailings, but am happy to answer questions “live” from the ship. Just ask and WiFi permitting I’ll try my best to answer. 

 

We left San Antonio November 29 a few hours late due to problems refuelling. After 2 beautiful, sunny days in Puerto Montt and Chiloe, we’re now headed south through the Chilean fjords. The seas have been a bit rough since leaving San Antonio with 14 feet swells straight onto the bow - so quite a bit of pitching. We love it 🙂 I’ll try to post some photos below as well as a time laps video of our visit to El Brujo Glacier earlier today.

 

Cheers,

Floris 

[Kauaijim]

Wow , it will be interesting for you to compare the last trip of the season to the first. Wish we could do it again , we did six weeks in Europe this summer but all on land! Still trying to figure out the next SB trip . Have a great holiday season. Jim 

[florisdekort]

Some photos from Puerto Montt and Castro/Chiloe. Hope this works.

 

Floris 

[galeforce9]

Looking forward to your posts Floris. Wish I was there again 

[florisdekort]

And some more...

 

[florisdekort]

El Brujo Glacier, 7 am “arrival”... beautiful light!

 

[florisdekort]

It says I’ve reached my upload limit so that’s it for now unfortunately. 

 

We’re in Punta Arenas tomorrow (Wednesday) and taking the Seabourn tour to Torres Del Paine National Park. More after that...

 

Floris 

[Fletcher]

Lovely stuff, Floris.  Brings back a lot of memories.  Looking forward to seeing how it goes as you fall off the edge of the Earth.

[Isklaar]

Wonderful photos Floris, thank you for posting them. 

[galeforce9]

I love the dog watching the service!! So well observed. 

[florisdekort]

Thank you everyone. Here’s a time lapse of the Chilean fjords and glacier this morning.

 

[florisdekort]

Current forecast for Friday’s Drake’s crossing... 30+ feet waves... Interesting to see what happens 🙂

 

[florisdekort]

Itinerary change... 

Apparently 14 meter / 42 feet waves are too much for Quest 😝

 

[galeforce9]

Floris - you are very lucky to be going to New Island. I’ve had two land holidays in the Falklands and have never been.  I’m hopeful that the weather will pick up and they will give you the Antarctic day you are missing at the end.  On our Antarctic quest bridge tour last year they said that the ship starts to ‘break’ at 7m, so I’m sure it’s better all around.  I’m sure they meant that breakages start to occur. 

[florisdekort]

Torres Del Paine (from Punta Arenas)...

 

 

[galeforce9]

What beautiful weather!  At our last explora stay in the park, in October, we stayed 6 days and saw the ‘massifs’ once! Was the flight smooth? 

[galeforce9]

You are here > Explore > The Islands > New Island

New Island

Ruggedly beautiful and remote, New Island is located at the extreme west of the Falklands’ archipelago. Dramatic cliffs contrast with sheltered sandy bays and natural harbours. New Island has a large concentration and great diversity of wildlife. It is also one of the driest places with an annual rainfall of less than 40cms (16”).

The pretty settlement overlooks Coffin’s Harbour, possibly named after a whaling captain. One of the earliest residents of the island was Captain Charles H Barnard of the whaler “Nanina”. He was stranded here with four crew members for around eighteen months in 1813/14. The remnants of their rough stone shelter can still be seen.

The remains of the first and only land-based whaling station in the Falklands are in South Harbour. The station closed in 1916 as operations were relocated to South Georgia where whale catches were larger. Of course, no sealing or whaling activities are practised in the Islands today.

Some of the best wildlife experiences are just a short distance from the settlement. At Settlement Rookery, formidable sea cliffs are home to black-browed albatross, king cormorants and rockhopper penguins creating an amazing cacophony of sounds. Great views are easy to find and time drifts away effortlessly whilst watching the rockhoppers landing in the surf and scaling the rocky heights before them and the albatross soar along the coastline.

Over forty species of birds breed on New Island including four species of penguin. Thin-billed prions are a highlight along with skuas, striated caracara and peregrine falcons.

Marine mammals are also plentiful. Peale’s dolphins breed in inshore waters, sea lions are often observed and fur seal colonies are found around the island.

Some cruise itineraries include New Island. Visitors are assured of a warm welcome from the Island’s two human residents and a great wildlife watching experience.  At present it is not possible for land-based tourists to visit New Island as there is no suitable accommodation.

[frantic36]

Floris your photos are wonderful. I agree with gale force as my favourite is the dog listening to the church service, I am a big dog lover though. Good luck with the bouncy Drake passage and I hope to see some photos of your stop in New Island.

 

Julie

[Isklaar]

Thank you for clarifying about the Drake sea conditions. I saw a post elsewhere on social media that said the Captain was avoiding Drake's 'due to 3 meter waves'    😁  I assumed it was just a typo but was keen to find out the actual expected wave heights. 

Fabulous photos!

[Fletcher]

Quite a dramatic development and shows how weather dependent it is down there.  However, I am a little mystified.  There is a quick way from Punta Arenas to the Falklands, sailing directly east through a narrow channel into the South Atlantic, well north of Ushuaia.  However, the current position of the Quest on Cruise Mapper shows it to be in the Beagle Channel sailing towards Ushuaia, well off the route to the Falklands. Looking forward to further updates . . . 

 

Lots of ships in the Drake at the moment . . . including Lindblad's Explorer and Orion.

 

Amazing shots of Torres del Paine, florisdekort.  You were exceptionally lucky there.

Edited December 6, 2018 by Fletcher

[florisdekort]

Hello everyone,

 

Thanks for the replies, information on New Island and compliments for the photos. I’m just an amateur using an iPhone. Lots of professional photographers on board with much better equipment!

 

Galeforce9, yes the flight to Torres Del Paine was smooth both ways. It was a totally clear, windless day. Picture perfect!

 

We’re calling at Ushuaia today as per the original schedule, just 3 hours earlier. All tours have been adjusted accordingly. At 6 pm we are departing for New Island as the Drake’s is too rough to cross tomorrow / Friday. The current forecast is 25 to 32 feet. We’ll spend 2 days in the Falklands before heading south to Antarctica. The forecast for tonight, as we head towards the Falklands, as well as Sunday, the Drake’s, is 14 to 16 feet - a bit bumpy but certainly doable 🙂

 

New Island will be a ventures day. They’ll run the zodiacs as they would have done in Antarcrica, by colour group. 

 

A few photos from Glacier Alley below. It’s overcast today.

 

Cheers -

Floris 

[Fletcher]

Yes, I thought Ushuaia was back on the schedule.  For one thing, we took on loads of supplies there including a long bunkering session.

 

New Island in the Falklands is fabulous.  We dropped anchor on one side of the island, then walked across a lot of tussock grass to the other side where there are dramatic cliffs and zillions of albatrosses and penguins.  You get seriously close to the albatross and if you sit down they literally walk over you.   The penguins have this incredible ramp to enter the sea. It might be my best wildlife experience ever, better even than Antarctica and South Georgia.

 

 

[Kauaijim]

Floris, great stuff . Fun to remember the trip . Almost 2 years ago we had Newt wandering among the penguins with us and this am he is on tv talking Bush 41 . 

[Jacqueline]

Fabulous pictures and it is a great itinerary.

We had 10 meter seas and the staff acknowledged it was rough but not notably so.  It’s an interesting question as to what kind of seas make a passage dangerous and which ships can make the crossing in these conditions,

It is certainly uncomfortable and it’s nearly inevitable that people can get hurt as the conditions worsen, But what happens if this is at the end of the voyage on the return from Antartica?