St Andrew’s Bay and Drygalski Fjord Wednesday 1/28 Day 10

Today was our last day on South Georgia Island. We were planning a landing at Gold Beach, but the water was too rough, so we skipped it went on to St Andrew’s Bay. You never know what you are going to be able to do, and every day is just a plan that is always subject to change. This bay is home to the largest King Penguin colony on SGI at over 500,000. We tried a landing here, but the swells were too high, so we had a Zodiac cruise instead. St Andrew’s Bay is also home to three large glaciers, Fur Seals, Elephant Seals, and a former small penguin research station. 

It was quite a challenge getting in and out of the Zodiacs this morning. At one point as I was standing on the gangway, a swell came up over my knees and the whole gangway was under water. It went on like that as everyone was loaded into the boats, and again as we were unloading. This crew is quite skilled and really good at what they do on this ship! 

In the afternoon, we had some extra time so we sailed into Drygalski Fjord on SGI. Wow, was it ever amazing! The photos just don’t do it any justice. The water is turquoise and both sides of the steep fjord are lined with glaciers, waterfalls, and inlets. A few penguins and seals followed us into to the fjord, and the scene was absolutely breathtaking. We sailed right up to the mouth of the fjord where two large glaciers meet at the bottom and sat there for a bit to take in the scenery. The Expedition Team had a champagne toast waiting for us on the top deck when we got to the mouth of the fjord. The wind was calm as we sailed into the fjord, but at the mouth we experienced Katabatic winds that came down over the mountain and into the fjord. You could barely stand up and walk on the deck! We then turned around and sailed out of the fjord and past Cape Disappointment, so named because Captain James Cook was sorely disappointed when he realized he had not actually reached the Antarctic continent. We felt really lucky to be able to experience sailing into the fjord, since most of the trips don’t have enough time to do it. 

The next three days will be sea days as we are crossing the 800 miles from South Georgia to Elephant Island, then on to the Antarctic peninsula. We are hoping for good weather, so we’ll see what we get. 

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