Elephant Island - February 18th

After a very calm Drake Passage we arrived at Point Wild, on Elephant Island. It seems that every time that we visit Elephant Island it is foggy. I think it adds to the mystery of the place. It just seems fitting to have the island shrouded in fog and mist. Despite the large swells and fog, we were determined to get off the ship and do a zodiac cruise. Disembarking the passengers was eventful! The swell was taking the zodiacs up over the platform and then down - it was difficult to hold the zodiac against the side gate, and even more difficult to hold the zodiac AND get passengers into the boat. I have attached a photo, taken again by Mick (he is becoming the blog official photographer!), showing Chris loading his zodiac. Fun fun! I had the fun of having a woman in my zodiac who can not even balance to walk through the lounge on the ship.needless to say it took almost 5 minutes to get her into the zodiac and then another 5 minutes to get her out. At one point we thought we might need to get the crane to hoist her out of the zodiac!


Loading the zodiacs in a swell at Point Wild

Once we were safe and sound in the zodiacs, the cruise was great. We had wonderful views of the chinstrap penguins, fur seals, ice and even a leopard seal. However, we did not have wonderful views of the ship. The Captain said to all of us as we left the ship, "stay close to land, and don't get lost". I found the GPS to be helpful, and still took a compass bearing just in case. My passengers didn't appreciate my lost in the fog jokes, even though I thought they were funny. I have attached a photo of my zodiac in the fog. I think the ship is in front of me somewhere.


In The Fog