Savoonga, St. Lawrence Island, July 3

Today when we woke up we were at St. Lawrence Island, off of the village of Gambell. We were supposed to visit Gambell, however, the conditions did not permit us to land. After phoning the neighboring village of Savoonga, we decided to reposition and hope that the landing was feasible for the afternoon. The people of Savoonga are wonderful - I got to meet them last year on the same cruise. At a moments notice, they put together a cultural performance and set up arts and crafts for sale. The visit was great and the sun came out just for our visit. However, by the end of the visit, the wind had picked up, which made for an interesting zodiac landing and getting the passengers off of the shore. I assisted Cheli at the landing and was in the water at times up to my waist holding the zodiac. Cheli took the brunt of it, often taking waves on her back over her head, just to keep the zodiacs in position and keep the passengers from getting the wave in the face. She is an amazing expedition leader. Once back on the ship, I worked to finish the end of trip slide show for the passengers. Things have been really hectic the last few days since I have not only been working on the slide show, but also have been trying to get all those loose ends tied up.

Tomorrow I start my journey back to Annapolis.