I woke at 4am ish and was aware that the seas enroute to Deception island were now lumpier and they became increasingly so as we pushed into the wind. We had our usual 6.15 am tea but sat at the table as we didn't trust ourselves in bed to keep the tea in the cup - this proved a good move. Tea drunk we headed back to bed, as the safest place, and watched the waves pass the cabin window. I felt a tad queasy and had to rush to the bathroom emerging 10 minutes later feeling much better but minus my earlier drunk cup of tea!!
With winds gusting at over 100 km per hour the Captain manoeuvered the ship through Neptune's Bellows, the narrow entrance to the caldera that is Deception Bay - it was a little calmer inside but the winds were too strong to launch the boats at Whalers Bay for the planned polar dip and hike. It looked very grey and bleak and nobody looked too upset that the plans were off!
As the ship was also dragging its anchor we chugged of to Telephone Bay the site of the afternoon walk, still within the Caldera, the winds were no better and landings we're again cancelled. The Captain decided to cruise around the Bay, giving time for a 'calmish' lunch, before venturing out again to begin our crossing of the infamous Drakes Passage. The wind had dropped and it wasn't as bad as before but still lumpy.
After lunch we watched The Penguin Post Office - a recently made film of the life history of the gentoo penguins and the history and reality of living for the summer season at Port Lockroy. Then at 4pm we went to the lecture theatre to listen to Robin Alelio who was talking about her life in the 80s when she was part of a scientific team diving under the ice of Antarctica looking for jelly fish......albeit 10 new species were found previously this expedition found none but the jelly fish were secondary to life of the only woman in Antarctica - the guys even made her her own loo!
The recap and briefing was not as well attended as usual and dinner likewise.
John, like many others, took to his bed - he wasn't ill but felt better lying down!
The good news from the briefing was that the conditions were improving and we saw weather maps for the next two days which showed much lighter winds and less swell - yippee.
I had dinner with Warren and Denise but after soup Denise felt she had eaten enough for the conditions and departed. I personally felt better in the larger dining room than the confined cabin.
(Today's photo is from yesterday afternoon - I didn't venture out today!)