Cruising the Chilean Fjords

Monday, February 4

I slept better during the night knowing an alarm was not going to startle me awake. During the night I could feel the ship's movement increase which meant we were going faster and in open waters. Once Bob was awake, we went to the buffet for a quick breakfast and then split up.

Bob went to the gym with Kent and I spent some time in the Crow's Nest updating my blog notes. It was hard to concentrate because all I wanted to do was look out the window at the beautiful view! At 10 am, John, a Cruise Critic member, had organized a get together of photography enthusiasts from our roll call to meet in the Crow's Nest. There was a good turnout but unfortunately the team trivia challenge had been moved to the same time. The noise from that group made it very hard to have a good conversation. Still, people made connections and exchanged photography tips and suggestions.

Heading towards the Tempanos Glacier (the blue dot on the map)

The 11:00 am talk on early Antarctica explorers was just beginning as the photo group finished. The theater was packed but Laurel and I managed to find single seats...she on the upper level and me on the lower. The guys had arrived earlier and sat together. The lecture, by Expedition Guide,Tamara, was on the early explorers to Antarctica and provided a lot of facts but was still very interesting. It made me even more anxious to hear her next talk that would include Shackleton.

The four of us hustled to get to lunch to beat the large group coming out of the theater. We wanted to be done eating and outside by the time the ship was approaching the Tempanos Glacier. No announcement was made (that we heard) but we discovered the bow was open for viewing. We went up to the next level to an open deck just below the bridge. Dolphins were playing alongside the ship but I wasn't quick enough to get a photo or video. The captain got the ship very close to the glacier and we were even lucky enough to see it calve!

Bob photographed this interesting current pattern from the window while we were eating lunch.

Getting closer to the glacier.

I snapped this photo just as the glacier calved.

Just after the glacier calved.

Our reflection in the windows of the bridge.

And because you can never have too many photos of a glacier, we went down to deck 3 and took a bunch more from the lower vantage point.

Such an awkward pose! :)

Kent and Laurel left us to go to the 2 pm lecture on the continent of Antarctica. At that time in the afternoon I knew I would start nodding off if I attended. Instead, Bob and I went to the small public area at the back of deck 6. Not many people had discovered this even existed and there was only one other couple besides us. I recognized the two of them from a photo they had shared on the Cruise Critic roll call so I introduced ourselves and we had a nice visit.

The public area at the back of deck 6...a great place to avoid the wind!

Lido Deck aft. Colored cows...not your usual pool decor.

Kent and Laurel joined us after their lecture was over. (I had used the chat feature on the HAL Navigator website to let them know where we were.) We sat there until it was time to get ready for dinner. During the afternoon the captain took us down the Messier Channel and past the wreck of the MV Capitan Leonidas. The story behind the wreck is interesting. In 1968 the ship was carrying a load of sugar and the captain devised a scheme to sell the sugar and then deliberately sink the ship to collect insurance money. The absence of the cargo on the sunken ship would be explained by saying the sugar had dissolved. However, the plot failed when the ship landed on a shallow spot in the channel and didn't sink! The captain lost his license and went to jail and the wreck of the MV Capitan Leonidas is still there today.

The ship was covered with birds.

The ship continued to sail through narrow fjords throughout the time we were at dinner. We spotted what we thought were seals playing in the water but didn't get a close enough view to be sure.

Jaz Danion was the headliner at the evening show in the main theater. He did some juggling and balancing acts which were impressive. Sometimes I wonder how (or why) people take up such careers, but he showed photos and explained that both his father and grandfather were entertainers and had done similar acts.

As we sailed further south, sunset just kept getting later. We sat outside on deck 3 and it was after 9:30 pm before the sun went down. By then the ship was headed out of the fjords and into open water for the night.

Tomorrow...another sea day but an early morning as we sail past the Brujo Glacier.