The day started silently in Graham passage. The weather was good, clear
and easy, and a nice wind was blowing through the channel. The channel
is called after the ship 'Graham' that first passed the passage in 1922,
following a whale. We could sail the whole passage – enjoying the
glaciers and mountains around us.
During the afternoon we slowly move South. The wind is blowing from the
right direction, and with a speed of 3-4 knots we slowly sail towards
our destination for the evening. Around lunchtime our speed has dropped
to 0.6 knots, but since we already know we will not make it for our
planned afternoon landing we now have more then enough time. It keeps
snowing the whole afternoon. And many take it as a little time out after
the last busy days and to gather some energy for our evening walk.
After an early dinner we arrive at Cuverville island. Our home, bark
Europa, will drift between the icebergs here, while we go on land for an
evening landing. Cuverville is a 2 by 2.5 km island, a steep sided dome.
Nearly vertical cliffs surround Cuverville except on the NE coast, where
a gently sloping apron of bedrock extends 200 meters from the shore to
the base of the cliffs. The Island is considered the largest Gentoo
penguin nesting site on the Antarctic peninsula.
We can either stay on the landing spot with the Gentoo penguins, or
challenge ourselves with an evening hike. From down on the shore it is
hard to know exactly how high and how steep it will be. Sarah promised
us we would get warm and we did. The top of the island never came
closer, and after the last steep part was always another steep part. But
in the end we made it all up to the top. In the silent and serene
surroundings of a calm evening in the Antarctic, a wild snowballfight,
made up out off all left over energy escalated in the whiteness. In this
way time passed fast and we soon started going down again. Or, to make
it in time, sliding running tumbling down.
Back on board the deckhouse and bar soon filled up with even more
leftover energy.
Sarah
