Another Day in White Paradise

December the 22nd.

Today got off to a bit of a slow start because a couple of the crew were
a little bit squiffy after a good old night on the grapes.

After a hearty breakfast of porridge and strewed fruit we weighed
anchor, but not before sending a distress call to the Port Lockroy in a
vain hope that Mary's precious little red hat was there. It had been
declared lost after a thorough woman-search of the forward cabin. News
was that the item was not at Port Lockroy, so the said item was declared
officially lost amidst much sobbing from Mary.

We left in pretty good weather but soon hit a lot of ice, which
effectively blocked our path to Paradise Harbour. The sound of ice
hitting the hull is quite spooky, especially if you are huddled in the
"Head" (see how the nautical lingo is flowing now?) covered in Snow
Fairy shampoo trying to have a bit of a shower. Thoughts of a rapid
abandonment of ship did not bear consideration in such a bubbly state,
so all thoughts of Titanic Consequences were put to one side as several
days of accumulated grime were sloughed off despite the sound of ice
rebounding off the hull just 8 mm away!.

Our passage to Paradise was marked by views that just defy
consideration; views augmented by the thunderous sounds as glaciers were
calving. Sensory overload! .

The bread making challenge has reached new heights. Today's batch set
new standards for consistency and evenness of colour for the crusts.
This batch was voted the best ever cooked on the yacht by Captain
Courageous. The next crew, from Ireland, don't stand a chance in this
culinary competition.

Shortly after the bread was produced, Mary's precious red hat
miraculously appeared after a very short man-look. Well done Steve.

To be fair, this boat is like the Bermuda Triangle. Equipment
mysteriously goes missing then reappears in the spots carefully
searched, the same applies to items of clothing as well.

We finally arrived at yet another unoccupied Argentine Base called
something or other, where the dreaded kayaks were dusted off and I had
to undertake the kayak challenge. Thanks to Tim McGuiness in Wellington
for my training, but all was in jeopardy as I was particularly stressed
at the thought of this exercise in water just over 1 degree centigrade
and full of ice.

Imagine my horror as the call went out "Whales just behind you Chris,
Minke's astern… Then, rigid in fear, the swimming behemouth then
decided to swim under my kayak. Well, that was pretty much it for me.
After a couple of wobbly circuits of the fair ship Spirit of Sydney
(SoS) I high tailed it back to the sugar scoop and rapidly passed the
kit on to Peggy. Tick that box as completed.

Meanwhile, everyone else was roaring about but not treated to the
lifetime experience of being buzzed by a whale! There is no justice in
the world at times.
Today, we have kayaked, skied and snow boarded but the pace is starting
to take its toll. The relentless affect of long days (up to 19 hours)
is wearing us all down. But we still continue to eat well and have a
great time.

We are now tied up off a Chilean Base called Gonzella Videllaz (the
spelling of this is guaranteed to be wrong as Captain Dazza spelt this
out for me, so don't look for this place on the map). Here we have had
to anchor the boat with stern lines fixed to two rocks and an anchor,
due to a 3 metre tide range, nasty currents, some shifty looking ice and
other bad things that we can only imagine. This means anchor watches
again.

Yeh, so I'm on at 1 am to 2:30. But it will still be light and the
putrid smell from the large Gentoo rookery here will keep us all awake
while we are on watch!

While I have been laboriously hammering out this blog, the others have
been decorating the tiny 2m by 2 m cabin for our official Christmas Day
tomorrow. A riotous time can be guaranteed.

Posted by Chris.