A Windy, Windy Day

The plan for the day was the same as yesterday, just in a different order. Once we woke up it was announced that they modified the order due to the prevailing sea ice. Since we were waiting for some of the ice to clear, they started running zodiac cruises in the meantime. We sat on our balcony and watched several of the groups cruise around. It looked like some penguins had decided to come check us out as well as we saw them swimming around the area. After the first few groups had gone out they were called back due to a report of incoming icebergs. The ships radar had picked up a weather system coming in that would push ice into the bay we were currently in. So rather than get stuck in the bay for an unidentifiable amount of time, the zodiacs were loaded back up and we made our way out of the bay just in time. However, we had exited the frying pan and entered the fire. Or something like that. In the case the fire was a better choice than the frying pan, but it was still not ideal. The weather system that the ship had picked up on the radar did not disappoint. As we were having lunch, the wind suddenly picked up with gusts up to 90 knots. It was probably more, because the ships instrument's measurements max out at 90 knots. The first gust hit the broad side of the ship and suddenly we were staring directly at the briny blue out of the dining room window. Luckily the navigation team are absolute pros and immediately corrected our heading and moved us to an area close enough to land to shield us, if only slightly, from the wind as well as incoming icebergs, but far enough to run the risk of hitting anything. We later learned, when we got to tour the cockpit, that the entire couple hours that we sheltered in that area was one of the only times during our trip they had to maintain full manual control for an extended period of time. They said it was the worst weather they'd seen in the area, which in an odd way is kind of reassuring because even with it being the worst they had seen, they still handled it extremely gracefully and most people probably weren't even aware of how bad the weather had become. Needless to say, we didn't get to do any excursions today, but that's the way it goes sometimes in the great unknown. Once the weather cleared, traveled through a scenic channel and anchored near Damoy Point. Although the weather during the day was brutal, the evening proved to be very fair. Paul and I decided to hang out in the outdoor jacuzzi. It was really awesome unwinding in the jacuzzi with such serene views of Antarctica after such an intense day.