Southern Ramblings has had an all too short but very busy season down
south this year and it has now come to an end. We are heading North and are
already in the Warmer water Buenes Aires
and Montevideo somewhere over the horizon to the west.
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| Rothera Memorial Cross |
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| Mother-ship |
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| Third Mate and Weddel Seal |
The favour was returned the following evening when the
Wintering team was invited by the Captain to the ship for a final off base meal
before their months of isolation commences.
Our catering staff produced a stunning Indian curry evening to remember.
The next afternoon Saturday 23rd March we slipped
our ropes and departed leaving the winterers waving us goodbye with a few smoke
flares. All on board were looking
forward to a potential trip through the La Maire Channel but once rounded the
southern point of Adelaide Island the weather picked up significantly, which
sent a sizeable proportion of passengers to their cabins with buckets.
We approached La Maire in the early hours of the next day
and glided slowly through this narrow gap, between steep the sided, ice encrusted
mountainsides. Unfortunately, once again the visibility was not that good and
we could only speculate at the view.
We spent the rest of the day sliding up the inner channels of
the Peninsula and eventually broke out the next morning. Horrendous seas were
are unfortunate reward and those poor passengers who had briefly shown their
faces disappeared rather rapidly once again.
The crossing of the Drake passage was not pleasant at all and we were
all pleased when we finally approached the lee of the Falkland Islands and the
waters began to calm down. We berthed at Mare Harbour on Friday 5th
April. We were alongside for only about ten hours having to discharge some
cargo there before moving on to Stanley.
All the passengers made the most of the brief stop and the opportunity
to get back on to terra firma. Bertha’s
beach being a popular destination where some lucky folk were treated to
Dolphins swimming in the surf just off the beach, a couple of us tried to join
them but they were having too much fun on their own and we were dutifully
ignored.
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| Rotherea Base |
We slipped our ropes in the early evening and headed off for
Stanley arriving in the small hours of the morning. Suddenly it was all over for the passengers
their bus arrived and they were all off to the airport for their flights back
to wherever via Santiago in Chile. The ship suddenly became a lot quieter and
we, as sailors do, got on with the job of moving cargo about. The Cargo was completed by Sunday evening and
the crew were given some time off to relax in Stanley before we headed north.
On Tuesday morning 9th April we departed Stanley and
headed slap bang back into bad weather again which got progressively worse the further
north we went. This did not go down very well with us as we have had our fair
share of battering this trip. Finally on Saturday morning it started easing as
the wind came around. The relief on the
bridge was palpable and we eased into what we hoped would be a relaxing quiet weekend.
This time it turned out to be so and by Sunday lunchtime there were already a
few deck chairs out with Lilly white sunbathers trying to change their hue.
So that is pretty much our season south this year....
Have you
seen God in His splendours, heard the text that nature renders?
(You’ll
never hear it in the family pew)
The simple
things, the true things, the silent men who do things –
Then listen
to the wild – It’s calling you.... R.Service
Fare travels to you all.
