Constant low cloud engulfs our ship but the seas are mercifully calm. We are on our cruise ship RCGS Resolute which is home to us for the next 10 nights. It is a smaller ship with a capacity of 150 passengers but is beautifully appointed and luxurious. Our first 2 days we see no land as we cross Drakes passage a notoriously rough stretch of sea between Cape Horn and the South Shetland Islands which mark the beginning of the Antarctic Peninsula.
The third morning we turn into the beautiful Lemaire Channel and, for the first time we are in Antarctica. All around are mountains, glaciers and icebergs but the sky is grey, cloud cover is low and there is a consistent fine drizzle. We are called to get suited up for our first excursion ashore and the sense of excitement is muted by the preparations involved. In our cabins we don 2 layers of thermal clothing. Final toileting occurs as no such thing is permitted ashore. No yellow snow! Then we don the waterproof overalls and parkas before trudging 3 levels down to squeeze into our special boots and wash them off in antiseptic. Antarctica is a pristine wilderness and there is no contamination allowed. Trussed up like a “teletubbie” we descend the ramp to our “rubber duckie” zodiacs for the short trip to land.
Plenau Island is our first landing and was named by the French explorer Charcot in 1904 after his photographer which is ironic considering the issues I had with photography here. On landing I chatted with the ship’s photographer regarding exposure settings here. He had a look at my pictures and said that my settings looked OK. I was less certain but being trussed up and struggling to keep the drizzle off my lenses I felt out of control and I am unhappy with the photos here. It is another day and a half before I get the right advice and successfully adjust my camera to the right settings for Antarctica. Nonetheless this is a pretty spot with lots of cheeky gentoo penguins and icebergs all around.
Leaving the island we spend another hour or so in our zodiac sailing between beautiful icebergs.
