Saturday 3 March 2012

In the Scotia Sea

Today we have been enjoying a day of a smooth sailing. Everything started earlier than usual because last night we had to change the time on our watches, to 1 hour ahead, to South Georgia time. Now, time-wise we are closer to Europe than yesterday. From now on, it is only a matter of sunrise before we have our first sight of South Georgia Island.


What a privilege to be here and travel in these waters in such comfortable conditions. Because of this, we clearly appreciate how good life has been for us. We are well aware that we are following the same route as Shackleton almost a century ago. He and his companions were in a much smaller vessel called James Caird. The Caird is smaller than our lifeboats. Their purpose was to reach South Georgia and to mount a rescue voyage to retrieve their companions left behind in Antarctica on Elephant Island. We have it much better now, we don’t need to get wet, to suffer the cold or to deal with the uncertainty of our position in this wide ocean. Never knowing if we are going to hit or miss South Georgia our island destination. On the contrary, we have all the necessary navigation and weather information in advance and we can open our minds to the new and interesting topics we are learning about in our familiar little ecosystem called the Fram.
Some of the sights and views which we were able to enjoy were provided by one of our friends from Norway Olav Agnar Frogner to whom we say thanks. Here are some of his pictures and we know that tomorrow he will see and do much more on land. We recognize that he and his countryman on-board will enjoy their visit to South Georgia Island with its years of Norwegian heritage.
 The Fram has been calm and steady during the day and therefore the conditions have been optimal for enjoying lectures, bird-watching, reading, conversation and the challenges of our evening onboard quiz prepared by the Expedition Staff.