Hello Goodbye
We woke to fine views of the Beagle Channel this morning. The weather seemed fine and as we gathered ourselves to go for breakfast, the skies cleared somewhat.
Our tour of a penguin rookery wasn’t due to meet till 1045. In fact, we weren’t due to land in Ushuaia until 10am and so breakfast was a relaxed affair. Floreida, one of the servers we’ve met time and again on board a Regent ship was concerned that I “wrap up warm” this morning, possibly because I frequently comment on her short sleeves and bare arms in the chilliest of weather. I had indeed put on an extra layer and a particularly warm cardigan too, mindful of the catamaran we’d use to reach a variety of locations. My main thought was whether to zip in the down lining to my waterproof jacket as well…just how cold is it out there?
The answer was, not especially. Our verandah was completely in the shade and yet wasn’t so very cold… I made the decision to leave out the lining, but take mitts, ear warmers and a scarf in my bag “just in case”.
We decided to watch our arrival with a cup of coffee and headed downstairs, where we found a couple of friends chatting.
As Ushuaia came into view, they spotted quite a few birds wheeling around by the ship. Having listened to lectures from the onboard experts, perhaps this was as good a time as any to try to get a few pics and identify them.
“Maybe one’s an albatross?”
Well, I’m not sure I’d recognise an albatross if it landed in front of me and spoke its name! (If I was still standing there and hadn’t run away, that is) But hey, let’s have a go.
So I took a few pictures, never sure if there was a bird in there or not, but thinking that I’d zoom in and look later.
Sure enough, later I found a couple of reasonable shots to use as an identification exercise if nothing else.
Back in our suite, gathering our things together in preparation for our tour, we watched the ship edge closer to the pier.
But strangely, we didn’t seem to be getting anywhere, even though the thrusters were working hard and churning up a great deal of water down there below us.
“The Captain’s working hard to get us into port here” observed my Hero, “surprising that we haven’t got a tug alongside to give us a shove”.
A few minutes later, we appeared to be trying again, this time reversing into the port, but as we watched our progress via the BridgeCam on our TV, an announcement came over the loudspeaker. We were not going to make it. In fact, the winds had reached 40mph and the port of Ushuaia had closed. The Captain went on to explain that there are no tugs in this port and that he was fearful that the weather may get worse during the afternoon and make it impossible for us to leave. All of those good reasons for sadly, saying ‘bye Ushuaia…and turn around to sail away.
Of course, the ship’s company have contingency plans for such events, but here was supposed to be where three entertainers disembarked to fly home and where two more were going to join us. I imagine there were other plans to bring supplies on board, perhaps, mindful of this being the last opportunity for quite a few days. The entertainers will have to stay on board at least until the Falkland Islands - probably not quite what they had planned. Anyway, Antarctica here we come…and if we run out of bananas or whatever, we will manage!
In the meantime, the Antarctica Team offered a consultation in their “hub”; binocular tuition, help in identifying birds and sea creatures spotted and just a general opportunity to share their knowledge and enthusiasm. I asked for guidance in identifying the birds i had spotted this morning and learned how to look for those telltale characteristics: both birds were Kelp Gulls, identified from the red spots on their bills.
Time for a spot of lunch then. An extra restaurant was hastily opened to cater for the hungry souls onboard and we gladly joined Claudia in Chartreuse again for beef stroganoff and spätzle, followed by “Heisse Liebe” - an ice cream coupe less exotic than its name suggests!
As we sailed through the channel, passed by Puerto Williams and the Silver Cloud expedition ship, we spotted a strange land formation on our port side. More information needed!
A closer look and a quick look on Google maps clarified our location, just off “Gable Island”. Well, that makes sense, doesn’t it?
So here we are, heading out of the Beagle Channel and back into the Argentine Sea, expecting to cross the Drake Passage tomorrow. Hopefully, the weather will remain dry and clear but most of all, calm!
So sorry, Ushuaia. We were looking forward to our third visit, but here’s hoping there’ll be a “next time”. And it’s not that we wouldn’t have enjoyed extending our stay, but perhaps not at the expense of missing Antarctica 😘
