February 4, 2025
After our embarkation briefing the evening before, we all began the day (Friday, January 17th) excited to finally board our ship later. All luggage was tagged and in the holding area at 8:00am, except for our day packs. The luggage would be taken to the ship and placed in our staterooms by the time we arrived. We spent the remainder of the morning hiking the trails on the mountain – part of a nature preserve owned by the hotel. Another beautiful area with a few inclines to climb but mostly fairly easy. The winds were getting stronger all morning. We went back into town to do a little more shopping prior to boarding the ship.
We were picked up by a bus about two blocks from the pier, because we were not allowed to walk through the gates to the ship. So, we all hopped on the bus and then right back off at the entry gangway of Seaventure. By this time – about 4:30 pm, the winds were so high that Anne almost lost her footing when leaving the bus. It was a little scary. The very short distance to the safety of the ship was a challenge. After being led to our state rooms it was time for mandatory safety drills required to be completed prior to leaving the dock. Unfortunately, we learned at the briefing that we would not be sailing today. There was a storm in the Drake Passage with swells over 7 meters (22 feet). The captain planned for a 6pm departure the next day (January 18th). We still had a nice evening on board the Seaventure, enjoying our first of many wonderful meals.
On Saturday morning, due to the delay in our departure, Polar Latitudes arranged for a catamaran tour out the Beagle Channel to get our first glimpses of Gentoo and Magellanic Penguins and South American sea lions. We didn’t get to make any shore landings but that will come later. We all enjoyed the catamaran tour and then as planned on our return, we were able to throw off the lines from the dock and begin our Antarctica Expedition for real. We departed at 6:15 pm.
RVing With a Purpose 