| Revisiting South Georgia (7) - Grytviken, Nordenskjold Glacier & Ocean Harbour |
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Grytviken, Nordenskjold Glacier & Ocean Harbour - Blog 7 This year the walk took me past the recently completed hydroelectric station. There are always some kinds of seals along the way. We were a little too early for fur seals but the elephant seals were there in abundance. While I was walking Jerome moved the Golden Fleece to the British Antarctic Station (BAS) dock. I revisited the museum on my walk through the former whaling station. I was interested to see if they had made additional changes in the rehabilitation of the place. BAS maintains a post office at its complex. The first South Georgia Post Office was started to serve the whaling community. Go to the SGI Link for the complete story. The Post Mistress, Sarah Lurcock, opens the post office when a boat is in port. The Golden Fleece qualifies as a boat and I have stopped in on each visit over the years. South Georgian postage is a collectible in the stamp world and sometimes they have very interesting coinage also. A friend from Australia had asked me to buy some stamps for them, which I did.
Kicki and Thies have been sailing the Southern Ocean in their 25-foot sailboat for the past 20 years. They were married in the little white church at Grytviken. Upon meeting up with them a dinner invitation for the evening meal was offered and accepted. It was amazing to watch them row over to the Golden Fleece: they sat side by side and each manned a small oar. They moved in unison and laughed all the way. They were definitely coordinated and in total synchronization. It was a late evening filled with tales and stories before we all decided to say good night. Links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Shackleton http://www.jamescairdsociety.com http://www.sgisland.gs/index.php/(g)stamps?useskin=gov
Revisiting South Georgia: Previous Blog : Blog 6 < > Next Blog : Blog 8 |
I have made two round trips from the Falkland Islands and Circumnavigations of South Georgia Island in a small sail boat as well as 9 other cruises in the Southern Ocean on modern ice hardened or full icebreaker vessels. I know how difficult the seas can be under summer conditions let along in winter when Shackleton, Worsley, Crean, McNeish, McCarthy and Vincent sailed a lifeboat, the James Caird, 800 miles from Elephant Island to South Georgia. Worsley was able to navigate this crossing with only four sightings of the sun in sixteen days to take readings, otherwise the trip was dead reckoning in an ocean with mountainous waves, horrific winds and cold temperature, sometime the ice formations on the Caird were 15 inches thick and threatened to capsize the little lifeboat.
We were discussing the extent of the receding of the glaciers we had seen the past few days and decided to motor to the east end of Cumberland Bay and photograph the Nordenskjold Glacier too. It was not very far but the weather worsened as we approached the face of the glacier. We decided to head for Ocean Harbour where we would overnight after delivering some supplies to Jerome’s friends on the Wanderer III.
Jerome turned on the outside ship lights on the mast and Kicki and Thies rowed their dingy back to the Wanderer III. They were so joyful and truly happy at dinner that I had to wonder if it might not be a good idea for a lot of couples to take up living and traveling in the Southern Ocean on a 25 foot boat with only sail power to move them around.
