Zodiac Excursion

 I have been worried about the zodiac excursions. I assumed I would be fine once in the boat, but I doubted my ability to lower myself from the door of the ship into the boat. I am not the most agile fellow. Never was. I practiced my sailor's grip to be certain I was ready and it turned out not to be that big of a deal.

We have had (see final comment for clarification) very good weather. You hear how much rain this region receives in talk after talk and all we have had so far are nice sunny days. It turns out there is a downside to the sunny and warm days, the glacier we were to visit with the zodiacs had been calving a lot and there was so much ice in the narrow channel they decided it would not be a good idea for us to approach. They found a quiet bay and allowed us to explore a bit as an alternative. More zodiac excursions are yet to come so we will move more chances.

If I were to imagine a zodiac driver in the ocean region of Antarctica, I don't think I could come up with a better image. Interesting guy.

The guy in the black rain gear is me. I do look the part of a tourist, Reminds me of a story from our time in South Africa. We had purchased the beige shirts and pants and the hat to match for our safaris. One of the guides asked why all of the tourists dressed like that. Too many movies I guess. I thought it was to fool the Tsetse flies.

It turns out it is difficult to take photos from a zodiac. There are 6 people plus the guide and you all sit on the side of the rubber boat facing in, It is difficult to turn around and you should not stand. Only the pair in the very front have many open shots. 

I think they felt bad because we could not view a second glacier so they sent out the champagne boat.

One update on the weather. We were told the weather was going to change and it would be getting rough. You could feel the change about 5 in the morning and the boat was really bouncing around. I took a short video from our window about 7 this morning. This is 50 mph winds and 45 degrees. The wind is amazing.