About to Sail

Had another exciting day on S. Georgia Island walking among the penguins and
fur seals.  The plethora of life on this island is amazing.  We've become
skilled at fending off the aggresive seals as we stroll along their beach
and into the hills above.  They are everywhere.  We've also gotten into
elephant seal beaches.  They are huge and the sounds they make when added to
the cacaphony of the fur seal pups makes for a noisy environment.  We've
been lucky with the weather.  Some days have actually been quite warm.  We
go prepared for cool weather, but usually start removing layers as soon as
we hit the beach.  Today however is a different story.  We had a very wet
and cold Zodiac ride into a bay to visit an old abandoned whaling station
this morning.  We had to view it from the rafts since it was off limits due
to asbestos contamination.  This is typical of all the old stations
throughout the island.  Our planned noon landing in Right Whale Bay had to
be cancelled due to rough seas that were blowing right on shore.  Zodiac
landings would have been too challenging. We are now heading for an island
that harbors an albatross breeding colony that has been closed for some
time.  We will be the first group allowed in to the reserve.  Getting to
know many people and learning about life in Australia.  There are a number
of teachers so we can relate.  Seems that no matter who we talk with, life
is pretty much the same.  Tonight we leave S. Georgia and head for the
Antarctic Peninsula-two days sail.  Should be exciting getting into big ice.
 We have already seen small icebergs.  We have discovered that our ship is
the best in the subpolar region and was actually standing by to help, if
needed, the ship that many of you saw on the news.  Our ship, Akademick
Ioffee, was only 20 miles behind that ship in the same storm and people on
board we casually having coffee as the Celia II was struggling after
experiencing damage.  More later.