Waterboat Point

January 1, 2016 – Waterboat Point, 64.49S,62.51W

Just a few miles from where had drifted through the night was Waterboat Point, the site of both a Gentoo rookery and the Gonzales Videla Chilean research station, and also the site where two British researchers spent the year of 1921-1922 living under a boat, doing tidal and  penguin research. We were hosted at the station to coffee and treats, and the 22 staff came on board for lunch. We were also able to see our first Leucistic Gentoo Penguin, sitting on it’s nest. 

We had to stay on the concrete paths, but the penguins do not know the rules, so there is guano everywhere.  We had special cleaning procedures with pressure washers on boots and other gear when we returned.  The ship used two boarding platforms on opposite sides of the ship, with clean passengers disembarking on one side and dirty passengers coming back aboard for cleaning on the other side.  All part of the bio-security precautions and to keep the smell out of the ship as much as possible.

The station houses 22 people for the summer

The Chilean Base is in a Gentoo rookery

The station has thousands of Gentoo Penguins in residence

They use every available space for nests

Leucistic Gentoo Penguin

Checking the eggs

Opportunistic Sheithbill waiting for a penguin to make a mistake

Patrick went kayaking at 0720 once again.  This time the kayaks were boarded in the middle of the bay from the zodiacs. The weather alternated between cloudy, rain, sleet and wind by the time the ship departed at 1600.  

Patrick is in the middle kayak

Spectacular place to kayak

We boarded from zodiacs but found a beach to land on.

The museum is also the gift shop

Shrine with a Skua 

The penguins do not stay on the paths - what a mess

The Fram passed us while we were visiting the station

Once out of the shelter of Paradise Bay, the winds and seas began to build, with low visibility and rain. By the time we had completed the daily recap in the Grand Salon we were in fog and the winds and seas had moderated as we headed north up Gerlache Strait.  We had reached our furthest point south during the night, 64 degrees 58 minutes South.