Thursday, September 1, 2016
photos
We got tickets for a fast boat unexpected adventure at
11:55am today. The letter said that there would be no landing and we would just
travel to shore side to view historical sites on Beechey Island from the boat.
It was rough seas overnight and expected to be 30F and snowing. This adventure
did not sound worth the trouble or especially the $169pp they would charge us.
We had seen the photos of what there was to be seen here and the expedition
expert only described seeing one animal here, a gyrfalcon. We have falcons in
Raleigh! She had only seen one on multiple visits so it didn’t sound like there
was anything else to see. Given that, as far as I know, they have only had one
lecture that touched on the Franklin expedition and that is what the ruins and
markers and graves on Beechey are all about, we didn’t have a special interest
here and if we had seeing it from the high powered scopes in Palm Court was
better than from a fast boat closer to shore. I heard someone in yoga say they
had a 2pm excursion ticket so we are here for the day. It is another
spectacular landscape and bay. We are surrounded on 3 sides with snow-dusted
mountain tops which are bleak and desolate. They are blocking satellite
reception! There are quite a few birds here.
So, we had Lido breakfast at 8am. Gentle yoga was at 9am so
I was up in Palm Court by 8:30am to witness the dramatic sail in to Erebus
& Terror Bay. It seems like it will be a quiet day today. We have 2 more
sea days before Pond Inlet which we had expected to be our farthest North
point. We are not that far from it so I expect at least 1 if not 2 more days of
unexpected adventures. Stay tuned. Today we are at 74N 91W. This is the
farthest North point on this cruise for those who got ashore today with
zodiacs. I actually saw through the big scopes a person doing a polar plunge in
the bay here! I saw them come out with bare arms and legs in a white t-shirt
and black shorts and a person in a red coat vigorously toweling them down
before the put on more clothes! I know they offered that in Nome and maybe one
other port, but I guess this person was saving it for the Northernmost point of
the cruise.
The captain just came on the speakers at 11:40am to say that
whoever was flying a drone needed to bring it in immediate as they did not have
his permission to launch a private drone and they were creating a hazardous
situation with the helicopter(s) that they are operating today. Oops! I am
thinking that if asked that the captain is not likely to authorize a private
drone operation anyway and especially not now. Ten minutes later the captain
came back on the speakers louder and irater. He was adding his address to
people ashore. He pointed out that their flying over Shackleton, which is air
traffic control for the helicopters had forced a grounding of helicopter
excursions, was a safety hazard, was not permitted by himself or Crystal or in
fact the Canadian Government. The drone pilot was not only inconveniencing
people with helicopter tours ticketed but violating air safety, Crystal policy,
Canadian law and the captain’s rules. He said it was completely unacceptable
and he wanted that drone down now! I agree with all he said, but Crystal and
ship security lapses allowed this to get this far. Clay and I cannot remember
reading anything in precruise or ticketing packets forbidding drones, if it was
written out in advance then it was clearly no enforced. We were under the
impression that all bags were x-rayed before being brought aboard, so why was
it allowed to be brought onboard. At lunch we overheard an officer and an
expedition guide telling a table next door that they knew which passenger did
it from shore and that his zodiac driver had given him up and said passenger
was currently being hand gestures of throttling or choking with tongue out. I’m
just saying there is responsibility to go around for this. I have to assume
that it won’t be happening again though. The captain did not come back over the
speakers with his regular noon status report. I assumed it was because he was
managing his embolism. Clay assumed it was because he arranging to shoot the
drone down out of the sky. Get me Stevie and a rifle! (Stevie is part of the
expedition team and an Inuit hunter, whaler and fisherman. He is our
extraordinary wildlife spotter.) In any event, it is 1:35pm now and the
helicopters are back in the air.
Last night the port side toilets stopped working. When we
reported this once previously we were informed that they knew about it and to
just wait for the flush to happen automatically. This time it was out for a lot
longer. Clay eventually checked his tablet for e-alerts and found one posted
about 10pm last night with news that a large object had been flushed somewhere
on the port side and had broken the entire system on the port side and they
were working on it through the night. Internet also went out last night and it is
still out. I thought when I found it out this morning that it was a
geographical issue but since it never came back today I went to the computer
center and asked. He explained that a server broke sometime late yesterday and
the IT team was still working to fix it. He explicitly said that there was
Internet but without the server working passengers could not access it. So
there’s that.
As the afternoon progressed, the bay got choppier and more
covered with whitecaps. You could tell it was wind driven as the clouds lowered
down the hilltops and slopes until finally the snow became visible onboard. The
boat operations continued. It looks now as visibility worsens and the snow
thickens blowing sideways that everyone should be back aboard by 4pm. Still no
Internet and most of the TV channels are out as well. It is 3:40pm. Wind is 28
knots and snow is heavy as they are returning the last people from shore.
Looking at the zodiacs bouncing on the Cineflex, I would say waves are 2 to 4
feet. The last zodiac of passengers that we saw had 20 people on it! It was the
only zodiac out there not being bounced up out of the water at the wave tops.
The folks who paid for a ticket ashore today are going to have tales of Arctic
survival. Honestly, knowing the sad story of death and despair here, I feel I
understand. I couldn’t have survived the day out there and it isn’t even
winter. The Expedition recap & briefing is in an hour. It should be
interesting to hear today’s report and what the plans are for tomorrow. I guess
no one can say they weren’t warned the letter we got with our tickets last
night predicted inclement weather. They had that right. There was about 5
minutes of sunshine between noon and one pm before everything went to hell.
photos
photos
I will post this whenever we finally get the Internet server
back up and running.
