Cruise Day 7 Detaille Island and Polar Plunge

Greetings, all, from south of the Antarctic Circle!

It is 10 Jan, 2023, and we are at 66 degrees 55 minutes South latitude, the farthest south we’ve ever been, and may ever be! At around 5 AM we crossed the Antarctic Circle at 66 degrees 33.6 minutes South! Schalk kept teasing the people who asked how we would know when we passed the Circle? He said we’d feel a small “bump” as we crossed the circle.  I will be jumping into these waters later! Woo hoo!

We actually have some blue sky today! The water is full of beautiful ice!

We only have one landing today, and that is on Detaille Island. While we are waiting on instructions I look down on the platform and harass Billy – he’s the 2nd lead for the expedition team and generally runs the show on the zodiac deck!

Detaille Island was once a survey, geology, meteorology station, established by the British in 1956 when the ice pack was solid and science crews could easily get to the island by dogsled.

We arrive to a rocky shoreline that is a little tricky to navigate. Several expedition team members are deployed along the rocks to help the passengers negotiate the walk to shore.

The most remarkable thing to see is the hut the people lived in. It was built in 1956 and normally hosted a staff of 8 to 10 scientists and researchers.  The severe winter of 1958 made a solid ice sheet.  The site was abandoned suddenly in 1959 when the ship that was to come pick up the people could not reach them due to thickening ice. They were told they had to immediately meet the ship at another location 25 miles away! They basically left everything, locked up. hooked up the dog teams, and set out for the meeting point. So we get to visit the hut and see it like the team lived in it over six decades ago!

Before we go inside we take a walk to the other side of the island (it’s very small!). We see the side that the expedition team wanted to land us – we could have stepped up on the ice and not had to make the tricky walk along the rocks on the other side. Ice has packed this side of the island, making zodiac landings here impossible.

There are Weddell seals hanging out on these bergs!

And the Silver Cloud appears in the distance!

Now we head inside. Their skis and a lot of their clothes remain here!

The pantry is filled with coffee, oats for porridge, sugar, and Heinz mayonnaise!

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This great room has a bed in the corner with a sleeping bag, and clothes still hanging to dry over the space heater.

We see examples of the booze they were allowed to have! It appears gin gimlets were popular!

They had an impressive collection of books to bide their time! But if they were there for science when did they have time for recreational reading? The next four pictures are actually one long bookshelf over the door of the great room!

A collection of games occupies a cabinet, and includes Monopoly, cribbage, and Scrabble!  I love the message left here!

Here is the radio room. I guess this is where the fateful news was received that led the team to abandon the site!

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The last room we see is a well-stocked workshop!

Once everyone is back onboard, the ship moves off to find and anchorage for the afternoon’s polar plunge! A pair of whales offer us a treat with side-by-side tails!

The scenery south of the Antarctic Circle is stunning!

Captain Domanin finds an anchorage he’s happy with, and we get the call to come down for the polar plunge! I queue up with 59 folks as crazy as me!

As I near the zodiac deck the view of icebergs confirms this is not a tropical locale!

My turn! I’m jumping with a Brit named Victoria!

My biggest surprise during the jump was to remember the ocean isn’t just cold – it’s salty!

After the jump It is surprising that even 33-degree F air feels warm! Back on board with my bathrobe I feel fine! We each receive a shot of liquor. I choose tequila!

Here is my certificate commemorating the jump below the Antarctic Circle!  Woo hoo! I love the image of the leopard seal on the certificate!

This is the best day of the cruise so far! The blue skies made all the difference!