Katabatic wind – Dave and Kay's Travel Adventures

Day 13 February 4th

Hercules Bay, Grytviken, St. Andrew’s Bay, Godthul

We were up by 4:45 AM to begin a busy day! We were able to zodiac cruise Hercules Bay which we couldn’t do yesterday because of the wind.

This is where the colony of Macaroni penguins could be found! The Macaroni penguins were swimming all around the bay and many were up the mountainside. This was another penguin species to see in their natural habitat!

Hercules Bay is also home for some fur seals, elephant seals and a few King Penguins.

Our next stop was Grytviken. It is located in the King Edward Cove on the western shore of Cumberland East Bay. It was used as a whaling station for over 60 years.

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We did a historical tour of the area that explained how the whaling factory worked and then a tour explaining Shackleton’s connection to Grytviken. He died here and his grave is in the cemetery. We did an Irish whiskey toast to him at his gravesite and it was raining!

David, our historian, led the toast to Shakleton.

Of course there were also seals and penguins!

We saw our first icebergs on our way to Grytviken and again on our way to St. Andrew’s Bay. The glaciers and mountains were unbelievably beautiful.

As we approached St. Andrew’s Bay the winds were as strong as a hurricane so we couldn’t go ashore. We will try again tomorrow morning. So instead of going to St. Andrew’s Bay we went to Godthul. We were suppose to kayak here but it was too windy. The zodiacs took us to the beach at Godthul and it was filled with gentoo penguins, fur seals, some elephant seals and a few king penguins.

The gentoo colony was up the hill so we climbed through the tussock grass.

There was also a lake at the top of the hill!

We found that climbing down the hill was more difficult than going up because we had to contend with these wind bursts that were crazy strong! We were told at the recap for the day that we had wind gusts of 60 knots which is about 69 MPH! It was definitely a day to hold onto your hat!

Day 12 February 3rd

At our 4:15 AM wake up call, Ali, our expedition leader, announced we wouldn’t be going to Prion Island. The wind was too strong and the zodiacs would be in danger. We were to kayak at our 2nd stop of the day and that wasn’t going to happen either. 🙁

On to plan B which was to move on to visit one of the former whaling stations at Stromness Harbour. Again the winds were gusting and we weren’t going to be able to land so the captain took the ship close to Leith Harbour and we were hoping the winds might die down over by Stromness.

“Over at Leith Harbour, the Captain maneuvered the ship as close as possible to give us a view of the old whaling station. With the sun out and blue skies it was an eerie but beautiful scene. This was the largest whaling station in South Georgia, operating for over 60 years. Established by the Christian Salvesen Company, it was given the name Leith after the Scottish hometown harbor of Salvesen.” (from our Voyage Journal)

Whaling Station in Leith Harbour

After a ship cruise at Leith, we headed back around the corner to Stromness.

We were hoping to be able to finally step foot on South Georgia. The wind was still gusting but had settled enough for the expedition team to send out a scout boat.

The expedition team quickly readied themselves. Conditions were suitable so off to shore we went! After three days being on the boat we were SO excited to have some time off of the boat on land, even if it was windy!

The sun stayed out but winds continued to blow. Katabatic gusts (wind caused by downward motion of cool air usually coming down the slopes of a mountain or glacier) would occasionally force everyone to stand their ground. All around us were young fur seal pups. We walked around them, still trying to give them as much space as possible or be growled at.

We enjoyed watching the seals rest and play. And we also enjoyed the King penguins that were around.

Stromness also had the remnants of a whaling station.

Stromness Harbour

Stromness former Whaling Station

After visiting Stromness, it was time for lunch. While at lunch, the ship headed to our next stop which was called Hercules Bay. At this bay we are to see Macaroni penguins. We pulled into the bay but the weather wasn’t on our side. The wind was too strong for the zodiacs. Needless to say we were disappointed. As we left the bay and out in open water, we saw quite a few macaroni penguins swimming in the water and passed a glacier.

Just after we had taken off all of our waterproof gear, an announcement was made that we were heading back to our first stop, Prion Island, that we couldn’t visit early this morning because of the wind!

Prion Island was beautiful. We climbed to see the Wandering albatross nests and birds.