It took take nearly 36 hours to reach Stanley in the Malvinas, the Argentine’s name for the Falklands. The Vavilov has been rockin’ and rollin’ (mostly rollin’) in the windswept seas. It’s cold on deck despite the sunshine and there isn’t much to see except for black-browed albatross, cape (pintado) petrels, and Wilson’s storm petrels. Breakfast was well attended but there were many empty seats at lunch. It isn’t unusual to hear the sound of breaking crockery as the ship rolls from port to starboard. I was really worried about mal de mer. My brothers and I were known as the “Maginness Moaners” for our inability to develop sea legs but Connie and I are each wearing half of a scopolamine patch and are doing surprisingly well. I admit we are spending a lot of time in our bunks. The public spaces on Deck 6 seem to magnify the motion of the ocean and the enclosed presentation room on deck one is positively claustrophobic.
Ships of our size can’t just pull up to the pier in Stanley so we had to go ashore in the Zodiacs. This requires dressing in bright red “wet skins” and “wellies” for protection from the rough seas. All of the gear is brand new and the Velcro tabs are nearly impossible to open. The folks from the Ioffe were already on shore when we arrived and they commandeered the bus to Gypsy Cove where we were supposed to land in the Zodiacs but the seas were too rough. We are getting a bit annoyed by the favoritism One Ocean gives to Ioffe even though their head start didn’t help them much. The ocean was too rough for them to make any landings yesterday.
Jacques and Noah lead groups to Gypsy Cove for some birding. There were disappointingly few Magellanic penguins but we ajd seen them in <Puerto Madryn but it was nice to be on dry land, if only for a few hours. The weather went from sunny to rain and back.
We returned to the ship for lunch and decided to stay. Nothing in Stanley looked inviting. Why people choose to live in the Falklands is a mystery. Even the beautiful beaches are off limits due to landmines left over from the Falkland War. While we were relaxing on board a squall passed through with heavy, marble-sized hail. Wouldn’t be surprised to see some snow.
