Port Lochroy Zodiac Cruise

We couldn’t get into Paradise Bay because it was blocked with ice so ‘Plan B’ came to fruition and a zodiac ride was organised instead, just off the Neumeyer channel, in Port Lochroy off Goudier Island.

It was a nice morning to start off with and the first groups started their zodiac cruise around nearby Doumer Island and bay, and the ship sailed nearby. The zodiacs returned to the ship for the next group of guests and continued around to and around Boogie island while the ship turned around and made her way back to Port Lochroy.

I was in one of the last groups to go out to complete the circumnavigation of the island that the zodiacs had done. It was chilly and overcast but nice enough until we rounded the corner into the channel. The wind was quite strong and the further up the channel we got, it was not quite so pleasant.

In the middle of the cruise one of the zodiac drivers made a mayday call to the other zodiacs nearby. Wolfgang had lost steering and was unable to steer the zodiac. Nearby zodiacs went to his aid including our zodiac. Ben tied up to the zodiac as did another expedition team member so we made a small floating raft. We headed up the channel a bit, tied together but in the end it was difficult to make much speed because of the strong wind and choppy seas. To make it lighter, some guests were offloaded to our zodiac, and to the other zodiac on the other side of the stricken zodiac. In the end 4 were guests were left with Wolfgang. Another team member came alongside with a zodiac, near the bow of Wolfgang's zodiac, and tied a tow rope. Once everything was in place, we unhitched from the zodiac and continued up the channel but keeping near towed zodiacs. It was fantastic to see the teams pulling together to ensure the guests were safe and that the zodiac in question was safe. By then the wind was worse and waves kept hitting the bow of the zodiac. Those at the front got very wet and were quite cold too. I missed most of getting wet because I moved sideways into the boat from my forward position, so that I sat on a box by the bow but I was sightly more sheltered, except if I faced into the wind and waves, and got a face full of water!

We eventually rounded the corner and saw the ship. We sighed with relief, especially those who were very wet. Once Ben dropped us off, he headed back to the stricken zodiac, which wasn’t far behind us, and collected the rest of the guests so that the zodiac could be brought alongside the ship and hitched up out of the water straight away. It was too risky to offload the guests ship-side while it was still in tow.

I headed straight for the Colonnade for a hot chocolate to defrost. It was so good!Weiterlesen