January 25/26 – Scenic Cruising

January 25, 2017 – Scenic Cruising
The ship cruised through the Darwin Channel from 5am to 7am this morning. It was impossible to see anything as first it was dark and, as daylight started, the weather was rainy and foggy. As the day has progressed the weather has not improved.
There were 2 excellent lectures today. One was about whales. It detailed the types of whales, their evolution, and how they differ. The other lecture was about glacier with info on how they flow.
The rain finally stopped at 5pm as the ship entered the fjords. We sailed through the fjords until 9pm when we went back out to the ocean. By 7pm the sun was shining and the weather was perfect.
January 26 – Scenic Cruising
The day started with the ship’s arrival at Brujo Glacier. The ship stopped about 3 miles from the front edge of the glacier. It is very large with huge crevices. Dolphins and sea lions were playing in the water alongside the ship. We stayed at the glacier for an hour before turning to sail out. As we headed through the Vancouver Inside Passage the weather got rainy and windy again.
Much of the scenery is reminiscent of Norway and Iceland. The weather is warmer though. Even as we continue to travel south the highs are in the upper 50s.
At 6pm we entered Magellan Strait and the ship listed a little to one side. It was noticeable enough for the Captain to come over the loudspeaker to tell us it would be getting calmer soon.
We are headed to Punta Arenas. There are 30+ people flying for the day tomorrow to Antarctica. Today they had to have their clothing sanitized to remove any foreign dirt or seeds.
I’ll be taking a speedboat to an island to see Magellan penguins.