Good News!
Good News!
By Blog.Admin
19 February 2009
The good news is we’re steaming north with all passengers from the Ocean Nova on board.
Yesterday was an extraordinary day. We arrived in Marguerite Bay late in the morning. Marguerite Bay has to be one of the prettiest bays on the planet. It is flanked by dramatic mountains and glaciers. To the south huge triangular peaks loom and the bay is dotted with huge icebergs that have drifted north most likely from the Wilkins, George VI and Bach ice shelves. The bay is actually a huge body of water encompassing many islands, bays and coves. Ocean Nova was located deep into a spectacular bay only a couple of hundred yards from the Argentine Base, San Martin.
Ocean Nova had grounded on rocks between the base on the mainland and a small rocky island a few hundred metres to the west. She sat 20 metres offshore and listing ever so slightly to the port side.
Soon after we arrived the captain of Ocean Nova made an unsuccessful attempt to shift her off the rocks under her own steam. An attempt had been made to shift her on the previous high tide during the middle of the night and she had shifted but re-lodged on another rock. Hurricane force Katabatic winds had not helped. However, when we arrived the wind had dropped to a whisper and the air temperature must have been around +3C, excellent conditions to transfer passengers, luggage and get Ocean Nova off the rocks.
All of Ocean Nova’s passengers were transferred to Clipper Adventurer early in the afternoon. While we waited for low tide to abate we were able to take passengers ashore on the island adjacent to Ocean nova, which I believe is called Audrey Island. None of us had been ashore here before. It was a super landing and great to stretch our legs. We came across some Adelie Penguins, a Weddell Seal pup and many nesting Skuas. However, the highlight was the geology. The sheer variety of rocks and geological features was stunning. Our rock star, Wolfgang, was beside himself.
On the way back to the ship we cruised past a gorgeous blue berg with a huge hole in the middle through which we could frame Ocean Nova and Clipper Adventurer. The landing was a wonderful way to pass time waiting for the tide to come in.
Around mid afternoon the operation to help Ocean Nova off the rocks commenced. We used two zodiacs to drag a length of thick rope across the water to Ocean Nova. Once the line had been attached to Ocean Nova’s stern, Clipper Adventurer inched forward ever so slowly until we had taken up the slack. The critical moment was nigh. Captain slowly increased the power and within seconds Ocean Nova was free of its predicament much to the relief of her passengers and crew.
In reality there was very little drama. I’m sure the incident has been widely reported. One of the expedition staff from Ocean Nova is now on board with us and he is a Shackleton! I’m very much looking forward to attending a history lecture from Jonathon Shackleton later today.
David Sinclair