At home and abroad

Right after breakfast this morning, our expedition leader, Gaby, announced we will not be going to the South Sandwich Islands. That’s okay with me.

Although both the North and South Sandwich Islands were discovered, claimed, and named by Captain James Cook during his voyages of discovery, the southern bunch are much drearier than their tropical cousins (which today the world knows as the Hawaiian island chain.) The southern islands remain a British possession. I’d never heard of them before I began researching this trip.

At least a few of our fellow passengers really, really wanted to see them, though. The rocky knobs that make up Sandwichland (as Cook originally called it) are very small but they’re home to an enormous colony of chinstrap penguins. Still, Gaby made it clear why the captain and she felt compelled to change our plans. An intense storm system is racing toward the area. We’re on its edge, and that’s been pretty harrowing. Outside our windows, the sea froths with white caps, rising up in 10-foot swells. The wind is gusting at 35-45 miles per hour.

At our present location, it’s sunny at the moment, which makes it less scary (though some folks are seasick again. Happily, not me.) But Gaby says the South Sandwich area is certain to be socked in with fog.

None of the islands’ waters are sheltered. They’re also not well-charted, so we wouldn’t be able to get any closer than a mile or two from any shore. Happily, we have an alternative.

The new plan is that we’ll go to South Georgia Island and hang out there for 6 or 7 days, instead of the 4 included in our itinerary. One of the expedition crew members last night at dinner called South Georgia the most isolated place on earth. It’s much larger than any of the Sandwich Islands, and about half its coast is cut with fjords that offer plenty of protection to mariners.

I have no idea what we’ll do with all that time, but Gaby seems to see it as an exciting and extraordinary opportunity. With luck we’ll arrive sometime tomorrow morning.