Gone to See Antarctica 2014/5: Day 13 – At Sea on the Hurtigruten MS Fram in the South Atlantic Ocean
The wind and waves were not as bad as the Hurtigruten MS Fram continued traveling south and west from South Georgia to Antarctica. Still not many folks were up and around either in the observation deck or in the dining rooms. I didn’t take any sea-sick medication, and was doing fine as long as I kept eating the meals, and could view the horizon. The ship’s musician was playing Procol Harum “A Whiter Shade of Pale” on the piano in observation deck in the background during this short video clip recorded on a Leica T camera.
Gone to See Antarctica 2014/5: Day 12 – At Sea on the Hurtigruten MS Fram in the South Atlantic Ocean
A 1 minute video from the observation deck of the Hurtigruten MS Fram of the sea conditions while traveling between South Georgia and Antarctica. I didn’t get sick, but remember that there were not many folks in the dining room. I did notice that my GPS track for the day had about six times as many data points from all of the rocking and rolling. We were going into some really heavy head winds, which reduced the speed of the ship from about 15 knots to 7 knots.
Gone to See Antarctica 2014/5: Day 11 – Hurtigruten MS Fram near Strømness, South Georgia
There are not many hours of darkness this far south at this time of the year in the Southern Hemisphere. You need to stay up late to see the colors at sunset and dusk, and very early to see the colors at dawn and sunrise. I was fortunate to catch this cloud formation at 03:51 AM. No one else was out on the deck other than the ship’s late night watch.
Lenticular Clouds at Dawn Over Strømness in South Georgia from the Deck of the Hurtigruten MS Fram. Composite of three images taken with a Leica T camera and 18-56 mm lens (ISO 100, 56 mm, f/11, various). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, NIK HDR Efex Pro, and Photoshop CC. (David J Mathre)
Gone to See Antarctica 2014/5 Day 10: Christmas Day on South Georgia Island
The Hurtigruten MS Fram arrived at South Georgia early in the morning. We were ferried from the ship to the island on Polarcirkel boats (a more comfortable version of the Zodiac boats). We then hiked across the island to Grytviken — an abandoned whaling village to attend Christmas Service at the Whalers Church. This is reported to be the southern most church. It was prefabricated in Norway, and dedicated 104 years ago on Christmas Day. The Christmas service was performed in Norwegian, German, and English. The church has a foot-pumped organ that the ship’s musician used to play Christmas music (as well as “A Whiter Shade of Pale” by Procol Harum). We then spent the remainder of our time on shore investigating the remaining whaling buildings in Grytviken and visiting a King Penguin rookery just outside of the village.
Hikers from the Hurtigruten MS Fram going to attend Christmas Service at the Whalers Church at Grytviken in South Georgia. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 18-56 mm lens (ISO 100, 30 mm, f/16, 1/160 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 8, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CC 2014. (David J Mathre)
Gone to See Antarctica 2014/5: Day 9 – At Sea on the Hurtigruten MS Fram in the South Atlantic Ocean
Dawn colors from the deck of the Hurtigruten MS Fram between the Falkland Islands (Malvinas) and South Georgia Island. Views like this are why I get up early to view the sky at dawn while at sea. This is a composite of 16 image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera.
Colorful Clouds at Dawn over the South Atlantic Ocean from the Deck of the Hurtigruten MS Fram. Composite of 16 images taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 23 mm f/2 lens (ISO 200, 23 mm, f/8, 1/250 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and composite panorama created with AutoPano Giga Pro. (David J Mathre)
