With winds steady at 50 or so the seas really built up last night. Down on the lowest deck in “steerage,” our cabin stewards swung the metal cover shut over our lone porthole. We were advised this step needed to be taken as a precaution against a powerful wave smashing the thick, and I mean thick, glass through we we had been peering now and then.
The absence of natural light in our cabin has Lester reminiscing about days spent holed up in various snow caves.
Again I didn’t get far trying to capture photographically the drama of the huge waves boiling along. What had, at bedtime, been a quartering sea astern was by breakfast time this morning, hitting us squarely on the beam, sending passengers and crew lurching from side to side as announcements over the ship’s PA urged us to keep a hand on a railing as we moved about.
Shortly after I had settled with a thump into a chair in the bar area I heard from the dining room a pile of dishes hit the deck with a resounding crash accompanied by muted screaming.
LIning up later for the breakfast buffet I noticed the wait staff grasping the dishes tightly.
Seas calmed a bit by lunchtime. We began retracing our path through the pack ice and again marveled at the giant icebergs that had seceded from Ross’s Ice Shelf.
I decided to take a turn around the deck and pulled on “the pads” as it’s about 30 with a mighty wind.
Not much action around the pool and no one stepping into the snow at the outdoor showers. Hot tubs likewise were empty.
One of the above pictures is a repeat I know, but as I am without any sons in law I’ll be dipped if I can figure out how to get rid of it.
I finished my brief topside transit trying to make my way around the front of the bridge after paying my respects to those operating the ship. A Venturi effect really supercharged the wind, reminding me of standing at the top of Gooseye Mountain with a fierce wind holding my body up at about a 30 degree angle to the ground. But the sun was out and all was well.
Kenway Goes South 
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