03 Mar 2016

Macca Defeat

When you wake to blue sky and a sunrise and you haven't seen either for some time, you live in hope, but our longed for landing on Macca was not to be. The wind increased to 40 knots with Willy Willies screaming across the surface, twisting sea spray to the heavens. Views however were grand. The lush greens against that blue sea and sky after yesterday’s grey on grey, really were a tease as we accepted our lot, that of being ship-bound once again with little prospect of any external activity. We cruised down south to see our friends at Lusitania Bay again then back north to lie off Buckles Bay and chat by radio with station personnel who were offering fresh scones, jam and cream, when all we longed for were Gentoos, Kings, Royals and Elephant Seals. No one really wanted to face the inevitable, but with the forecast for tomorrow showing no change in the weather and no prospect of landing, the decision was made after lunch to cut and run to Campbell Island. We will spend an extra day there which was welcome news to those suffereing from cabin fever after multiple days at sea.  With the strong winds aft, we set out and continued our adventure with quite a few on the rail holding the last views of Macca till she dipped below the swell.