So we all got a bit excited about being on the Falkland Islands and things in blog land have fallen behind. However we all had a pretty awesome time exploring the very windswept rocks which are the Falklands. We arrived just in time in Stanley, a day later and we would have arrived in 50 knot winds which would have been rather unpleasant. However we tied up to the dock safely all incredibly excited to see the mountains on the horizon, and little lights giving shape to the town.
For all it’s a small town it felt to us like the height of civilization, even though a shower was off the cards due to a lack of hot water. Life in Stanley is uniquely British. There’ll be more on this later, with images, but it was astonishing to see British people being so fiercely British. The social fallout from the war lives on, combined closely with a deep deep love and passion for penguins. And wind, lots and lots of wind.I saw 2 species of penguin, however two of our crew were much more dedicated to the penguin cause and saw all 5 species.
Now we’re back at sea. For the most part we’ve got our sea legs back, more of a challenge for some of us than others, and we’re getting back into the swing of Eat, Watch, Sleep repeat. I’ve pulled the sunrise/sunset shift (0400-0800, 1600-2000) which means we get to experience the best of both ends of the day, if you’re feeling in a positive frame of mind.
And we’ve started up the water sampling again. I’ve been running trawls once we got far enough from Stanley not to risk large pieces of refuse breaking the net, and we’ll be collecting water each day for the Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation. This part of the world has very few samples so it’s great to be able to contribute. We’ve had soft winds, smooth seas and even spotted a ship on the horizon! About as good as it gets out in the Atlantic, the best kind of day at sea is a boring day.