Live from the Wind(s) of Antarctica. Dec. 19, 2023.

[twangster]

Here are some photos from the channel near Puerto Williams.  We departed in darkness so we missed this on day one.  It's very pretty.

 

 

 

 

You can't park there.

 

 

 

[twangster]

 

 

 

Final 360 camera selfies.

 

 

 

 

 

[twangster]

I'll have to look up this vessel later.  More notions of Shackelton swirling in my head.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Right in front of me a whale did a full breach.  It was magnificent.  All I caught with my camera was the splash.  This was less than two miles from Puerto Williams.

 

[twangster]

 

 

 

 

 

With that we have arrived at Puerto Williams.

 

 

The Silver Cloud at the pier.

 

 

 

I assume the Captain has a very big credit card.  Our fuel barge.

 

 

Looks like the Cloud is doing crew laundry. 

 

[twangster]

Final position report:

 

 

[twangster]

It's nearly 5pm on board and we are gathered in the Show Lounge for our final recap briefing and a video presentation of our voyage.

[twangster]

The video contained content all captured during this cruise.  It was amazing and one of items I love about expedition cruising on Silversea.  
 

A USB drive with the video will be left in the cabin during dinner service.  

[taxatty]

1 hour ago, twangster said:

The video contained content all captured during this cruise.  It was amazing and one of items I love about expedition cruising on Silversea.  
 

A USB drive with the video will be left in the cabin during dinner service.  

You'll love the USB drive content--a video of the Polar Plungers should be included, for better (to win a bet) or worse (no Olympic diving medals awarded or deserved). 

[twangster]

A great last dinner with new friends before one last photo op.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Cloud still hanging out with us but off the pier now.

 

 

 

 

 

[twangster]

Day Nineteen - Debark

 

Chronicle:

 

6 JAN - DEBARK - Puerto Williams.pdf

 

 

 

[twangster]

Early morning here in Puerto Williams but the weather has cleared and it's too beautiful of a morning to let it go uncaptured.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[twangster]

Waiting to debark.  Four groups this morning, red, yellow, green and purple.  There are three guests from the yellow group missing.  This has thrown a wrench in the machine and two groups are delayed.   
 

My purple group was supposed to debark 20 minutes ago.  They’ve just called green.  

[twangster]

Shortly after 6am the first group was called.

 

 

Busses waiting for the short ride to the airport.

 

 

 

A final farewell from the crew.

 

 

It occurs to me the airport can't handle all four aircraft at the same time.  My plane hasn't landed yet.

 

 

 

A final look back at the Silver Wind.

 

 

An earlier group prepares to take off.

 

[twangster]

We've made it to Punta Arenas to refuel so while we wait I'll continue to post.

 

The short ride to the airport.

 

 

They held us on the bus while the aircraft before us taxied out to the runway.  Then it was time to walk up to the tarmac to our awaiting plane. 

 

 

 

 

Row 11 has an excellent view... of the engines.

 

 

Our plane.

 

 

I have the row on my side to myself again.  

 

 

With flaps extended my view was somewhat obstructed.

 

[twangster]

Beautiful views of Patagonia this morning.

 

 

So many glaciers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[highplanesdrifters]

Thanks for taking us on your journey! Fabulous report.

 

I believe the ship you were wondering about is the Bark Europa.

https://www.barkeuropa.com/

[twangster]

Thirty minute stop in Punta Arena to refual; and pickup some cargo.

 

 

 

It's five o'clock somewhere.

 

 

Meal service was decent all things considered.

 

[twangster]

This morning while waiting to debark I stopped at the photo studio to inquire if I could post the video from the ship's videographer Justin Duncan.  

 

They indicated it was okay to post the video but suggested I remove any segments that show a guest's face that would be easily recognizable.  I have done that and also removed the sound track which would likely cause a copyright issue on Youtube.

 

This video contains content that was all captured during this voyage.  There was no stock footage used or content from another ship or sailing.

 

No sound:

 

  

[twangster]

A quick word about the included parka.  

 

This worked quite well for me.  It is a two part design with an inner bubble style jacket that zips into the red waterproof outer shell.  I didn't keep mine zippered into the shell, I simply put on the shell over the jacket.

 

Sizing for me was perfect. I am typically a large ski coat and this large fit well.  I generally wore a long sleeve t-shirt and the Silversea parka on all excursions and I was never cold.

 

The shell did a great job.  Despite being splashed often on a zodiac ride I was never wet inside.  

 

 

 

Had I known how well it would work I could have left a jacket or two back home.  Lesson learned.

 

They are currently manufactured by 3M Thinsulate.

 

Given the waterproof nature of the shell it was also a good windbreaker which was important for standing forward on deck 9 watching for marine life in the ship's wind.

[Pumblechook]

I agree with the quality of the two-piece jacket. 

 

I used only the red outer 'shell' for zodiacs; on one early landing it was snowing/sleeting and also a very wet zodiac return to the ship. The outer jacket worked perfectly, and the pockets and cabin key-card holder were all very functional.

 

I frequently wore the grey inner jacket on a windy but not wet outside Deck 9 viewing point on board. Again, pretty good (with gloves!)

 

Unfortunately I judged my outer shell a bit large; OK with the extra layers I wore under it, but without them it wouldn't be useful back home, so all the SS gear, incl the backpack (which I never used) got donated for the 'below stairs' crew use.

 

I congratulate you on your photographic coverage - all those hours in the wind and cold paid off!!

 

As a first-time SilverSea-er, I was extremely pleased with the cruise, especially the efforts of the Captain and Expedition Leader in delivering some superb landings.  We were so lucky with the weather.

[twangster]

Here is a lesson learned for the charter flight home from Puerto Williams to Santiago and the hotel.

 

Pack a change of summer clothes in your carry on and maybe a swimsuit.

 

After landing in Santiago at the FBO we boarded busses for the ride to the Mandarin Oriental.  Upon arrival we joined the queue for Silversea guests to check in and get our room assigned.  This was done in the conference room we had breakfast in way back on day one.  Luggage from the plane was sent separately by truck. 

 

The check in process was slow and long.  The queue was roughly an hour of standing, inching forward every three of four minutes.  Once I finally received a room it took several more hours to receive my luggage.  

 

The problem is I had dressed for a Puerto Williams kind of day but now it was summer in Santiago weather.  It was nearly 80°F or 27°C.  In my long pants and long sleeve heavy shirt I was not dressed to go out and around Santiago.  I really felt like a swim in the pool at the hotel but I didn't get my luggage until after 5pm so I didn't have my swimsuit.

 

I should have packed shorts and a t-shirt plus my swimsuit in my carry on.  

 

This entire experience was pretty fantastic but ending it with a cluster of a hotel check in was a little disappointing.  If I had a change of clothes I could have done something at the mall or around the area near the hotel while waiting for my luggage.  A jump in the pool or lounging by the pool would have been perfect.

 

Edited January 8 by twangster

[Pumblechook]

13 hours ago, twangster said:

The check in process was slow and long.  The queue was roughly an hour of standing, inching forward every three of four minutes.  Once I finally received a room it took several more hours to receive my luggage.  

 

This  was roughly the experience of a couple of others of us also. I was 2nd to the check-in desk from the bus from the second charter plane, at 1:45pm, and I couldn’t get my room until 3 pm. I didn’t get my checked bag until about 4 pm and then only going down to the concierge and getting it from the 'pantry' on my floor where it was still sitting.

 

Oh, and I had to go down and change my room, just like it did the first time we stayed here a few weeks ago.

 

It's very large logistical exercise with at least 200 guests arriving and 200 guests departing on these change-over days, but it is the very expensive Mandarin Oriental supplemented by number of dedicated SilverSea people and they’ve been doing this quite a lot of time, so I’d hope they were better at it by now.

Edited January 8 by Pumblechook

[Port Power]

23 hours ago, twangster said:

Here is a lesson learned for the charter flight home from Puerto Williams to Santiago and the hotel.

 

Pack a change of summer clothes in your carry on and maybe a swimsuit.

 

After landing in Santiago at the FBO we boarded busses for the ride to the Mandarin Oriental.  Upon arrival we joined the queue for Silversea guests to check in and get our room assigned.  This was done in the conference room we had breakfast in way back on day one.  Luggage from the plane was sent separately by truck. 

 

The check in process was slow and long.  The queue was roughly an hour of standing, inching forward every three of four minutes.  Once I finally received a room it took several more hours to receive my luggage.  

 

The problem is I had dressed for a Puerto Williams kind of day but now it was summer in Santiago weather.  It was nearly 80°F or 27°C.  In my long pants and long sleeve heavy shirt I was not dressed to go out and around Santiago.  I really felt like a swim in the pool at the hotel but I didn't get my luggage until after 5pm so I didn't have my swimsuit.

 

I should have packed shorts and a t-shirt plus my swimsuit in my carry on.  

 

This entire experience was pretty fantastic but ending it with a cluster of a hotel check in was a little disappointing.  If I had a change of clothes I could have done something at the mall or around the area near the hotel while waiting for my luggage.  A jump in the pool or lounging by the pool would have been perfect.

 

 
I was on the second flight, but the third bus from the airport. There wasn’t nearly as long a queue to check in at the hotel when I arrived, and fortunately I did receive my room key immediately.

 

However, being experienced at this sort of transfer between climate, I wore pants and a t-shirt that were suitable for walking around in Santiago, wearing my puffer jacket when leaving the ship.  There was a change of clothes in the carry on if needed, as well as the swim suit and pop-over dress.  This is the standard set-up for seasoned cruisers wanting to swim on a cruise ship before having access to either the cabin or checked luggage.  You have learned a valuable less for the future. 😆

[navigatejoyously]

Thank you for sharing!!!  on the Next Wind expedition so this has been so helpful!

[highplanesdrifters]

On 1/8/2024 at 7:23 AM, Pumblechook said:

It's very large logistical exercise with at least 200 guests arriving and 200 guests departing on these change-over days, but it is the very expensive Mandarin Oriental supplemented by number of dedicated SilverSea people and they’ve been doing this quite a lot of time, so I’d hope they were better at it by now.

We had the same problems at MO in October 2022.  On our upcoming SS trip in February they have switched to The W.  Will miss the pool and grounds.