Page 155 - 2003 - Atlantic Islands

It was cold on the Zodiac and the waves were getting larger so Marco decided that

unless we were all crazy to stay out longer, we should head back to the Orion. It was

difficult getting some of the people back into the Zodiac and Marco actually had to

bodily lift Anna up like a doll and put her into the vessel. We had further trouble

getting away from the shoreline because of the big swells and when the strong ABs

had pushed us out beyond the breaking waves we were quickly in trouble because

the engine wouldn’t start. Now we were getting athwart the incoming rollers and

that was not a good place to be. We could just see ourselves being catapulted out

and onto the shore right in the face of one of the big male fur seals. But Marco was

persistent and got the motor going again and we were soon out of danger and off to

the ship. We were quite relieved to see that since we were using the Marina Deck for

loading and unloading the Zodiacs, the Orion provided shelter from the ever larger

swells and our return to the ship was quite easy.

Because we left Right Whale Bay a bit earlier than anticipated we had a nice slow sail

to Elsehul Inner Bay -- just 15 nautical miles away. So we enjoyed our lunch with two

of the crew ladies (the purser and the shopkeeper) and Bill & Sage. It was fascinating

to talk with the gals and learn how they had gotten their jobs, etc. The German girl

who is from former East Germany told us a little about how life changed there and

how difficult it was for some people to understand and accept the changes. Some are

still unaccepted - on both the East and West sides of the divide.

After lunch, we were told to assemble in the Leda Lounge if we wanted to take

another Zodiac ride today, this time in this beautiful bay. Of course, we wanted to

and so were down there on time and ready at 2:25 PM We got on the last Zodiac of

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