King Haakon Bay

Fun morning. We awoke to misty, sleety weather as we sailed into King Haakon Bay. We were surrounded by Wandering albatross, Giant petrels, Skuas, Light Mantled Sooty albatross, and many others. The Wandering Albatross is the largest bird in the world and is spectacular to watch.



We sailed into the bay and anchored off of Peggoty Point where Shackleton overturned the James Caird for the three men he was left behind and hiked across South Georgia to the whaling station at Grytviken.

We bundled up and insured we were waterproof before setting out for a very wet landing on a small, gravely beach below a massive hanging glacier.



The wind was ferocious and we quickly assembled on the lee side of the point to get our bearings. The captain later told us the winds were gusting to sixty miles per hour. From there we took a short hike through the tussock grass and across glacial moraines. The wind gusts were enough to push us backwards and the rain, sleet, and blowing snow stung any exposed flesh on our faces.

The real fun started when we re-boarded the zodiacs. The winds and seas were running directly into the small gravel spit we launched from. Waves crashed over the stern soaking everything before we could turn into the seas. I was fortunate to have the quartering seas to my back, Paula was across from me and took the water face on. It was hard to distinguish between sleet and sea spray except by taste. Disembarking from the zodiacs onto the the rolling ship was an adventure in its own right. The good news is that we now have proof that our water proof gear is truly water proof. Other than our faces,we stayed dry. At lunch we learned that a woman from Canada froze and had to be lifted out of the pitching zodiac.

From Peggoty Point we sailed to the mouth of King Haakon Bay to Point Rosa where Shackleton made his initial landing on South Georgia. Shackleton had spotted the island the day before but a hurricane struck and threatened to smash the James Caird into the rocky cliffs. They were able to circle back to sea and survived the night. The next day the skies cleared and Shackleton sailed into King Haakon Bay. They had been at sea in the twenty two foot for sixteen days, the last three days without water. They found this small cove at the opening to the bay.



The beached on the small beach in the center of the photo. There is a small stream behind the point to the left. They found albatross chichs on the cliffs for food. As they beached the James Caird, they lost the rudder which was devastating. The next day, the rudder washed back onto their small beach allowing them to sail to Peggoty point.

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Location:South Georgia Island