One Last Day at Sea … and We Arrive in Bluff

Monday, 9 February 2015
Bluff, New Zealand
Current Position: 46°35’ S / 168°20’ E
Temps: 52F (11C) @ 7:30a (UTC +12)
Total Distance since Ushuaia: 6,225 NM (6,871 miles / 11,058 km)

The deepest principal of human nature is the craving to be appreciated.
William James (Philosopher)

Overnight, we left the Furious Fifties behind for the ‘calmer’ waters of the Roaring Forties.  You could have fooled me ;-)  Yes, the skies were blue when we woke up.  Yes, the sun was shining bright and warm.  But the Southern Ocean continued to make its presence known, with long, deep swells moving Ortelius along.

We asked Marjorie to make up our room early and then set about organizing our luggage for the next phase of our travels — our NZ road trip.  Luckily, the swells cooperated for much of our work, but the ship did become tippy again after lunch.  That was when Don repeated his caution to take care around the ship.

He also asked that we all spare a thought for one of our fellow passengers — Gisela.  She apparently took a tumble in the shower; a broken hip is suspected.  Unfortunately, with the winds high, the ship was not stable enough to attempt an evacuation by air.  Doctor Connie is doing all she can to make Gisela comfortable until we dock in Bluff tonight.  She will then be taken to a local hospital.  If Ortelius can maintain a speed of 10 knots (11.5 mph/19 kph), we should be in Bluff by midnight.

I went up to the Bridge Deck a couple of times to enjoy the sunshine, taking my Kindle with me to do a bit of reading.  It felt good to sit outside with nothing more than a light jacket.  No photos; heeding Don’s caution to keep one hand to the ship, I thought it was smarter to forego photography today.

At 6:00p, we gathered in the bar for Captain Ernesto’s farewell cocktails.  Thank yous were said to the Bridge Team, the Helicopter Team, and the Expedition Team, and we were given logistics details for tomorrow.  Then we headed to the bow for an impromptu group photo as Stewart Island became more than just a distant land mass.

At the moment, we are sailing in the lee of the island — it’s nice to have calm waters again.  Don just announced that the pilot will be coming alongside shortly — whoa … that’s earlier than was projected.  Obviously the calming down of the conditions allowed Ortelius to speed up.

A little later …

Welcome to Bluff; it’s 11:00p UTC +12).  We’ve been docked for an hour.  Helped by sea conditions that got consistently better as we approached South Island, Ortelius did indeed get us into port earlier than expected.  That’s a good thing when you have a medical emergency aboard.

The arrival of the pilot alongside Ortelius was greeted by cheers from passengers lining the railings.  I got the distinct feeling that there are quite a number of our fellow shipmates who are ready to get off the ship.

The pilot boat arrives with our escort into Bluff ...

… and leaves once it has discharged its duties.

Although it was too dark for photography, we watched the ship’s arrival into Bluff from deck 6 forward and then went down to deck 4 starboard to watch as the longshoremen tied Ortelius to its berth … just ahead of Professor Khrosov … aka Spirit of Enderby, which arrived a few hours before us.

By 10:20p, the gangway was set and the EMTs came aboard for Gisela.  It was a while before the formalities were completed to disembark her.  Despite the damp night chill, the majority of the passenger complement was on the upper decks to wish Gisela a speedy recovery as she left the ship on a stretcher, her husband, Hagen, and Doctor Connie by her side.

Expedition Day 32
6,225 miles later, our voyage ends in Bluff at the bottom of New Zealand’s South Island.

The rest of us still have to go through customs, so we are not allowed to disembark until tomorrow morning.  The time will come soon enough to say farewell to our floating home sweet home, but for now we get to have one last sleep aboard.

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