Los glaciares de San Rafael (The Glaciers)

Our evenings at sea have been more than pleasant; the rough seas we encountered in the South Atlantic are a thing of the past. Thus far only calm seas have welcomed us, even when we have sailed part of the time in the South Pacific Ocean.

This morning we got up early for our next excursion. We were scheduled to visit the glacier at San Rafael. The Sunset Seas anchored off shore and at 7:15 a.m., still at least 20 minutes prior to sunrise; a tour-guide provided catamaran picked us up. The boat had two decks and you could walk around outside on both the upper and the lower decks. The seats inside were sumptuous and reminded me of the type seen in first class cabins of airliners. Our ride out to the glacier was smooth and comfortable, the air was biting cold and most folks choose to stay inside and sip hot cocoa. After about an hour’s drive we entered a field of little icebergs that signaled we were getting near. Along the way we say a lot of water birds and an occasional seal would pop up for a look at us, then disappear. The day was getting lighter, but we still had a lot of cloud cover, no chance for a sunlit glacier this morning.
After the boat captain made one more turn around the winding shoreline we could see the glacier dead ahead. It was still about 2 miles away, but seemed a lot closer because of its size.

San Rafael glacier is almost a mile wide where it meets the lagoon into which it deposits itself. The height is about 150 to 200 feet and that is only what we see about the water line. As we got closer, we encountered more and more little, and now even larger icebergs. Suddenly there was a series of loud cracking sounds, like a big tree was breaking. San Rafael was calving some new icebergs. Calving is process where a huge hunk of ice breaks off and plunges into the water then bob straight back up before collapsing into the water on its side. Remember that only about 10 per cent of a block of ice can be seen above the water, the rest is under the surface. After observing the glacier for about 45 minutes, it was necessary for us to return to the ship. Everyone stayed inside to drink hot cocoa and keep warm. It was time for us to let other shipmates have an opportunity to be driven out to San Rafael glacier.