We had a mandatory safety briefing on Zodiac protocols our first full day on the ship. After the briefing, we selected our rubber boots and red parkas to wear ashore. Be sure to wear some thick socks to this briefing in order to get the right size boots, as they are not worn over shoes. Ronnie and I selected extra-large parkas so that we could sit on the edge of them in the wet Zodiac.
We were divided into two groups of about 80 passengers each, with all the English-speakers in the same group. Only 100 passengers are allowed on Antarctic shores at any one time, so the groups would alternate disembarkation times. This 100-passenger rule is the primary reason why larger ships don't even try to put passengers ashore on the continent. It would take some of them all day! We usually stayed ashore only 1-2 hours at each stop, and used the Zodiacs 8 times on the cruise. We kept our boots in storage lockers on the Zodiac disembarkation deck. Although we washed them each time we returned to the ship, the strong odor of penguin poop quickly permeated the locker rooms. Ah, the joys of expedition cruising!
