September 28, 2024

September 28, 2024 - Saturday 

Silver Islet, Ontario, Canada 

We sailed from Thunder Bay to Silver Islet in the wee hours of the morning. It was only 3 or 4 hours between the two. 

We took a brief walk around the ship while it was still dark. The sun was just coming up behind what is known as “The Sleeping Giant”, a rock formation in what is known as the Canadian Shield (dating between 2.5 and 4.2 BILLION years ago.) It is the earth’s crust. The shapes were formed during glaciation (melting of the glaciers at the end of the ice age.   

 

Then the fog rolled in and everything was obscured for a while. We don’t have anything planned for today until 3:00 pm. That will be our first Zodiac ride and we are really looking forward to it.          

Spent some time working on the blog to work towards getting caught up. Posted 2 episodes to FB, felt great, then within 15 minutes, got a message from FB that the posts were removed. It sounds like they think I am somehow benefitting from the posts. The only benefit I receive is knowing that friends and family that have requested updates on our adventures are getting the information in an easy and efficient manner. 

By 3:00 pm, we were on Deck A ready to go out on our first Zodiac ride. Everyone on board has special life vests in their cabin. These life vests are specially designed for the rides on Zodiacs, Special Ops Boats, and the submarine. They are smaller than what we are used to but are designed to self-inflate if you go into the water. But they aren’t overly bulky before that. However, we learned very quickly that they weigh enough that you are very aware of them.

Our guide starts out with a bit of a safety briefing. He seems to really enjoy his job as he made light of much of it. Getting the message across, assuring us on safety procedures Viking takes with these toys, but also making it fun. Once the 3 Zodiacs on this run are all on the water, he gets a message that he can proceed. We head for Silver Islet at a sedate pace. The water is pretty close to being as smooth as glass, so it is a very comfortable ride. He gives us the history of the island and the activities (mining) that used to take place here. We get close enough to see the mine shafts and the logs from the breakwater that was built to protect the island during storms.

Clear water

The mine was located on this tiny dot of land just offshore. It was only 50 square meters. The silver vein was discovered in 1868. The company expanded the size of the island with crushed rock from the shafts to over 10 times its original size. They also built numerous buildings associated with the mining operation. By 1883 the silver was pretty much played out. The crowning blow was a load of coal needed to run the pumps to keep the shafts dry was not delivered before winter in 1884. Over the winter, the shafts flooded and could not be drained. During it’s brief operation they harvested about $78 million (today’s dollars) in silver.

The dark hole mid-ship is where people load onto Tenders and zodiacs.
The large opening towards the stern is where toys are launched.

We then headed towards the mainland to see a formation known as “Sea Lion Rock”. It was an outcropping of rock that had the silhouette of a Lion. Over time the head of the lion crumpled leaving only the body and front legs. The passengers on our zodiac thought it looked more like a backhoe. Still fun to see.

More clear water

 

After a bit of time enjoying the scenery, it was time to head back to the ship. Our voyage was to have been 45 minutes, but it was after 4:00 pm when we got back to the ship. The ride back was the first opportunity for us to see the Octantis from a bit of a distance without anything obstructing our view. The dark holes you see in her stern and sides are doors and openings used to deploy the toys and to transfer passengers to the toys and tenders.

Zodiak unloading

And at 5:00 pm the Captain and his senior staff hosted a cocktail party for the 38 guests aboard that will be going all the way to the Antarctic. The reception was very nice, lovely hors d’oeuvres. The event was held in the Hide. The Hide is a bar/lounge that typically opens around 9:00 pm. I believe you can use it during the day, but the bar facilities aren’t available until later. One funny side note was that just as they started the introductions, the anchor was being raised, and the chain goes through two large metal pipes that are in the Hide. Raising or lowering the anchor creates a great deal of noise. And it must have taken them 10 minutes to raise both anchors.