WILSON HARBOUR

54^o06'S 37^o40'W

Chart 3597, South Georgia

This appears to be one of the best harbours on the SW coast and provides much better shelter from the sea than is apparent from the chart.

Sail in to the bay on the N shore, near the head of the inlet. Tuck well in to the NW end of the beach and anchor in a clear patch between the kelp in about 10.5m. Good shelter from the sea is provided from WxS through N to E. The fetch from S winds is less than 2 miles.

The Schrader Glacier to the SE of the anchorage only has a fairly small calving front and when visited by Badger, there was very little ice in the bay. The Pilot warns of occasional very strong winds blowing from the SE off the glacier.

WILSON HARBOUR, LOOKING S

COOPER SOUND

 

A passage leads between Cooper Island and the mainland. It is straightforward if the Cooper Bay shore is favoured. There are rocks off either shore and beds of kelp, but there is plenty of room to tack through.

On the several occasions that we passed through the Sound, the current usually ran eastwards.

To the W of Cooper Bay there is a colony of Chinstrap penguins on the beach, the only one in South Georgia. Further W on the hillside, is a very large colony of Macaroni penguins.

COOPER BAY

 

54^o46'S 35^o49'W

Chart 3597, South Georgia

Two good anchorages are available within the bay.

THE LAGOON

To the E of the entrance to the inner bay, is a small lagoon formed by the shore and a ring of rocks. The entrance is between the most W rock and the shoreline. There is kelp in this narrow channel, but it is at its thinnest near to the rock. We found a minimum of an estimated 1.8m at low water.

The lagoon itself offers complete protection from the sea, but it is very small, and a yacht must be moored if it is to stay in the centre of the lagoon, where the depth is 2.7m.  At the E side, there is a drying rock, off which are several underwater rocks with less than 1.3m over them.

There is a Macaroni penguin colony around the headland to the E of the lagoon.  Ashore are a lot of Fur seals, but it appears to be a non-breeding beach.

THE LAGOON, LOOKING SW TOWARDS COOPER SOUND

INNER BAY

At the NW head of the Bay is an inner bay, offering good protection from the sea from all directions, with the exception of SE. Although large amounts of kelp grow along the edges of the bay, there is a relatively clear patch in the middle.

Anchor in about 5m.

INNER BAY, LOOKING SE TOWARDS COOPER ISLAND