Day Three — Crossing the Drake

Tuesday, January 29, began with the Explorer fully in the middle of the Drake Passage, still rocking and rolling.  Outside, the temperature was 46 degrees, the winds were blowing, and we could see the swells from our cabin window.

Walking through the passageways or using the stairs, it was a good idea to keep one hand on the grab rail (“one hand for the ship,” as they say). In the bistro bar leading to the main dining room, ropes had been strung so that there was something to grab when you were walking.  The ship’s elevator was shut down, presumably because it could no longer travel in a vertical direction.

At 8:15 AM, we were at 57 degrees South latitude.  We were nearing political Antarctica (the area covered by the Antarctic Treaty), which starts at 60 degrees South.  From our cabin window this morning, I saw my first wandering albatross; what a thrill that was!  I spent much of this day out on deck in the stern, where birds were following the ship, as is typical in the Drake.  More albatross — wanderers and black browed — as well as snow petrels.  Albatross are magnificent birds; I could (and did!) watch them for hours just gliding with the air currents, not needing to flap a wing.  Remarkable.  And simply watching the water is always something I enjoy, and I did in the Drake Passage as well.

Some of the birders on board were out on the stern too, a very congenial bunch of folks who were generous with their knowledge and without whom I generally would not have known what I was seeing.

The sun came out in the afternoon, and it was just beautiful to be on deck watching the sea and the birds.  I felt bad for the folks who were bothered by the motion and weren’t up on deck.  MP and I estimated that about 2/3 of the people on board (MP included) were wearing scopolamine patches.  This was the first time MP had worn one; she said it worked very well.  But while folks didn’t seem to be complaining about being sick, many still were not up and about during the worst of the Drake, in either direction.

Sometime during the day, we crossed the Antarctic convergence, where the warm waters of the north meet the cold waters of Antarctica, and we were now sailing in waters that were about 30 degrees!

One the great things about being on the Explorer was the open bridge policy — you were free to go up and hang out on the bridge any time.  I love being on small ships and I totally loved having this access to the bridge; I spent a great deal of time there, as I did this day, particularly when the weather was less than optimum.

That evening, during our daily briefing, it was announced to great cheers that we had crossed the 60th parallel — WE ARE IN ANTARCTICA!   And naturalist Tom Ritchie told us that on a scale of 1-10, our crossing of the Drake is about a 4 or 5.  The winds are blowing at pretty much gale force, and the following seas are still making things feel quite rough.  The Captain says we should feel free to tell the folks at home that we had 30 foot waves the whole way across; who’s to know we didn’t!  🙂

(photos by turtles06)