Drake Passage and Landfall: South Shetlands
Trip Start
Dec 31, 2005
1
6
20
Trip End
Jan 24, 2006
Livingston Island, South Shetlands,
Antarctica
Friday, January 6, 2006
The travel medication worked like a DREAM! I was never sick, not even remotely, which is a huge weight off my mind!! I highly recommend these Transderm V puppies, although BEWARE the dry mouth and the slightly blurred vision. In any case, the Drake Passage between Tierra del Fuego and the Antarctic peninsula are noted as the roughest on the planet - somewhere in order of 1000+ ships have wrecked over the centuries, so I was happy to escape the southbound crossing with my breakfast, lunch and dinner intact.
In any case, embarkation day (Jan 3) went fairly smoothly (those activities occurring after my last entry), and we boarded Explorer about an hour late. I can honestly say this little city Ushuaia exists solely for the 6-ship pier and the comings and goings of the passengers to the Antarctic. Having checked our baggage at the port at 10am, I had 5 hours to kill, and it was a stretch to keep occupied. Ushuaia specializes in chocolate however, so I did manage to spend about an hour in the chocolate shop...
Once aboard Explorer, I made my way to my cabin (suite 148) on the main deck of the ship
01 Ship´s Mast - MS Explorer in Ushuaia Harbour
. This was apparently one of the better locales on the 5 story ship, as our level was the only to have full-size windows (in place of the tiny port-holes that the other levels had). I was bunked up with another guy from Kent, England. He had claimed bottom bunk, which later proved to be a bit challenging, given that there was no ladder. Instead, the desk became my launch-pad to get into bed. There were only a few mis-fires that resulted in awkward landings, and those can generally be chalked up to an unpredictable lurch of the ship coupled with an unpredictable dampening of the balance mechanism...likely due to excessive alcohol.In any event, I got top bunk and promptly claimed all floor space for both my luggage, as well as my landing zone coming off the bunk. I have to tell you that the bed rail was about 2" from the top of the mattress, so I was fairly certain that any major heaves the ship gave would throw me clear of the railing and onto the floor! This never happened, but I did devise a great strategy to offset any rocking of the boat, which required me to stuff loose clothing under my left side, thereby creating a wedge that ensured I would not roll that way, and over onto the cabin floor.
The ship had a fairly decent layout, with the lounge (read games room / library / bar) about 20 feet down the corridor from my cabin, and the dining hall about 15 feet in the other direction. Frankly, while not on deck, this was the main hub of ship-board activity
02 Ship´s Bow - MS Explorer in Beagle Channel
. I should also mention that the bathroom (with which every cabin was fitted) was an ingenious layout, called a wet-room. This means that the toilet, sitting against one wall, faced the shower-head on the opposite. The sink sat on the side wall in between, with the door opposite. In any event, the limited dimensions of the space meant that if desired, one could meet nature's call, while brushing your teeth, or even taking a shower. I have to say my attempt at this only resulted in a roll of wet toilet paper which quickly turned me on the concept.I have attached a few pictures of our ship, the Explorer, as well as a few pictures from her deck while exiting the Beagle channel into the South Atlantic, and through the Drake Passage southward to Antarctica:
The journey Eastward through the Beagle Channel and into the open South Atlantic took several hours, and thankfully the late dusk (11pm) allowed for fantastic scenery right up until we met the open seas. All along the Beagle route, the mountains rose on either side of the channel, with massive grey clouds shrouding the tops of the largest peaks. It was an truly amazing sight, with a haunting feeling given that not a living soul could be found all along the eastern channel.
As dusk fell (it never got completely dark as the ship headed south toward the 24 hour daylight of the Antarctic), most of the travellers returned to the lounge for the captain´s welcome and a few (more) drinks. I figure that we finally cleared the lounge by 1:30am.
***Day 5 January 5**
Dawn breaks at 4am here, but thankfully we were able to sleep until 7:30am, when the captain called out for breakfast
03 First Iceberg
. It was a little dodgy at first, as I wasn't sure I could stomach any food, but the chef had done a huge buffet. In fact, all of the meals on the trip were excellent! Having had the emergency drill the previous day (learning how to abandon ship, man the lifeboats, etc), all we had in store for our second day of Drake Passage travel was ship-board activities. At some point during the day we crossed what's called the "Antarctic Convergence", where the cold waters of the Antarctic sink below the temperate waters of the south Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and where both water and air temperatures fall dramatically. Until now, visits to the ship´s upper decks required only a fleece sweater, we now needed windproof gear, insulated thermals and gloves/mitts. It would be within less than a day that we would begin to see icebergs drifting north from the ice shelves of Antarcita. I have to admit to taking dozens of photos of icebergs the first day, mostly because of the immense size and amazing blue colourings. I have imbedded a couple here:
Most of the day was spent either up on deck or in the lounge, where I connected with a few folks that were interested in cards (Uno was hugely popular on this ship). We passed the time quickly also with lectures that the on-board tour crew gave on Antarctic wildlife, geology and explorer history.
Finally, late in the afternoon first land was spotted. This would be King George Island, at the northern limit of the South Shetlands, which run up the west peninsula of Antarctica
04 Side view of the MS Explorer
. We weren't landing here, as it was too late in the day, but it was the first sign that we had crossed the vicious Drake Passage without any rough seas! (The captain would later say that this was the calmest crossing he has ever made).Merriment in the lounge to close out the evening, although it was an early one.
***Day 6 January 6**
A 7:30am start this morning. The passengers had been broken into 2 groups of 50, with myself assigned to group A. We were mustered into the entrance deck to put on our life jackets, and head out in the zodiacs (motorized pontoon boats) that would take us to shore.
We landed at Half Moon Island, just south of Livingstone Island. Hopping out into the freezing seas (we were required to wear waterproof outerwear and 14" high rubber boots at all times, as the zodiacs would not beach on land) and wading up to the rocky shore. Keeping in mind that we were not yet on the Antarctic continent, but rather on one of the smaller islands within the South Shetlands chain just west of the continent.
The main landing site was in the midst of several large Chinstrap penguin colonies (so called because these penguins have a thin black marking that passes under their beak, stretching ear to ear like a helmet strap). We were allowed to get relatively close to the penguins and their chicks, as well as allow them to approach us. Penguins are naturally inquisitive, and had a great time trying to figure out what we were all about. One of the mainstay activities of penguins seems to be stealing small rocks from their neighbour´s nests to augment their own, so holding out small rocks tended to get them interested in coming closer. Here area few good pictures:
Half Moon Island is also home to an Argentine Naval base, where we were allowed to tour, and the officers offered us wine and food. I have a few pictures from the base that were taken by some new found friends (Scott and Sharon, who were travelling from northern Illinois):
We spent a couple of hours at Half Moon Island before heading into the foggy channel on our way to the continent. We would sail for the balance of day 6. Here are a few pics from the upper deck of the explorer as we headed further south:
Comments
Looking at the Pix
Shawn, the pictures are amazing! Quite the expedition, I'm envious!!!! Would like to be somewhere right now. Love the penguins...Hey like the yello sweater too....looks familiar somehow....haha
It's still WARM here at 8 degrees, I want some damn snow......
Have you found an Antartica Betty Boop?
Serge by the way is now a millionaire from renting out your apartment by the hour.....haha
Keep writing
Alex