4 posts tagged “drake passage”

Another uneventful day as we reached the Southern tip of Argentina in the late evening.
The highlight was the Captain's Dinner with some fine food indeed (venison steak as main). An early night was in order as there was to be an early start the next morning.
I had finished packing my suitcase, put the correct colour ribbon on (this would be important for the charter flights the next day) and left it outside my cabin to be picked up and transported to the airport for us.

Not much to write about, really.
The weather was fine at first but then turned quite quickly, first into stronger winds and rougher sea, then a powerful downpour and then almost inpenetrable fog.
I spent my time listening to lectures (one about Arved Fuchs' Shackleton 2000 expedition of which the lecturer had been a member) and one about Shackleton's photographer, who was later official correspondent in both world wars for Australia. The samples were stunning, especially considering the technology (or lack thereof) he had at his disposal.
It was also time to pack my suitcase to see if it all fit in (it did), work on photos, catch up on sleep and relax.

The early morning started out as the previous day had ended but the weather soon picked up and by the time we had reached Brown Bluff on the East coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, the sun was shining brightly and the sky was blue. From afar, the site doesn’t look like much (the name is very descriptive, it’s a high cliff and rocks of brown volcanic material) but it’s in a bay with small icebergs and floating floes of sea ice that shone brilliantly in the morning sun. Fortunately, the landing site was clear so we could go out in the Polarcirkel boats. There were quite a few waves so we were splashed liberally with sea water (tasting salty but clean) which tested the splashproofness of my little Fuji Finepix (and apparently, it is splashproof despite not being advertised as such) but it was a warm day so we didn’t mind much.
The site hosts one of the biggest (if not the biggest) rookery of Adelie penguins and they were out in force indeed. There were some gentoo, too and very few Chinstraps but the “clowns of the Antarctic” had the biggest population. All along the beach, bits of sea ice formed quite an obstacle for the short-legged waddlers to get into and out from the water. This obviously was a lot of fun to watch and many of us couldn’t stop giggling at their antics. There were even some watershy ones. I watched a group of them going in and the last three went as far as getting their feet wet, went “Aak! Aak!” and turned around again…
Their chicks were quite big already, almost as tall as their parents but hardly recognisable as penguins for all the dark grey fluff.
We were also treated to a sight I had been waiting for: penguins sliding on the snow on their bellies, pushing themselves along with their feet. This mode of transport seemed to be a lot more efficient and also faster. They only get into trouble when they don’t realise there’s a stone in the way and they come to a sudden stop…
In the cliffs, various seagulls and cape petrels circled but unfortunately they didn’t come close enough (and we weren’t permitted to go closer to the rocks) to get a good picture. Still, the sight and the memories prevail.
When we were back at the ship we spotted a few leopard seals on the shore to the left of the landing site but they were really far away.

We then waved good-bye to Brown Bluff around midday and set course for the Antarctic Sound again.
During the afternoon we passed various groups of shelf icebergs and then hit thick fog, so I used the downtime to take a nap.

The further North our course let us, the rougher the sea got and by dinner time, it was quite tricky to walk in a straight line but despite the rough sea, the weather still held and we had a wonderful sunset over the Drake Passage again.
Just to be on the safe side, I took a seasickness pill but I don’t think it would have been necessary.

The weather continued to be on our side and it has been a very quiet crossing so far. The weather has been cloudy and windy but the sea has been calm so no problems there.

More excitement was provided by the many seabirds which joined our ship by sailing alongside and behind it. Two types of albatross (Black-Brow and Sooty) and the ubiquitous petrels which were now joined by their Cape cousins (smaller, dark heads and freckled). I also managed a very lucky shot at a white Giant Petrel which according to one of the lecturers are apparently quite rare.

So, despite being on the ship all day, it has been an exciting day.

Tomorrow are the first "wet landings" in Antarctica with our little boats, first at King George Island and then at Greenwich Island, Yankee Harbor to be precise. Let's hope the sea will still be calm and there won't be any trouble getting across.