Day One on the Drake Passage

January 20

During the night we crossed into the Drake passage and very rough water.  The captain indicated it was typical waves of 6-8 meters.  The boat rolled all night! Stuff kept falling off shelves, the closet door kept popping open and other items shifted.  The waves calmed slightly around 6 am so we got some good sleep until the wake up call came at 7am. But as the morning wore on the seas got higher.

While we are cruising we have to he opportunity to learn.  Some history:  Antarctica is 90% covered in ice, it can have up to 120mph winds, and will experience the coldest air temperatures in the world at -89.4°C. It is also the driest place on earth.  James cook sailed all the way around the continent without ever seeing land.

The ship Hebridean Sky is owned by a Swedish company and carries 114 passengers plus a large crew.  Most of the crew we interact with have multiple jobs but they are also the naturalists who inform us about this beautiful continent.

We are able, as we desire, to help with research by counting birds at sea and later on land, sampling the water we are traveling through, taking pictures of whales for identity purposes, and studying the clouds. We also had classes on geography of Antarctica, how to get the best photographs, and how to identify polar birds. Our resident birder showed pictures of the just a few of the birds we can expect to see such as the Albatross (five different kinds), petrels, prions, skua, shags and of course  penguins. The most common penguins we will see are the Gentoo, Chinstrap, and Adelie. The large emperor and king penguins are not found in this area.

During evening cocktails we crossed the Antarctica convergence.  We are now officially in Antarctica. We hope to see land and icebergs tomorrow.