Antarctic Adventures #10 - Drake Passage, 22 Dec 2019

Antarctic Adventures #10

Drake Passage - Sunday, 22 December 2019

Our first full day on the Drake was not too bad.  15' seas & then calming down.  Slept okay & neither of us used anything for nausea.  First morning view from a window in our cabin.  We are on the 5th Deck, Forward, directly above the bridge.  Every morning, they will mark our position on the map as we head south.

Iggy set up this picture for his daily report.  There were things to see, but we were pretending to all look at something for this picture!  Pretty cool, though, huh?  Duane was on of the other Expedition Leaders.

Our first activity of the day was to be a briefing about Seabirds by Ken Wright, another of our expedition Leaders & our resident Ornthologiest (Bird expert!), but before time for it to start, he started seeing Albatross following our ship, so we all went outside to take a look.  I didn't ever get any really good bird pictures, but the wake was always pretty!

Ken gave us his briefing & then we all ran outside to look for birds again.  The sea was being quite friendly & allowed us access to viewing all day!  We had 10' seas, 18 knot winds & about 50℉ for temp.

Iggy (he was my favorite) gave us a talk on Antarctica, in general info about geography, history, & geology.

Vicki, another expedition leader, talked to us about whales.  We had a chance to see 2 types of whales, Humpback & Minke. 

Back outside in between each talk.  There were lots of seabirds flying around us - 4 kinds of Albatross, lots of Petrals, the Sheathbills & Shearwaters.  The Wandering Albatross was easiest to spot because it is soooooo big!  Even from a distance, the 8' - 11' wingspan is amazing!

After an afternoon nap, we got to visit the Bridge.  It was quite interesting.  The Captain was not there at the time.  I was irritated that folks were noisy.  I got to talking to the young pilot, he was very animated about telling me how they updated the maps & how they had put marking on their maps when the Chilean plane went down for them to look for it.  He said we were going regular speed – about 14 knots, but with the seas, it was about 13.7 & 10’ seas with long swells.  Said our heading was almost due south at 175, but we were sort of crabbing.  It was a nice looking bridge.  He said they didn’t use pen & ink charts at all anymore, but there was a map on a table beside all the electronics.

The weather got a bit rougher as the day progressed.  We were both still okay though.  Didn't take anything - George never gets sick & most things make me too sleepy!  Met back in the main lounge for our daily Recap.  Vicky (another of our Expedition Leaders) gave us a little talk (they all take turns) & then the Hotel Manager, Robert from Poland, entertained us.  He was a real trip!

Down for dinner & sat with Marlyn & Michele.  Already have a favorite waiter - Oleksander from the Ukraine.  Alex is the head of his team, but like Oleksander much better.  Saw all the staff gather & sing for someone's special occasion.  It's pretty funny - we didn't sign up for anything on this trip.

Back to our cabin for a few minutes after dinner & found a towel creature!  Wow!  That's pretty amazing on such a little ship.  They really go all out!

Finished our first full day on the Drake with a nightcap in the lounge.  We might be able to dance some with Saul if it's even calm enough!  His playing is very entertaining anyway.  He seems to play everything from memory - have never seen him use a Fake Book.  Amazing!  It calmed back down a little, but long slow swells with occasional big waves.  Still a bit unsettling.  Over all a great 1st day on board the Corinthian!