David and Julia's Living Book

M/V Ushuaia: The Drake Passage

Crossing the Drake Passage

Tuesday, November 19, 2007

The M/V Ushuaia.

I woke up this morning after the first night sleeping on board the M/V Ushuaia and from the first real sleep I've had in days. As had been predicted, the Drake Passage was very rough due to the high winds of 30 to 40 mph.

However, I slept like a baby, thanks mostly to the motion sickness patch I was wearing and the lack of sleep I’d accumulated since leaving Miami. The side effect of wearing the patch is a dry mouth, but that’s a small price to pay for avoiding seasickness.

Lawrence and I spent a good amount of time on deck exploring the ship and experiencing the raw power of the open water in the Drake Passage. I tested out some of my cold-weather gear, and it worked like a charm. Mind you, it was only 6 degrees Celsius on deck with a wind chill well below zero. This is not anywhere near as cold as it will get at the Antarctic Peninsula.

As you can see from this shot, our ship was being followed by kestrels and albatrosses. They followed us for two days without ever landing on the ship, simply bobbing up and down in the wind wake generated by the ship. It was amazing to witness.

I had another good night of sleep last night. Not much was happening onboard. Before dinner, they showed a movie, then served dinner. Many people skipped this meal due to motion sickness, but I found I could eat. The galley was nearly empty during the crossing of the passage. Even the crew got sick. At one point, meals became self-serve because there weren’t enough crew members well enough to work. I had another early night.

Wednesday, November 20, 2007

Icebergs come in all kinds of amazing shapes.

Another day on the Drake Passage, and we had 40-knot winds which produced 12-foot waves! The temperature dropped below freezing, and I saw snow over the open ocean for the first time in my life. It was a very tough day with many people experiencing motion sickness, including myself.

But around 8:00 p.m. local time, we saw our first icebergs and then landfall! We ate dinner, which I was able to hold down, and then had a landing party briefing in anticipation of our first trip to an Antarctic beach. I’m off to bed now and looking forward to walking on Antarctic soil tomorrow. It all feels like a dream—perhaps it’s the seasickness medication, the constant rolling of the waves, or maybe it just is.