Wandering albatrosses, storm petrels and other seabirds will escort the vessel as you sail south across this famous passage named after Sir Francis Drake, the 16th-century English navigator. We will continue towards the Antarctic Convergence, a biological barrier where cold Antarctic waters sink beneath the warmer waters of the more temperate zone. In 1819, the British explorer William Smith described the South Shetland Islands as "barren and covered with snow, with seals in abundance". Yet, mosses and lichens thrive during the short summer at the low-lying peninsulas of these rugged islands located directly adjacent to the Antarctic Peninsula."
So says the brochure!
I didn't sleep well the first night as it took some getting used to the motion of the boat. I could definitely tell when we'd worked our way out of the quiet waters of The Beagle Channel and into the open ocean. I wasn't sure how extreme the rocking would get. The Drake Passage is notoriously choppy.
Normally I quite like the rocking motion of boats and have yet to get seasick...although that's not something I really care to experience either! I opted to take sea-sickness pills, just in case. I had a bad headcold already, I didn't need to add another illness to the mix. Besides, I was reminded that there are no bravery medals handed out if I don't take them. Ha!
We were lucky in our crossing of the Drake Passage. It's known to be a very tricky crossing as the wind and water current paths narrow when the southern tip of South America and the Antarctic Peninsula get closer together. That combination effectively acts like a thumb over a water hose and livens things up for ships! All of the crew remarked in how calm it was. In one of the first lectures, they showed us pictures of a bad crossing where 15m high waves were splashing onto the decks.
Two days to cross the Drake Passage. Two days before we'd see land. Two days that I wouldn't be missing anything if I just went to my sick bed and slept as much as I could! For the first day that's pretty much all I did, save breakfast, dinner and some very interesting lectures on Antarctica, birds, and mammals. I will kick this cold...I will.
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