We crossed the Drake Passage Monday night and Tuesday in good shape, albeit a little more slowly than anticipated due to the roughness of the storms. We definitely shook even more as we entered the 600 mile-wide passage and crossed at an angle on a southwesterly heading. It made the trip a little longer, but allowed the worst of the bands of weather to cross behind us. The ship was slowed to reduce shaking and we arrived a few hours later than planned, happy to be there.
As we reached Snow Island near the southern end of the South Shetlands we turned to a southeast heading in an effort to get to Deception Island and get out of the strong winds. See blue numbers 1 & 2 on the map below.
What was interesting – and very cool – was that on the southeast heading, the swells were now following us. It was fascinating to watch and made for smoother sailing even while still stormy. And it certainly gave more profound meaning to the wishes for, “fair winds and following seas”. Perhaps you can see a little of it in the photo.
Finally arriving at Deception Island,
we rounded to port and the northeast and found shelter from the worst of the winds and much calmer seas in a cove at the mouth of the entrance. The temperatures were around 30 degrees with cloudy skies and wind most of Tue and Wed, but we came prepared and layered up so we could spend as much time as possible outside.
While the ship was sitting pointed into Deception Island, we took pictures of the rock formations just off the island, and scanned the sea from our aft (rear) balcony with binoculars for sealife.
Suddenly we began seeing what we initially thought were small dolphins swimming and jumping through the water. They were so very fast that it was hard to get a look as they popped out of the water and back in at incredible rates of speed. As they got closer we realized they were penguins!! YES!! WOOHOO!! We had hoped to see them swimming and there they were!!! This variety was known as Chinstrap penguins, due to a black line that runs along their head and face giving it the appearance of a – chinstrap. They would swim in groups – sometimes a half dozen, sometimes dozens of them – with exact distances between them, zipping through the water just below the surface and popping up and down like popcorn starting to pop in a pan, right back into the water at breakneck speed without ever missing a beat. They – were – fantastic!! I must figure out how to upload video!
Eventually the ship backed out of the cove, turned to starboard (right) and began our east/southeast traversing of the Bransfield Strait, between the South Shetland Islands and the north end of the Antarctic Peninsula (between the blue 2 and 3 on the map). When we reached the tip of the Peninsula, we turned south toward Hope Bay, across from Joinville Island. Most of the islands and bays and stations and such are named for an explorer, the first discoverer, a related event, or such. I could make guesses as to “Hope Bay”, but imagine the collection of those stories would be an interesting read. Hmmmmmm……
As we traveled we watched for penguins, whales, seabirds, and other wildlife, including the amazing Albatross. There are different species, and I’m not sure which one(s) we are seeing, but it is a good bet that it is the Wandering Albatross. They can have a wingspan of up to 12 feet. This, and their locking elbows enable them to maintain speeds of 75-80 mph, and soar over 500 miles a day. They are masters at “dynamic soaring” in which they actually extract energy from wind shear in a continually curving path. They go for a year or more without touching down on land, where they go to raise chicks. They only touch water briefly to eat because of sharks, so spend most of their time flying. And they can live to be more than 50 years old. I believe we watched two of these amazing birds following the ship through a long portion of the rough ride. They are known to ride the wind currents in rough seas.
Upon leaving Hope Bay we traveled south long enough to pass Joinville and Dundee Islands on the port side, and dip our ship’s toes into the Weddell Sea, the sea that trapped Shackleton and his ship, the Endurance. Afterwards, we turned back to the North and eventually back to the West for that night and the next day, doing scenic cruising as we sailed around the top end of the Antarctic Peninsula, past Trinity Island, and on to Charlotte Bay, never traveling more than 10 knots.
The weather was mostly cloudy with periods of fog and rain and changed constantly. It was a wonderful two days of antarctic rocks and cliffs, snow and ice, ice floes and icebergs, some glacial ice (you can tell the difference by the bright blue color), penguins swimming, and brisk temperatures.
Tomorrow there is a lot more snow and ice, and whales!!! Such enormous gifts to experience and share with you. Thanks for your emails and notes. And may I ask you to pray for a dear friend who always enjoyed our trips – even made us a scrapbook of a trip to England, and is in a Hospice facility waiting to meet Jesus face to face. What glory she soon will see!
Love to you all.