Drake Passage
Sailed from Ushuaia just after 18.00 hours and gently headed down the Beagle Channel. After the abandon ship drill and briefing about life on the ship, time is taken to enjoy a very calm and wind free passage eastwards. Before settling down to some much needed rest, after a long day, cabins are prepared for possible lumpy seas.
What a pleasure to wake up to a much calmer Drake than had been forecast. There are no complaints, at least they are not made manifest, that the first morning is so different to that expected. There are partially clear skies and seabirds about the ship.
After breakfast there is an opportunity to get to know the expedition staff as well as to become more acquainted with the National Geographic Society – Lindblad Expeditions Alliance. Later on in the morning there is the chance to attend the first lecture on Plate Tectonics and the Southern Ocean (aka Rock On!).
After lunch the busy training program continues with Getting to Know Your Camera and a little later on a presentation on Seabirds: The Fit and the Fierce, after which most folks turn up on the sun deck to view some of the seabirds still following the ship. We are treated to the magnificent Wandering Albatrosses effortlessly coursing their way across this ocean. It is a mesmerizing experience. There are also a number of other birds including: Dark-browed Albatross, White Chinned Petrels and Wilson’s Storm Petrels.
The skies continue to be mostly blue with some white clouds high up and some cotton ball clouds lower down. The white clouds become increasingly gray as they reach the horizon. The air temperatures have become increasingly colder and it is necessary to bundle up. The lower temperatures are an indication that we are in the vicinity of the Antarctic Convergence – one of the important Antarctic boundaries.
Later on in the early evening and after the mandatory Antarctic Landings Briefing the ship crosses the political boundary of Antarctica which lies at Latitude 60˚ S.
The good weather continues to the end of the day and the following seas and breeze have meant that the ship has been able to make great progress across this infamous body of water and a morning landing will be possible in the South Shetlands, an uncommon occurrence. It has been a good start to this great adventure.
