Antarctica
Into the Drake
The Drake Passage. The most dangerous waters on the planet. It is here that the Atlantic and Pacific mix with the Antarctica currents and channel into a 600 mile wide stretch of ocean. Eight times the volume of the Nile River passes though the Drake Passage every day. This section of ocean is so rough that the Straights of Magellan with searched for and developed just to avoid it (thank goodness they had a map from the Chinese). Before the building of the Panama Canal, this was the only way to sail from the Atlantic to the Pacific without crossing the Drake. After 2 days of air travel, this was the next challenge before reaching Antarctica.
Antarctica is surrounded by the Antarctic Ocean. Its continuous circular movement of air and water creates conditions where storms travel around the Antarctic continent and never hit land. These storms have been known to merge into furious events or create strange periods of calm. In the Drake, this has been called the “Drake Lake” and usually not met with the joy you would expect, as there is often a large storm nearby.
Our vessel, the Ocean Nova, and our crew both have extensive experience with this stretch of water, which is precisely what you want here. I grew up in Halifax and am very familiar with the rough seas of the North Atlantic, but nothing prepared me for what awaited in the Drake.
Once we boarded the ship, we surrendered our passports (they were stored on the ship, but used by customs for export control) and pickup our room keys. Once stopping by the room, most of began to explore the ship and, of course, take photographs.
During the late afternoon/early evening, we cast off and proceeded down the Beagle Channel towards the open Ocean of the Drake. This was also a chance for the expedition crew to introduce themselves and give us a briefing on the ship, our route, the Drake itself, and Antarctica. We also had our mandatory lifeboat drill so everyone would know what to do in case we needed to leave the boat in a hurry. The two lifeboats could each hold more than half the people on board and were fully self contained (and sealed) vessels on their own. I don’t think it would make much sense to try using an open lifeboat in these waters, as I don’t expect it or you would last long.
We also proceeded to pick up our fancy rubber boots for shore landing and, more importantly, our parkas. The wonderful yellow custom coats that would be some of our primary protection against the elements. Windproof, waterproof, with a removable fleece liner. It also has some impressive wind and water protection in the hood, as we would learn in the future. All of us had supplied boot and jacket sizes prior to the trip. Unfortunately, we learned that the sizing used on the parkas was significantly smaller than expected. For example, I usually wear an XL or sometimes and XXL. I ordered an XXL during the registration process, but it turned out that I needed an XXXL at a minimum with these parkas. This also created a situation where we did not have enough of the very large parkas and at one point made plans to meet another ship to trade jackets. Rob, one of my fellow photographers, was kind enough to give me the last XXXL which he received and managed to use an XXXL for himself. In am very thankful he did this, as XXXXL was the minimum size I could get away with wearing.
After resolving the clothing issue, we also picked up our lifejackets and headed to our rooms to secure things (drake-safe) before our first meal onboard. We also put on our seasickness patches.
BTW, the meals onboard were consistently great with a wide selection for everyone. I have no idea what magic needed to be performed to pull this for 10 days, but I was impressed.
As night started to slowly fall, most of us were trying out our new parkas while shooting from the various decks. (Imagine a collection of large, yellow parka-ed children swarming from stem to stern and side to side taking pictures of just about anything that moved, including each other and this is probably a pretty accurate mental picture)
Near the end of the Beagle Channel, our pilot left and we were on our own and about to enter the Drake. The waves started to build and we could feel the ship rolling with them, as the evening wore on, we had several presentations from the photographers leading the expedition (who have been here before) and continued to explore the ship. By nightfall, we were out on Deck 5 (top deck) in the wind and waves, testing our parkas (and ourselves). This lasted until we started getting sprayed by waves on the top deck and decided we needed to get inside.
The panaroma deck, with its chairs, tables, projectors, and power outlets was easily the most popular place on the ship.
Shortly after we went inside, we began to feel the full force of the Drake. This means never moving on board with out a hand on a railing or holding onto something. The waves really started to rock the boat and they come from multiple directions (the Atlantic and Pacific mixing). At this point the seasickness patches come in quite handy and by morning some people are unable to leave their cabins. I think 25% of us were down that first day. I also received some seasickness pills from the ship’s doctor that I keep as an emergency option.
The Drake is 50 hours of pure rock and roll, with the ship tilting at times in the range of 30 degrees. Of course, this was often followed by a tilt BACK of 30 degrees the other way. Without being nailed down or carefully packed away, things get tossed around like people and the occasional eating lounge chair when the surprised sitter discovered it wasn’t strapped to the floor. It’s very tiring to walk around or even sit in these kind of conditions, as remaining in place requires some physical effort. Strangely, I found it quite comfortable to sleep while in the Drake. The rocking and rolling of the boat was actually kind of soothing in a very unexpected way. The bathroom, and the shower in particular, was a feat worthy of any gym. After a shower, I would take a break before venturing out onto the ship.
After 50 hours of this, during which we passed all the other faster boats in the Drake, as they had to stop to serve food, we arrived in Antarctic waters and the Peninsula itself.




















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