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Antarctica Newsletter #1 - Drake's Passage



Drake's Passage

A trip to Antarctica takes you through Drake's Passage, some of the roughest seas in the world. It is a 'rite of passage' that must be endured if you plan to set foot on the Antarctic mainland.  Join us on the ship as we rock and roll to the Antarctic Peninsula.

Antarctica had been on my "hit list" for years and I wasn't sure I'd ever make it there.  But after visiting cities and historical sites throughout Europe last year we realized that the number of travelers has increased exponentially and that "off-season" crowds can be as big as seasonal crowds.  Is th
is the result of globalization, or the internet, or the aging of our travel population?  I don't know.  But I do know there are not many places left in the

Antarctica is still a remote place.  But the number of travelers and ships visiting this white continent is increasing by 30% each year.  Close to 50,000 people visited Antarctica during the 2007-2008 summer season, between November and March, when the ice pack has melted.

El Fin del Mundo
Most trips leave from Ushuaia, Argentina, a city nicknamed "El Fin del Mundo
".  It's the southernmost city in the world and 16 flight hours from Miami.  There are about 30 ships traveling to Antarctica, each making from one to ten trips.  Ships depart from either Ushuaia or from Punta Arenas, Chile while a few depart from Australia or New Zealand. 

We departed from Usuhuaia and arrived two days early (highly recommended!) to acclimate and to make sure our luggage arrived with us, which it did.  While in Ushuaia, we hired a driver and explored Tierra del Fuego National Park (part of Patagonia) and the glacial lakes north of Ushuaia.  These are incredible places and whet our appetite to return and explore more of Patagonia and its glaciers.

Sailing to Antarctica
After almost a year of anticipation, it was finally time to sail off to Antarctica!  Our expedition was on the M/S Andrea, a Norwegian cruise ship built in 1960 and renovated in 2003.  The Andrea is ice-strengthened and is built to sail in Arctic and Antarctic waters.  The ship is less than 300 feet long and holds 100 passengers. 

This is about as large a ship that is recommended to get the maximum amount of landings and time on Antarctica.  That's because tourism in Antarctica is regulated by the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) and one of their rules is that no more than 100 people are allowed on shore at the same time.  On the other hand, there are cruise lines doing "sail-by" trips whereby ships with over 1,000 passengers sail near the Peninsula but don't make landings.

Drake's Passage
Our trip started calmly through the Beagle Channel.  As so
on as we reached open waters we were in the Drake Passage, a body of water known as the roughest seas in the world.  It's a passage about 500 miles wide between South America and the Antarctica Peninsula where the currents of the Atlantic, Pacific and Southern Oceans meet and try to squeeze through together.  It can make for a rough sailing.

You hope to get "Drake's lake" and not a "Drake shake".  As it turned out the Drake Passage was relatively mild and we thought we were home free as we passed through the "convergence" late on the second day.  The convergence is about 20-30 miles wide where the cold southern waters meet the northern warm waters.  It acts as a barrier between these extremes. 

You know that you are through the convergence and in Antarctic waters because icebergs began appearing. Icebergs will not float north of the convergence and many types of sea life do not cross the convergence.

Rock and Roll
Within an hour we entered the Bransfield Strait and immediately we could feel the difference. The weather and the seas began deteriorating.  Temperatures dropped, fog and clouds rolled in and the seas kicked up.  We were entering an Antarctic storm.  Force 12 weather is hurricane force winds and the seas can exceed 35 feet. 
On one day during the trip we had Force 11 weather -- 60 mph winds with 35 foot seas.  It made for an exciting trip!

In open waters, the ship would do some serious rocking, rolling and pitching, which became standard through the trip.  A ship rocks front to back when it "pitches" and side to side when it "rolls".  Rolling makes you sick, while pitching makes you dizzy.  Pick your poison! One of the biggest challenges was taking a shower.  Try washing with one hand and holding onto a handrail with the other.  And then try drying with only one hand!

The Team
All Antarctic expeditions are led by an expedition team made up of a leader and in our case, eight guides.  They are highly knowledgeable and experts in nature, marine biology, geology, history, ornithology and archeology.
  There was very little about the Antarctic that they did not know among them.  The key to a successful Antarctic expedition are the guides and ours did not disappoint.
 
During sea days the expedition staff gave several one-hour lectures throughout the day.  The rest of the day was open.  We would watch and photograph the Antarctic landscape and seabirds from t
he cold, wet and windy deck, spend time with fellow passengers, take a break with a book, a movie or a nap, or sort and edit the images photographed so far!  A lot of people came on deck whenever whales or dolphins were sighted.  Sea days were full days.

Zodiacs and Landings
For landings everyone dressed in the standard 'landing outfit' - knee-high waterproof boots, waterproof pants, layers of clothing, winter hat, waterproof gloves, the red parka issued by the ship, and a yellow life vest.  It's hard to get lost with these colors!

Landings are done with rubber zodiac rafts. Ships will anchor about a quarter mile offshore and then ferry passengers on the zodiacs.  The ship has a mandatory rule that two crew members help the passengers on and off the zodiacs.  This is a good thing in the choppy seas!  To help protect the Antarctic environment all passengers walk through a pan of disinfectant just prior to boarding a zodiac and walk through the disinfectant upon return to the ship.

The zodiacs land on the beach or on rocks and the knee-high boots come in handy to wade through ankle or calf deep Antarctic water to get to the beach.  It's a process that became more routine throughout the expedition.

Future Antarctica Newsletters
We hope you enjoyed the expedition so far.  We'll share our adventures on the Antarctic Peninsula with you in Antarctica #2. These were amazing, incredible and inspiring days.  Stay tuned!


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Thanks for visiting with us.  Be sure to explore the outdoors Cliff and Doris backyardand enjoy our natural lands. Leave everything as it was when you arrived and it will be a rewarding experience for everyone.

Cliff and Doris Kolber

Kolberphotography.com

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