Days at sea

We are now embarking on several days at sea to cross between South Georgia and the the Antarctic peninsula. The first day is relatively uneventful with the usual lectures, physical exercise opportunities of which I do not partake, food, another lecture, and yet more food. There will be entertainment in the evening but not something we will participate in.

It's amazing that this far into the Antarctic Ocean we have Internet access, not fast or reliable, it does drop out from time to time but it’s mostly there. This was a good thing as most of us spent the day hold up in our cabins. The predicted storm hit around midnight. Bedtime saw the staff, preparing the ship, closing and bolting the outside (storm) doors. It's a dark ship to stop bird strike but the doors were closed to protect from the impending storm and did not reopen for nearly three days.

During the night there were creaks and rattles, you could hear some of the approaching storm. By morning it was much worse getting even worse as the day progressed. By late afternoon the swell had reached 9 metres. This is the roughest whether we have ever experienced. Given we knew what was coming I took a seasick pill in the morning. I think this was a good move. It was exciting in a strange kind of way. We were asked to put everything on the floor, that is all the things that were left on the bench which weren’t many, most had already slid onto the floor.

The ship initially was moving side to side but later the wind shifted around and we were lurching from bow to stern. Even moving around the cabin later in the day became a challenge. We were being thrown across the room and so had to be super careful. I chose not to have a shower because I thought if the ship lurches I'm going to be smashed against the shower door. There is a handrail but it's hard to wash and grasp a handrail at the same time. I just had to assume I wasn't very smelly given we hadn't done anything during the day. I can't imagine how difficult it would have been to try and dry myself off with all the movement. Bob described it as riding the wild horse, I think this was a good description. It was so unpredictable and so hard to adequately describe.

Quite a few people took the opportunity to go to the observation deck to watch the waves. They were washing over the bow. I tried to take photos unsuccessfully. It was so hard to capture just how incredible the storm was. We agreed that the Drake passage will be a piece of cake compared to this.
The sound was incredible. You heard the roar of the wind, the bangs as the ship collided with waves or the waves hitting the ship and the noise of the sea. So hard to imagine how the early explorers such as Shackleton and Cook ever managed to get this far in wooden ships.

Even for the very well trained crew this was a stressful day and evening. Many people did not come down to dinner which meant the dining room staff were walking up and down the stairs delivering room service orders, the lifts were shut down for safety. Dining room service was also happening at the same time. Wine was served in a beaker with a very heavy base for obvious reasons. It was clear to see the staff were under pressure and struggling with even clearing the tables, let alone serving. The main lounge was almost empty with just five people and two musicians. I noticed that the holders for the serviettes and cups were on a tray covered in cling film.

During the night things settle down significantly and by morning the worst of the storm had passed. It was still very Rocky but nothing compared with the day before. Food service was back to normal as was the dining room. I just hope the staff managed to get some rest given all they had been through.

Not many highlights for a day at sea, the evening. However, there is a quiz, naturalists versus passengers. That was fun even though some of the questions were a bit silly.Baca lagi