Hiding with a view

Today was, sadly, all about hiding from the storm. We didn’t leave the ship—I took one picture, recorded a single video, and borrowed one.

Over the last few days, the major storm mentioned earlier has been building up over the Southern Ocean. Yesterday, the center of the storm was the size of Australia! Only one ship ventured into it—a long technical explanation exists for why they could while the rest of us couldn’t—but their guests certainly paid the price for it 🤢🤮. I received a video from the bridge of that ship and added it here. It looks fairly harmless, but they faced waves over 11 meters tall by midday today 🫣🌊.

We stayed in. I worked most of the day, trying to create a plan for the many guests who will miss Antarctica and arrive back in Argentina (Ushuaia) three days too soon. It’s been a lot of insurance and rebooking discussions today, with even more to handle tomorrow.

There was also a lecture about wind :) and the molding processes for various animals. After dinner, the guides organized a quiz game: “How Big Is It? - The Game Where Size Matters.” You can really tell we’re far away from HR policies out here 😂. It was a simple, fun competition where we guessed the lengths of different animals.

Now, the cabin is storm-secured, and I’m mentally preparing to leave this gorgeous place and face the waves. The captain said today: “The first 20 hours are going to be really tough.” More on that tomorrow 😅.Read more