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Published: January 3rd 2023
100 year old sailing ship
It was also going to cross the Drake Passage!NOTE: There are lots of nice photos at the end of this entry. Please have a look at them after the text.
We've waited almost three years since we first booked this cruise to Antarctica. Everyone knows why it was delayed through 2020 and 2021, but when we were so close to finally seeing the white continent it felt like there was always just one more obstacle in the way. First we had to get a negative result for a COVID test the day before departure. Fortunately all three of us managed to do that. The tour operator decided to charge 65 euros per test, for a RAT that we know costs about 5 euros. Oh well, whatever! Then we were told that we need to be on a bus to depart the hotel at 2.30 am. Oh well, whatever! Then we sit around in an airport terminal for hours realising that the early wake up call could have been much later. Oh well, whatever! The plane sat on the tarmac for an hour before taking off. Oh well, whatever! After sitting in our exit row seats for an hour (bonus), as the plane finally taxis to take off, we
New Year Count Down
Nathan, Henry and Andrew spent the last 15 minutes of 2022 watching the party like this! are told that Nathan is too young to be seated there and he needs to swap seats ... 'now'. Oh well, what ever! We were so excited about getting on the ship and seeing wildlife, snow and ice that none of this really fazed us. We got off the plane and checked out the most southern city in the world, Ushuaia, for a few hours, then at last got on the ship, explored it from bow to stern, top to bottom, inside and out, sat down to the beautiful buffet dinner and watched Ushuaia disappear into the distance as we navigated the Magellan Straight whilst penguins swam beside the ship like small feathered versions of dolphins arching above and below the water in butterfly swimming style. We were treated to a view of the southern section of the Andes with snow capped peaks on a clear summer's evening. We adjourned to the top deck bar and enjoyed Argentinian wines as we motored towards our destination.
By this stage we had made friends with a Canadian family. On the plane Nathan swapped seats with Morgan, a mum from Toronto, and he sat next to Henry (12-years old) and his dad
Richard. There was also 9-year old brother, Andrew, sitting on the other side of the plane. The three boys got on very well, right from the start, as did the grown ups. It felt like the wait was nearly over.
The forecast for our first day at sea was for waves up to 7 metres in the Drake Passage, one of the most trecherous waterways in the world. This seems like really rough seas, but we were told that it isn't unusual. Like most people on the ship, we took sea sickness pills and they worked to some degree, but you feel tired and lethargic as a side effect. Nathan threw his breakfast up, but before he did that, he noticed from our table at the back of the ship that we were turning. Half an hour later an announcement was made, that we were going back to Ushuaia, because someone had an accident and needed urgent medical attention. This meant that we would arrive in Antarctica later. It was just another hick up and we wondered if we would ever set foot there. Fortunately the second attempt at crossing the Drake Passage was through much calmer seas and
Front deck of Fridtjof Nansen
Everyone wanted to see the views as we passed the narrow entrance to Deception Island. Our uniform jackets were provided for the tour. sea sickness was less of an issue. Through our two and a half days at sea there were many meetings. Some were compulsory, like that IATTO breifing, for Antarctic tour operator guests to hear before we land ashore. Then there was one for people who hoped to go kayaking and many optional lectures on the history of antarctic exploration, wildlife in Antarctica such as penguins and the formation of the southern continent through geological actions over the last 400 million years. A real nerd fest and I was lapping it up. So we didn't get bored crossing the open water. It felt like we were busy all of the time, which is a good thing.
So what were the three boys doing during the crossing of the Drake Passage? Well, they worked out where to eat all of their favourite foods and spent a lot of time in the snack bar, where milk shakes, pasta and chocolate crepes are on the menu. If we wanted to find them, we just asked the waiters at the restaurants when they last saw them. They were well known by most of the staff. At the a la carte restaurant they couldn't find
A change in the weather
Sun set after the Deception Island disappointment. The next day was much better. anything that they wanted to eat and were allowed to have spaghetti every night. Other patrons decided they liked the look of their meal and ordered spaghetti too. After this they became known as the 'Spaghetti Boys'. During the days they played a lot of card games and hopped in and out of the big spa baths on the rear deck. Nathan developped a taste for mocktails, which he just had to quote his room number for and sign a piece of paper. Quite simple really. When we discovered that they were the same price as cocktails, his account was swiftly cut off! There is also a young explorer's club and the boys went to these sessions, exploring different parts of the ship. They also became best buddies with the captain and went to the bridge at least once per day.
The ship we travelled on, Fridtjof Nansen, is owned by the Norwegian company, Hurtigruten, and you probably can't pronounce any of those words properly, but the officers on board could. Many of them did an excellent impersonation of the Swedinsh chef from the muppets as they delivered daily updates and mandatory breifings.
As we sat down to
our third breakfast we saw lots more birds, including another group of penguins, swimming in the open sea. Probably chinstrap penguins, which I had learnt about the previous day. Then we saw land; an island in the distance, and as we approached on a very overcast morning we saw the most enormous dome of snow and ice. This was one of the South Shetland islands. Soon we noticed another island on the other side of the ship, as we manouvered between them to reach our first landing site, Deception Island. In one of our meetings, we learnt that this was an active volcano in the shape of a horse shoe. Some 4000 years ago a huge eruption caused the centre of the island to collapse in on itself leaving a depression in the middle and a narrow entrance which formed the horse shoe shape. We were meant to navigate the narrow entrance and make two landings in the afternoon. (See one of the panorama photos above to understand how narrow the entrance is.) However, neither landing was possible as we were experiencing what one of the Sweding chef impersonators called 'delightful Antactic summer weather', zero degrees, sleet and huricane force
winds. The winds were the problem. We couldn't go by zodiac from the ship to the shore to explore Deception Island, because of this. We had to give up on that plan and as we left the weather improved. We saw a very nice sunset and the clouds lifted as the wind abated.
Up to this point a few people, myself included, were wondering if we had made a mistake in joining a cruise to this part of the world. We knew that there was no fixed itinerary when it comes to Antarctic cruising. They make decisions about the next adventure based on the weather and what is possible amongs the many other ships in the area. There are IATTO restrictions on numbers of people at any given site which must be obeyed. One event that did occur as expected was a New Years Eve party on the final night in the Drake Passage. Some crew formed a band and played in the bar on the top level. Then, just before midnight everyone convereged on the well in the centre of the ship to count down to 2023. The spaghetti boys rode up and down in the glass evelvators
and enjoyed the best view of events below them.
On the 2nd of January, almost half way into the cruise our luck changed. The sun was out. The wind had died down and we were enjoying a balmy 5 degrees celcius. It looked just like the pictures in the brochure! All of our doubts from the day before evaporated and we enjoyed a spectacular day of cruising in zodiacs and a landing on the shore of continental antarctica. Calm seas improved our chances of seeing wildlife in the water and we spotted many whales (humpback and minky), lots of penguins (both swimming and waddling on land) and the occasional seal. In the evening we climbed to the top of a hill and saw the sun on its slow decent towards the horizon. It filled the channel between the mainland and the islands with a warm golden tone. This was the experience we had come to see and we couldn't wait to do more in the time that remained.
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