Heading south ahead of a storm

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12^thJanuary



When we got back to the ship yesterday we discovered that because of storm forecast in Drakes passage (between Cape Horn and the Antarctic mainland) we were not going to Ushuaia but proceeding directly across the Passage into Antarctica to get ahead of the storm. So here we are at sea 57 degree south in 35 mile an hour winds 683 nautical miles from Antarctica and 143 miles from Cape Horn. Today we saw whales and porpoises so have stopped saying, “come on you whales”. I’m told we will stop being excited about them when we have seen lots and lots. Can’t wait. The decks are being hosed down at the moment so an opportune moment to write the blog as we are not allowed out. I have just been to Tai Chi and have decided it’s something I might take up at home. Nice and slow – just my style.



We will sight land midday tomorrow and I think we have some Polar expedition members on board so presumably will be putting them off at a polar station somewhere. I saw their bags on the quayside in Puerto Arenas. The sea and sky are uniformly grey at the moment with Petrels and Albatross keeping us company as we head south. I know these things now as I have discovered to bird books and been to the lecture! If the satellite Internet was not so costly I would have looked them up online. We are limiting ourselves to 20 minutes a day to post this blog and download emails.

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