Leaving Ushuaia and the Drake Passage

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So we overnighted in Ushuaia and woke late for our last day here. We had until 4 pm to get everything done that we needed to do and we had an abundance of time for that since we needed to be checked out at 10. We were slightly concerned because our instructions were to leave our bags at reception and they would make in onto the expedition and be waiting for us no worries. But since this wasn't the normal hotel would that work?

Just in case I haven't mentioned it up until now, my friends from the first part of this great big tour were: Sara and Ried - 28 / 29 yo Radiologists from the Gold Coast (NOT a couple); Lillian - a 34 yo writer from Adelaide; Stephanie - a 26 yo from Toronto and Ann - a 60ish yo Vet from Calgary who spends several months each year in Costa Rica.

In the mean time Lillian and I had a few things we wanted to sort before we got on the boat. Neither of us had polarised sunnies and we wanted them. We needed dry bags. We were concerned about seasickness in the Drake and went for seasickness meds. More memory for my camera. Check to see if we could find a charger for her camera... on a side note Lillian had almost all her luggage stolen when she was in Equador. Not the most fun experience for her and although she still had her SLR camera she didn't have a charger for it. She'd been avoiding using it to keep as much charge for Antarctica, but... still might not make it! Sadly they didnt' stock that charger so no luck for Lillian. Eventually we had a lazy lunch and headed back to the hotel to take advantage of wifi and sat and chatted and waited.

At close to 4 we went down to the meeting point, gave our names, got on a bus and it drove us to the boat (ship - whatever). It was a bit of a process but quite efficient for us to all check in and go to our rooms. We had to hand over our passports which isn't my favourite thing in all the world but that's fine. And so I met my roomie for the next few days - Barb. She was from Canada and I know I should remember where in Canada she was from, but I can't. I'm guessing either Toronto or Calgary since everyone seemed to be from those two cities. She was nice in her 50s or maybe early 60s I'd guess, single, retired and nice. She was a great roommate. Didn't keep me awake with snoring. Didn't have any problems with my clothes left to dry out from landings... great roomie.

Sara, Ried and Lillian weren't quite so lucky although Ann had a friend meeting her and therefore knew who her roomie was so no worries and Stephanie was really lucky. She got upgraded to the next level and had a young-un as her roomie. Sara and Reid had both booked Category 1 cabins which were triple share. Meaning 1 person needed to sleep in a top bunk. Both were desperate to not be in that top bunk. Ried was last there and was sadly awarded top bunk above a rather large man who despite all appearances was not a snorer... surprisingly. Not too bad in the end although I hear there is interesting footage of him doing a "tiger crawl" into that top bunk. Sara got to her cab second and happily claimed the bottom bunk only to have the third member of their group arrive a couple of minutes later - a little old lady in her 70s. Needless to say (well hopefully needless) Sara gave up her bottom bunk and also ended up doing a caterpillar crawl to bed every night.

Lillian thought was the unluckiest of us all. Her first introduction to her incredibly obese roommate, Marrilyn from Brisbane, included something along the lines of "apparently I snore, here are some earplugs"... and it just got worse from there. I'll save the worst stories for later but suffice it say Lillian spent as much time out of her cabin as possible!

After check in we discovered that although some of us had our minor disasters (Lillian and the snorer) the boat in general was facing a much more major disaster. The previous day Aeroligneas Argentineas had a strike on baggage handlers the previous day and 26 of our passengers (including Barb my roomie) were without luggage! Now there are some parts of the world that delayed or missing luggage wouldn't be too bad but not so much when you are about to leave for a holiday in Antarctica. You NEED your cold weather gear and you can't really buy too much whilst you are there. There are somethings you can get on the boat like jackets and some waterproof pants, but that's not enough to make an outfit, let alone all the outfits you are going to need! We're talking warm socks, undies, beanies (tuks for the Canadians), scarves, thermals etc. So our departure was, sadly, delayed. Thankfully all the missing luggage was delivered by about 9pm on all the incoming flights and we were OK to get on our way.

In the meantime we had our briefings which included introductions to all the expedition staff and a briefing on how to respond in an emergency. *Mum - don't read the rest of this paragraph* This was particularly poigniant when you consider the fact that the previous boat owned by GAP had sunk when it hit an uncharted rock. No one was injured. Everyone was safe and this is a much tougher boat with a higher "rating" for icy conditions. (That last bit was added for Mum who I am sure is still reading).

In addition to the briefings we had dinner whilst sitting at the dock. There is something odd about eating on a boat but looking out the windows to see a city and other docked boats. And OH MY!! This first introduction to shipboard food was pretty exciting. I can't remember exactly what the meal was but I can remember being highly impressed. It was 3 course and thankfully the courses weren't too large. We also met our waiter for the night - Louie. He was almost always our waiter since we usually sat in his section and like most of the staff on the boat (wait staff, bartenders, cleaning, laundry, mechanics and able-bodied seamen) he was Filipino. So Sara and I decided that we would learn a word a day since we could no longer fall back on "gracias" and "por favor". Our word for the evening was "salamat" - thank you. I kept it up a little more consitantly than Sara did and now know probably about 20 words in Filipino.

There was a very good reason why Sara wasn't so consitent with her learning of Filipino... she suffered seasickness in the Drake. I on the other had didn't. I felt a little bit icky occassionally but nothing too bad. I could have easily pushed through... BUT since I had the tablets I decided to take some preemptively... not sure that was a good idea! I remember sitting through the first day on the drake trying to listen to wildlife lectures on birds, seals and penguins and stuggling to stay awake. I now know that dramamine knocks you out and that 1/2 a tablet is sufficient. Fully tablets are excessive. Unless you need them. On a side note I now have what are essentially sleeping tablets which take away nausea - anyone need a hangover cure?

Ann had no problems at all with seasickness, and after one moment early on the first day, when he needed to run for the bathroom, neither did Reid. Steph we knew was going to have an issue, but she didn't throw up at all and both Sara and Lillian discovered to their disappointment that they are not the best sailors. So they drugged themselved up and barely left their rooms. We had to have a few meals delivered down to them! And this was an incredibly smooth crossing of the Drake Passage. Only a little roll - nothing too major!

The second day we continued lectures and briefings including the mandatory zodiac landing briefing and the one I'd been waiting for... the instructions for the kayakers. We got paired up (those of us who were already coupled) and I got Jarek - a 40-something (I think) Polish Canadian. He was big and strong and keen to get going. I was later to learn that he loved being first, tried to guess where our instructor wanted to go and got was keen to roll the boat. But he was also a great motor and as long as I sat back, did my part and let him make most of the decisions (he was in the back and I really had no choice in the matter) then I had a great time. So also got our kayak gear, got our kayaks adjusted and watched a short little instrucional video. I was ok with the paddling but all the self rescue techniques... ahhh they looked like they needed practice. And for some reason I wasn't willing to practice in Antarctic waters. Double kayaks are incredibly stable and it didn't look like we were going to need them.

By the end of the second day on Drake we were all keen to be out of the Passage and ready to be doing our first landing first thing the following morning on a little island south of the Antarctic Circle called Detaille Island... but that can be the subject for another blog...

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Photos

Life Boat Practice
Don't the look cosy?

Except for the occassional bird
I should be able to tell you what kind this is. But I didn't care enough to check. Kevin the bird nerd would be disappointed.