With thanks to Silversea for this hosted cruise
At the daily Recap/Briefing a couple of days ago,
someone asked Expedition Leader Tim what the forecast was for Drake Passage.
“Doesn’t matter,” came the breezy reply. “We’re doing it anyway.”
There’s no denying though that it’s been
weighing increasingly heavily on everyone’s minds, this two-day sail from the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula back to Tierra del Fuego: we’ve seen the maps, noted
the arrows and colours, consulted the key telling us ‘swells of 8-10 metres’.
I’ve just read someone’s blog myself, from only a few weeks ago, where someone
was tossed down the stairs and broke a leg, having to be medevac-ed away, while
everyone else was confined to their rooms (and beds).
But it’s looking as though we are going to
be lucky – as, honestly, we have been all through this cruise. We’ve seen all
the wildlife, we’ve experienced all the weather, and now it seems as though our
earlier rough crossing to South Georgia will be the worst we’ll be able to bore
people with back home, because the dreaded Drake Passage today looks like Drake
Lake.
I’m blaming the drugs for my falling asleep
in Danny’s quite amusing lecture about spending a winter south of the Antarctic
Circle. Every day there have been three or four Powerpoint talks by the
expedition staff about things we’ve seen or would like to, and they’ve mostly
been good: Cory’s this morning about orcas was especially professional and
interesting, if rather sad and depressing (she was restrained in her references
to SeaWorld, but no-one was in any doubt about her opinion). We’ve all learned
a lot.
I also learned a bit more about the ship
today, discovering, on this second-to-last day, a deck I hadn’t been on before,
and routes I didn’t know. It was such a gloriously sunny day (although still
very cold) that it seemed a waste to be inside, so I was out prowling. Not much
wildlife, though, apart from some petrels and albatrosses – and apparently some
hour-glass dolphins behind the ship at lunch, though I couldn’t actually spot
them. This is why Luke is never seen without his trusty binoculars round his
neck – even when he’s dressed up in a suit and tie, as all the staff were at tonight’s Captain’s
Farewell in the theatre.
After a typically droll and amusing speech, Captain Piers introduced the staff for our chance to applaud what they’ve been doing for
us; and drew the raffle for the engraved decanter and similar that have been on
display outside the restaurant for the last week. Tomorrow there will be an
auction for a personalised map of our route that really is lovely and would
make a fabulous souvenir – I’m sure the money raised (for the crew welfare
fund) is going to be substantial.
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