In Ushuaia, on December 9, 2019 we boarded our expedition cruise ship, “Le Lyrial,” from the French Ponant line. Overall, we had about 200 passengers on-board, all traveling with A&K. The ship had 4 decks with guest rooms, and carried about 150 guests, about a dozen A&K company staff, and the crew.
From Ushuaia, we’d be crossing Drake Passage – the body of water that separates the tip of South America from the Antarctic Peninsula. The journey is about 620 miles and the crossing took about 2 1/2 days. The question, always, is whether a ship will experience the “Drake Lake” or the “Drake Shake” – essentially, how turbulent will the current be while crossing.
I’m fascinated by this image – the view “up” from the bottom of the earth, which shows the Antarctic continent and the flow of currents around it. You can see the tips of South America (middle left), Africa (top, slightly right of center), and Australia (bottom right). The colors reflect the relative water temperatues (temps around Antarctica are below freezing, the salinity of the water means it doesn’t freeze). The arrows reflect the water currents. The current around Antarctica is massive – named the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. In crossing the Drake Passage, we’d be entering the blue circle, where the water temperature is below freezing, but the water doesn’t freeze due to the level of salt.
Our crossing was kinda rough. There were a good number of folks on-board who spent the majority of the crossing locked in their cabins, suffering from sea sickness. I was lucky – only had a few hours of retching in my room. Otherwise, all good.
The first photo is an attempt to capture the swells we experienced – 20-25 foot seas with 35-40 foot swells on the way over.
Photo two: A&K gave all the guests the red parkas you see here as well as a backpack, and lent us the waterproof pants and boots you’ll see in other photos. The yellow-coated folks are A&K staff. Among them were experts in mammals, birds, geology, and Antarctic history, along with naturalists with broader general knowledge. On-board, especially during the 2 1/2-day passage through the Drake, we had regular lectures on their areas of expertise to prep us for the visit. The guests overall were great – “no jerks” as they say, with folks mostly friendly and interested. What was funny was when something was spotted from the boat deck, and someone yelled it out: all the people on-deck would go to that side of the boat to see whatever it was. I called us the Antarctic Red-coated Lemmings when that happened.
Photo three is of one on the seabirds we saw during the crossing (which is partly why the lectures were so helpful!). This is a light-mantled albatross. Who know I’d be interested in seabirds?
The final pic shows one of our first iceberg sightings. This picture was taken through the window of my stateroom, which was on the fourth deck. You’ll see other photos that give a sense of scale, but just know that this was massive. Massive. And what’s above water may only be 30% of its total size.
Video of the Drake Passage taken through the window of the boat’s second floor dining room during lunch time. You have to watch to the end (with sound on). This was taken by another guest on-board.
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