Yesterday we boarded the the busses to take us a block to the port to board the ship (something to do with clearing security). We scanned our boarding cards and got onboard. After we dropped off our luggage in our berth and met our new roommate Steve then went to the lounge for our emergency evacuation drill. Then we went up to the top to see the ship be cast off.
It was a pretty nice view of Ushuaia as the boat pulled away from the pier and headed into the Beagle Channel. We had our introduction to the expedition (landing) staff and then headed up to the dining room for dinner. We were getting a little drowsy from the seasickness medications so opted for a bottle of wine in the room and headed off to bed.
Shortly after midnight we emerged from the Beagle Channel into the Drake Passage, and there was a pretty evident change in the wave size and pattern. I’m on the top bunk and have a little railing keeping me (hopefully) in my bed. Mike is below and has a foam wedge to place under his mattress, angling him to the wall.
This morning we got up and headed to breakfast. The seas are pretty good (somewhere between 1 and 3 metres) but the winds are over 50 knots making it tough to be on deck. We had a morning lecture from the onboard biologist, titled Marine Mammals of the Southern Ocean and it was really informative. We are in prime whale watching season, so as long as the wind dies down we’ll hopefully see some.
No comments:
Post a Comment