A Christmas Holiday Like No Other

Beautiful sunrise

Christmas Eve morning Capt. Larry arose in time to catch a sunrise over the Drake Passage, while he was having coffee in the observation room.

The waters were still laid down. After the sun was higher in the sky, he noticed a perfect circle of blue sky peeping through a cloud bank. Could this be the hole in the ozone layer?

The ozone hole?

No, but it sure was entertaining to think of it in these terms and a great picture for a practical joke later! Returning to the stateroom, he found Jane up and getting ready to fix her hair. She got out her curling iron which works on 110 volts.

Smokin' hot!

The ship’s power is 220 volts. No problem, because we had an international voltage converter (thanks Brian and Janelle!) that would bridge the gap. However, we had never used one of these things, and, of course, we left the directions at home. After placing the converter in various configurations, Capt. Larry found one that he figured would work. To prove this, he warily plugged the computer power supply in and everything seemed OK.

Singed right off!

Jane plugged in her iron and waited for it to heat up. She started to curl her hair, when Capt. Larry noticed that her hair was smoking.

She yanked the iron from her hair only to find that the hair around the iron had been completely singed off. She was upset, the stench of burnt hair filled the cabin, and Capt. Larry began to worry that the smoke detector might go off. She unplugged the iron and used it after it had cooled down considerably. However, the weird thing was that when she went to use it by plugging it in intermittently the next day, it worked fine and never overheated no matter how long it was powered! Go figure.

After breakfast we attended a lecture on penguins and another on glaciers and ice sheets. Jane liked the birds and Capt. Larry thought the ice lecture was good.

Some ice free land

Consider that only 3% of Antarctica is ice free and the ice thickness makes Antarctica the highest and lowest continent.

Landing on Aitcho Island

That last statement is not a contradiction, because the ice thickness gives Antarctica the highest average elevation of all the continents, and because of the weight of that ice, it depresses the land mass causing most of the continent’s land to fall below sea level.

Gentoo penguins by the water

If the ice covering the continent were to melt, sea levels would rise about 190 feet which is pretty impressive.

Nesting Gentoos

Anyway, because we made such good time crossing the Drake Passage, we were going to stop off in the Shetland Islands at Aitcho Island (from the abbreviation with the same pronunciation H.O. or Hydrologic Office, a British field survey office) to see some penguins.

A Chinstrap penguin approaches

Since this was our first time ashore, we had to attend a briefing about the Zodiac landings and how to conduct ourselves around the wildlife.

Baby Gentoo chicks

This was also going to be a wet landing in which we would have to leave the Zodiac and wade ashore. When we got ashore, it was an eye opener. We had heard about the penguin guano, but the amount of it everywhere and the stench was almost overwhelming. On this island we saw only two species, the Gentoo and Chinstrap penguins.

Nesting Chinstraps

Both species were nesting and they are both colonial. That is, they segregate themselves into large nesting groups of their own kind.

A pebble stealer

The nests are built out of any material they can find, which is mostly stones, because there is practically no plant material like that used by birds in other environments.

A skua swoops in for lunch

It seems to be a full-time occupation to steal stones from other nests to build your own. Both of these species lay two eggs per nest and the chicks were just beginning to hatch. We saw one Gentoo penguin feeding two chicks that had recently hatched.

Some chicks become a meal

We were also able to witness a skua, a large predatory bird, fly away with a chick in its claws that it was able to steal from a Gentoo nest. When the skuas got too close to the nest in an attempt to steal the eggs or chicks, some of the Gentoos would attack them and run them off.

Get outta here!

It was very colorful and hard to imagine what goes on in these places during the wintertime when it is very cold and very dark.

Bath time!

Returning from the water

The temperature was only about 32°, but there was a 10-15 kt. wind blowing, so we were ready to leave when the first boarding was called. Back in the water we found ourselves surrounded by swimming penguins which torpedoed through the water at incredible speeds. Getting back aboard the ship was also interesting.

At the captain's cocktail party

First we had to step into a tray with disinfectant in it. In the ship’s mud room we had to clean our boots with water and a brush, then store them in a tray with our stateroom number, and finally spray the soles with a viricide.

Santa was good to Jane!

By the time all of this was over we felt that we were the only things contaminated.

Capt. Larry's kind of penguin!

Before dinner, we attended the captain’s cocktail party where we mingled with the crew and fellow passengers. We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner, a visit from Santa, after dinner drinks with fellow passengers in the piano bar, and celebrated a midnight mass in the theater with crew and passengers. It was an incredible day!

Merry Christmas and greetings from Whaler’s Bay, Deception Island, Antarctica. What a place this is! Deception Island is was formed by the collapse of a volcanic cone after a huge eruption around 10,000 years ago.

Entering Deception Island

The volcano’s caldera filled with water and provides one of the safest harbors in all of Antarctica, as it is surrounded by the remaining volcanic peaks on virtually all sides.

Whaler's Bay

However, this safety at anchorage is somewhat mitigated by the fact that the volcano is still active, last erupting in1967.

An albatross and chick

Scientists monitor the volcano’s likelihood of erupting and issues a color coded warning system for boaters and research station personnel. On this Christmas day the color code was green, or good to anchor.

Lost in the storm?

It started snowing as we entered and the intensity of the storm increased throughout our stay. How many times can one say they had a snowy, white Christmas in the middle of summer?

Follow me, you guys!

Our anchorage was at the old, abandoned British whaling station named Whaler’s Bay. The beach is covered with old barrels, equipment, whalebones, and other debris from the whaling and research period.

Geeeez, that's cold!!

There were also some Gentoo penguin colonies and rookeries. Volcanic activity is evident by steam rising along the shoreline that has a strong sulfurous odor.

What a place!

This geothermal activity provides the backdrop for the famous ‘Polar Plunge’ where about 30 guests in bathing suits jumped into the water from a Zodiac. We chose to opt out. We watched a movie, took a nap, attended some lectures and recaps of the day’s activities, and were treated to a fabulous eight-course Christmas dinner.

Ushuaia, The Beagle Channel, and the Dreaded Drake Passage- Our Cruise Begins

We arrived at Buenos Aires "domestic" airport around 0630, went through the hassle of retrieving our luggage from the bus, and were led to a queue for the flight check-in. It was a very long line. As we slowly inched our way toward the check-in counter, it became obvious that the flight was going to be delayed. At 0720 a cruise line representative filtered through the line with a fistful of boarding passes, distributed them to each cruising group, and informed everyone that they could leave baggage to be checked and proceed immediately to the gate.

The Andes

We will never understand why our bags were not automatically handled for us, because at the hotel we were told to keep carry-on luggage and only give checked bags to the driver. It wasn't for security reasons like we assumed. It's the little things... We finally boarded the plane and departed Buenos Aires around 0900, making the departure only one and one-half hours late.

Ushuaia airport terminal

Andes and Beagle Channel

Our three and one-half hour flight to Ushuaia was a good one. Descending into Ushuaia we were taken aback by the beauty of our approach. Bounded by the Andes Mountains to one side and the Beagle Channel to the other, the city almost seems as if it shouldn’t be there, given the beautiful starkness of the surrounding landscape. Aside from being the world’s southernmost city, a claim that is disputed by a smaller Chilean settlement, Ushuaia is the only Argentinean city that sits west of the craggy Andes Mountains and

Ushuaia

serves as the capitol of the Tierra del Fuego province. Ushuaia has a sub-polar oceanic climate with fishing, natural gas and oil extraction, sheep farming, and ecotourism as its main economic activities. And remember, it's summertime down there! The airport is relatively new and there were a surprising number planes parked at the terminal.

Our restaurant

After we disembarked and retrieved our bags, we were loaded onto a bus and given a tour of the city of 60,000, eventually stopping at a local restaurant for lunch.

Lunch with new friends

We were seated with some of our fellow cruisers and immediately began the introductions over several bottles of very good Argentine wine. Dining on salad, an interesting potato dish, and roasted lamb, we really enjoyed the meal, even though the lamb would not be Jane’s first choice. Back on the tour bus, we were taken to the ship for boarding.

The city and beautiful scenery

As our bus pulled onto the dock, we saw the Russian expedition ship, Ortelius, docked directly across from our ship.

Sailboats in the harbor

We were excited because this was the ship that our friend, Diane Pick, was leaving on the very same day. Dr. Pick is a retired professor of travel and ecology that we met in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park on our Alaska trip back in and June. It was on her recommendation that we went to American Samoa as a side trip to our cruise of the Hawaiian Islands.

Our bow, dock, and harbor

We had kept in touch with her and knew that we would both be leaving Ushuaia the same day for separate Antarctic expeditions. We were hoping that we might see her before we left port.

The course looked challenging

We boarded our ship and immediately realized that this cruise was going to be different, when we were greeted with champagne while we checked in. We got settled in our stateroom then headed to the upper decks to see if we could spot Diane. A tour bus pulled up to the Ortelius and passengers began boarding the ship. We watched a second bus arrive and unload its passengers, but no sign of Diane. Fearing we would miss her completely, Jane decides to write her a note and have it delivered to her stateroom. Just as she was returning, a third bus pull up and start to unload passengers.

Christmas cookies for everyone!

By this time our ship was ready to sail and the lines were being cast off. We were sure that we had missed her.

Diane in front of bus (gray coat)

But amazingly, as we watched the last passenger get off the bus, we realized that it was her! We shouted out to her and she spotted us and waved, most likely in disbelief. We talked with her after we were both done cruising and she was very excited to have seen us and was very tickled by the note she received.

Leaving the harbor

We still can't imagine the chances of meeting someone in Alaska and running into them again at the tip of South America six months later. We sailed from Ushuaia and headed out the picturesque Beagle Channel.

Cruising from the aft deck

Our itinerary called for us to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas in the Falkland Islands, but shortly after we were underway, an announcement was made that we would head directly across the dreaded Drake Passage and to the Antarctic Peninsula to avoid bad weather that was heading directly for the Falklands. Later we were shown weather maps that forecast conditions over the next few days, and it was apparent that this was a good decision. 

Enjoying the scenery and sunset

We learned from Diane that the Ortelius headed straight for the Falklands and into this storm. She said that the ship encountered 24-foot seas which kept her confined to her cabin for 36 hours. As we cruised the Beagle Channel, we enjoyed cocktails and a bon voyage party on the aft deck until sunset. The rest of the evening was spent enjoying a wonderful meal, making new acquaintances, and learning about the ship and cruise.

We were up early the next morning, forgetting that first light came around 0330. Today was going to be a day at sea crossing the Drake Passage which we had entered around midnight.

A calm Drake Passage

The captain’s decision to alter the itinerary was proving to be a good one, because we were experiencing only 3-4 foot seas in a passage that 6-10 foot seas is considered reasonably good conditions and 20-30 ft. rollers can be encountered.

Sunrise over the Drake

Capt. Larry went to the forward observation deck for some early morning coffee only to find a fellow passenger challenging the steward: "We cannot be in the Drake Passage because the seas are too smooth."

A cape petrel

Not wanting to argue, the steward said nothing. Capt. Larry told him, "We are in the passage and have been since midnight. You can check it out on the ship’s navigation channel, channel 2, on your stateroom television.

Cape petrels over smooth water

It’s a good thing not to have rough conditions while at sea." Apparently the guy had watched too many YouTube videos which always depict the worst conditions and was up for the challenge.

Entering the convergence zone

We had breakfast and spent the rest of the morning attending lectures about Antarctica wildlife. Just before noon at around 56°S latitude, we passed through the Antarctic Convergence which defines the outer perimeter of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean.

A black-browed albatross

This is a zone approximately 20 to 30 miles wide, varying somewhat in latitude seasonally and in different longitudes, extending across the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans between latitudes 48S and 61S. This zone is where the water from the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans converge and mix with Southern Ocean waters, producing changes in the water’s salinity, density and temperature.

Another cape petrel

This mixing creates upwelling and a rich environment for the growth of plankton which nourishes the food web. We experienced heavily overcast skies that had been clear, and a 10° drop in temperature as we passed through this zone.

A sea bird of some kind!

Once through, the skies cleared, but the temperature remained chilly. Later in the afternoon, in preparation to land on Antarctic islands, we had to take our outerwear to the bio-vacuum station to have it inspected and vacuumed for seeds, insect eggs, and other substances that might pose a threat to the Antarctic environment or wildlife. We’re not sure that anything we drug down from Louisiana would stand a chance in the freezer of Antarctica, but we were pronounced clean and good to go ashore. We had a great dinner (the food on this ship is the best we’ve had), and then we went to the piano lounge where we had some drinks and did some dancing.