Antarctica part 3 - Life on a Zodiac

My apologies for taking so long to post part 3. Internet on the ship was very limited and the journey home took us 23 hours. 

I begin the meat of the post, I want to acknowledge our ships crew, especially the captain, Andriy Domanin. Captain Domanin is from Ukraine. I can only imagine his, and the other Ukrainian crew's feelings and concern for family, friends, and country when the ship received the news of the Russian invasion. Our hearts were with them all.

Our four days going up and down the Western Side of the Antarctic Peninsula consisted of two zodiac trips a day. On the first and last days one of the trips was just touring up and down the coast and around the islands. All the other trips involved landings.

The first trip was pretty miserable. It was a zodiac tour around some islands in Cierva Cove. Everyone was pretty miserable. It rained, snowed, and sleeted the whole trip as we navigated through 5 foot swells. My waterproof gloves were not waterproof enough and my rain pants, that I'd had since Alaska, were so old they shredded. Thankfully, I was able to get some duct tape to hold them together until the ship could find me an alternate pair! Thankfully, my long underwear and wool socks from my Anchorage days were great. 

That afternoon we arrived at Mikkelson Harbour, the home of an Argentinean research station. The sun was out, the seas were calm and the seals and penguins were everywhere as we first step foot on the seventh continent. Our faith in the decision to take this trip had been restored!

Rather than try and describe the beauty of the trip, here are the list of other stops we made and the rest of the post will be photos and videos: Lion Sound, Useful Island, Neko Harbour, Cuverville Island, Davis Island, and Hydruga Rock.

And now the videos and pictures!

Antarctica pt 2 - The Drake Passage

People on the SilverSea passenger Facebook page warned us that to cross the Drake Passage we would need scopalene patches, wrist bands and seasickness pills.  We got patches before we left, applied them the evening we were leaving the anchorage off Puerto Williams and went to sleep as the ship began its entry in to the Passage.

The night was a bit rough and a few times thought I would roll off the bed. Fortunately, it wasn’t an issue. At both breakfast and lunch, we noticed that people were missing and overheard several people say their roommate skipped the meal because they weren’t feeling well. Sometime after lunch, I realized my patch had come off in the shower. Even though I felt fine, I replaced it before dinner.

At the pre-dinner briefing, people reported seeing several whales. We are terrible spotters and saw nary a whale or any other mammal. People said birds were plentiful but all we saw was one lone albatross.

The passengers are mostly older, like us, but there is one father with a couple of 20 something children, and what may be two or three younger honeymooners. There are also some folks in their 40’s-50’s. 

The second day crossing the Drake Passage was just like the first without the one albatross. Again, I lost my patch in the shower but this time didn’t replace it and I was fine. Michele is more talented than me and her patch didn’t come off until she consciously took it off the next day.

We went to sleep to the gentle rolling of the ship as we finished our passage through the Passage, awakening the next morning to our arrival at the Antarctic Peninsula.

Antarctica Part 1

Knowing I would be retiring in the summer of 2022, I decided that for my “retirement trip” I wanted to go to Antarctica. I had wanted to go for a number of years but with working, never seemed to have the time. So, in early 2021, Michele and I worked with our cruise consultant, Ross Spalding at Crown Cruises, and decided we would sail to Antarctica on the Silver Explorer. We decided on the Explorer because it is a smaller ship which would enable everyone on board to land on the continent multiple times.

In 2021, when we booked the cruise, we were still dealing with the idea that the COVID Pandemic was still upon us. So we booked the second last cruise of the season, leaving Argentina on February 16, 2022. Even without COVID, we get trip insurance for these kinds of adventures. So between the insurance and the timing of the trip, we felt prepared in case, by some odd chance, the pandemic was still upon us. 

Within weeks, we received word from SilverSea that, because of Argentina’s closure due to COVID, we would not be leaving from Argentina, but rather from Puerto Williams, Chile. Fortunately, we had the foresight to buy our airfare through SilverSea so that was not a problem.

As the trip got closer, COVID still raged and Chile imposed some pretty strict entry requirements. We had to be fully vaccinated (easy.) We would need a negative PCR test within 72 hours of boarding our connecting flight to Santiago. That was a bit more difficult as most tests in Albuquerque were taking 72 - 96 hours, and we would need to take the test on the weekend. Fortunately, we found that the Albuquerque Sunport has a facility to get test results within 24 hours. It’s more expensive but necessary. Upon arriving at the Santiago Airport, the Chilean Government would do another PCR test and SilverSea would put us up in a hotel to quarantine until the results came back, which they did within 12 hours. Oh, and upon arrival at the hotel, SilverSea administered another PCR test. We never heard, but since we are on the ship and not in quarantine, we are assuming that test was also negative.

So after leaving Albuqueque on February 14, flying overnight to Santiago, quarantining for a night there, it was finally February 16. We were transported back to the airport for the charter flight to Puerto Williams to board the Explorer. Much to SilverSea’s credit, it was the most organized boarding of a cruise ship of our 20+ cruises. I’m sure there only being 73 passengers helped, but the ship’s staff was wonderful.

Aboard and unpacked, we were ready to cross the Drake Passage, the last leg before arriving on the southern most continent. But, alas, the winds were against us and there were 10 - 15 meter swells in the Drake so we anchored in the Puerto Williams harbor for a full 24 hours before we could begin our crossing. Finally, the swells were down to 4 - 5 meters and our journey began.