Antarctica 2010 – Day 6

We continue our voyage across the Drake Passage towards the peninsula. Last night about 1 am we crossed the Antarctic Convergence which can be described as the area where the South Atlantic turns to the Southern Ocean. This is an area of the ocean that is ever moving but lies roughly between 50 and 60 degrees south.

The most noticeable difference now is that the water turns colder and there is an increase in sea bird activity with Southern Ocean and Antarctic sea birds converging in this area.

We are starting to see more Albatros now including Black Browed and Wandering Albatros and Petrels which come to check out the ship. We even had some Chinstrap penguins in the distance this morning.

Throughout the day there have been some additional presentations as well as safety briefings for the zodiac landings and kayaking trips that will begin tomorrow.

There is a palpable sense of excitement now as we near Antarctica and the realisation of where we are and what we are about to see starts to sink in.

At about 4.30pm we spotted our first land since leaving Ushuaia. Smith Island which is part of the South Shetlands lies off our port side about 40 kms away. We are continuing our way south heading towards Cuverville Island for the first landing tomorrow. We will land at Neko Bay tomorrow afternoon which will be our first landing on the continent of Antarctica.

We’ve just had our first whales also with blows seen in the distance. They’re also heading south towards the feeding grounds around the peninsula.

Antarctica is starting to show why it is so special.

Antarctica 2010 - Day 5

We are now in the Drake Passage and making good headway. Woke at about 7.30 and was aware that something had changed. There was now a lot more movement in the ship. A heavy roll in the sea moving from the starboard to port side is causing the ship to pitch about 20 degrees both ways. It makes from some interesting attempts to move around the ship! There are a few victims to the sea conditions but this will pass as soon as people get their sea legs. This is the Drake being gentle though. It is regarded as one of the most treacherous bodies of water in the world. Hopefully we won’t get to see it at it worst. So far the forecast is looking good but down here things can change very fast!

We are doing about 10-12 knots so we will continue sailing Drake until late Thursday and are scheduled to make our first landing at Cuverville Island on Friday morning. Our first colony of Adelie Penguins is located there so looking forward to seeing them.

In the meantime the staff had arranged some presentations about the wildlife, exploration and some history which were great. Jodhi, one of our guides also gave a presentation about his work researching black browed Albatros in Chile including some incredible photos of these huge birds.

We’ve also had some Albatros visiting the ship although with the light rain we are having, numbers are down due to lower visibility. The ones that we have seen are enormous with 6-8 foot wingspans. Really impressive to see.

We had a brief with our Kayak guide to go through what we need to know and do for our upcoming kayak trips. It sounds like it will be amazing.

The weather is now picking up with some great sunshine and less swell so fingers crossed it’s a good omen for the rest of the trip.

Antarctica 2010 - Day 4

Finally the day has arrived for us to begin our voyage to Antarctica. Before that though we have a trip to the Tierra del Fuego National Park. The national park is located north of Ushuaia and the morning was spent taking a look at the flora and fauna of the area. The Pan American Highway which begins in Alaska and winds down through North and South America ends here. We had a really great day with plenty of sunshine and dramatic backdrops of snow capped peaks.

It was back to town then and after some lunch there was time to pick up a last few bits and pieces before going to the ship. At 4pm we boarded ship and were brought to our cabins along with our bags. The M/V Plancius is just back from its maiden voyage after almost two years being refitted in Vlissingen in the Netherlands.

The ship is in beautiful condition with all the modern comforts, a far cry from what the 19^th century explorers were faced with. After an introductory brief by the staff and crew we then had a full safety drill, donning lifejackets and evacuating to the lifeboats.

At last we started to sail. We left the dock at Ushuaia at about 6pm local time, 9pm GMT to make our way down the Beagle Channel towards the Drake Passage.

Eating dinner while we sailed down the Beagle was really enjoyable. It’s a fairly wide channel which runs roughly west to east before then turning south to open out into the Drake Passage. Its north shore stretches back to the towering mountains of Patagonia and the changing light and shadows made from some really beautiful scenes.

As we are in southern hemisphere summertime we have long days with the sun setting at about 10pm. A few of us spent some time out on deck taking in the night sky which was starting to unfold above us. Everything that is familiar in the sky totally changes and we get to see the Southern Cross constellation which isn’t visible I the north.

A couple of nightcaps in the bar rounded off a great day and soon we would be making our way into the Drake Passage. Next stop Antarctica!

Antarctica 2010 - Day 3

Greetings from Ushuaia, Fin del Mundo (end of the world)

We arrived today from Buenos Aires flying in over beautiful snow capped mountains and then circling over the Beagle Channel to finally land in Ushuaia, our final destination before we board ship tomorrow for our voyage.

The weather is nice. We've left the high temperatures and strong sunshine of Buenos Aires behind and now we have some broken sunshine with temperatures of about 15 degrees.

Ushuaia has a real frontier town feel about it with all sorts of people coming and going. This is the staging post for marine traffic travelling to Antarctica. There are a variety of vessels here from the small expedition cruise vessels that we will be travelling on to supply vessels that ply the waters around South America as well as Antarctica.

Around town there is a buzz of activity with people either finishing cruises and spending there last hours in town or people just arriving and picking up there last bits and pieces before departing south. It's peak season now for voyages south so lots going on.

Our ship has not arrived back yet but will dock sometime early tomorrow morning to resupply and pick us up. Two of the other ships I use, the Professor Molchanov and Multanovskiy are in port and will leave this evening to begin their voyages.

Everyone is starting to get excited now as there time to board draws closer. Conversations now turn to Antarctica...what will the Drake Passage be like...time will tell. We sail tomorrow at approx 9pm GMT.

Antarctica 2010 - Day 2

Well what can I say? As we approached Buenos Aires this morning on our flight from Paris the cabin crew informed us that it was fair with a temperature 24 C...it was 8.30 am!

Yes indeed after confronting arctic conditions at home in eire over the past few weeks we are now landing into 24 C at *.30 in the morning! Mucho bueno as they say down here.

Met up with Alejandra and she brought us to our hotel which is well located right in the centre of Buenos Aires. After a quick freshen up we were out again into the sunny streets of BA. Now midday and over 30 C we were like kids lapping it up.

We went to Cafe Tortina, the oldest restaurant in BA at 150 years for a great lunch before taking off for a tour of the city. Taking in all the highlights we got back to the hotel and now getting ready to head out and soak up a bit of BA's night life. There are an amazing range of restaurants, bars and entertainment in the city so some thing to suit everyone! A great day had by all and many thanks to Alejandra for showing us the sites.

Tomorrow we make our way further south to Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world and our last stop before boarding ship and starting our voyage to Antarctica.

Remember you can track the voyage by clicking here.

Plancius is currently half way across the Drake Passage on its way to pick us up. Check it out at the link above.

Signing off for today as the throat is a bit dry and calling for a libation of the alcoholic kind.

Hasta manana,

Tom

Antarctica 2010 - Day 1

The day finally arrives and we are off on our adventure to Antarctica. We have another 3 days before we actually board ship. Currently in Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris waiting for our overnight flight to Buenos Aires.

Already stories of trips past are being swapped over some beverages.

The Plancius is just about to begin it's voyage back across the Drake Passage from the Peninsula where we will meet it on Tuesday afternoon. Let's hope they have a calm sail across. Then it'll be our turn to experience the Drake and all it can throw at you. there might be some "interesting" photos and video coming out of that...but then again thats all part of the adventure

I hope to upload some pictures during our voyage so that you can get a feel for what we are experiencing way down there. It all depends on a satellite uplink so they may not make it onto the blog but I will certainly be putting them on the site when I return along with plenty of video.

We are heading down at a great time for whale activity as many species feed in antarctic waters at this time of year...and of course the penguins...lots and lots of penguins.

Tomorrow it's Buenos Aires for the day and overnight. I have a city tour set up to take us to the highlights and then some good Argentinean food and a drop of Malbec to wash it down...tough eh?

Remember you can track the voyage by clicking here

More to follow...

Antarctica 2010

Follow us on our voyage using the map below. You can zoom in for a closer view of our location and I'll be updating from the ship each day with details of our expedition voyage. We will board ship on 26th January in Ushuaia.
As you can see Plancius is currently at the Peninsula on it's maiden voyage.