Drake Passage
The Drake is back! For more than a month passages across the Drake Passage have prompted comments like ‘Drake Lake’ to describe the calm conditions. Starting late yesterday as the wind picked up and switched almost without notice from west to northeast, we knew calm seas and benevolent winds might be a condition of the past. At dinner we were sure of it and by morning there was no doubt. The Drake had reasserted itself and it has provided a counterpoint to our trip to the Antarctic.
As we headed south in calm seas (it seems like weeks ago), we anticipated the great white expanse, the penguins and the camaraderie aboard the ship but we were not totally prepared for the full impact. Landing at Aitcho Island gave us our first impressions of penguins. It wasn’t long before we established our own special rapport with the gentoos. On to the east side of the Peninsula we met the huge tabular bergs from the Larsen Ice Shelf and intersected the early explorer, Nordenskjöld, at Paulet and Snow Hill Islands.
Then back to the west side to Deception Island and Baily Head and the huge chinstrap colony. At Whaler’s Bay we swam, well, we wallowed, in the hot waters of the shallows at the edge of the shore. Then we went south, through the Lemaire Channel, landing at Petermann where Charcot had overwintered in Circumcision Bay. And then, further south still until we had crossed the Antarctic Circle. And during the night we went even further south until at first light we were in thick pack ice on a stunning day. We ended so close to 67° South that we could finish the last few hundred yards on foot on the fast ice. With kayaking, hiking and even a polar plunge for a few hardy souls, we experienced a most extraordinary day. It was not an ordinary day.
Today, as we sail under the lee of the islands at Cape Horn, we reflect on our fantastic voyage. Last evening during recap guests spoke of their impressions of Antarctica. It was a time of reflection; a time to struggle for the words to express deep emotion and a time to wonder about one’s responsibility in the larger world.
One guest mused, “Did we really go to Antarctica for the sights? Or, was it for the complete serenity?” Each will come home with his or her own answer and confront the difficulty in explaining, ‘Why did you go to Antarctica.’
