Our trip to Antarctica started December 26th. I flew out of Portland Maine on my way to Punta Arenas Chile. I met up with the rest of our team at the Dallas-Fort Worth Texas airport and we all flew from there to Santiago, Chile and eventually on to Punta Arenas. It was a long flight, about 36 hours, but we were all there to enjoy the time together. It was a great time to catch up.
Once we arrived in Punta Arenas it was clear I wouldn’t need my heavy winter jacket. Summer in South America is very pleasant. It was about 70F when I landed at 1:20 in the morning of December 28.
That night we were taken directly to the ship and it was off to the cabin that will be home for the next several months… I don’t think I have ever been so happy to get in the bunk!
After a half night of sleep it was time to get to work. The port call, which runs from the time the ship arrives at the dock to the time it leaves was very hectic. This cruise (the LARISSA cruise) is the largest that has ever been staged on-board the “Nathaniel B. Palmer”. The dock was a blur with activity. Not only were we getting ready for our cruise, but three other large Antarctic research vessels were also loading hundreds of tons of cargo in preparation for their voyages south. One of the ships was from London, England – Her name is the “James Cook”, another from Spain – the “Hesperides” and the last was another US research ship the “Lawrence M. Gould”. The “James Cook” especially caught my eye when they loaded their 6500 meter remotely operated unmanned submersible “Isis”. Both the ship and submersible were impressive for sure.
Nathaniel B Palmer vs. James Cook
Port call lasted over a week. We were scheduled to depart on New Year’s day – January 1, 2010, but the wind in Punta Arenas decided otherwise. Being so close to Cape Horn the wind here is very unpredictable and strong. For three days it blew over 50 knots. When it blows like that the port authority shuts down the port and all operations come to a halt… especially crane operations which are vital to our onloading of cargo. Because of the wind our departure was delayed until January 4th.
Being stuck in port wasn’t such a bad thing. During the down time we were able to explore the little town of Punta Arenas which is nearly at the bottom of South America. It is in the middle of a region called Patagonia which is well known for its rugged hills, forests, glaciers and WIND! It is a beautiful corner of the world.
We were able to relax for New Years Eve and take part in the celebration. I’ve never seen such fireworks. They went on for about 45 minutes with the band playing the entire time. Somehow I was fortunate enough to be seated right next to where the fireworks were being launched. There must have been 10,000 people in the little square with me. One thing Chileans like to do and do well is celebrate! It was a great way to start the new year.
Once the ship finally left the dock we headed east towards the Atlantic instead of going southwest through the Straits of Magellan like I thought
we would go. The scenery wasn’t quite as dramatic as it would have been had we gone through the Strait, but this route would take us across the Drake passage ahead of the storm that was heading our way. The Drake can be one of the roughest bodies of water in the world and we were hoping to make the crossing as smooth as possible. The first day we were underway
was beautiful. The seas were calm and the sky was clear. I went to bed at noon to reset my body clock. I am standing the 12 hour shift of midnight to noon. When I woke up the sky had turned gray and the wind was blowing about 35 knots. This was the best part of the day. By breakfast the wind was sustained at 55-65 with gusts over 100. It was something to visit the bridge and watch/feel the bow plunge into the 35 foot waves as the spray blew across the main deck. The wind continued to blow most of that second day, but subsided to 25-35 the next day and by the time we reached the sea ice in Antarctica the wind was calm.
Storm crossing the Drake Passage
January 7th we arrived at the tip of the King George Island in the South Shetland Islands. We continued around the east side of the peninsula and down toward James Ross Island. As we rounded the island we began breaking into the annual sea ice. At first it was fairly easy going, but over the next few hours the ice continued to grow much thicker. Our ship is rated for breaking one meter of ice at three knots indefinitely. But soon the ice was so thick and under great pressure due to wind and currents that we found ourselves backing and ramming at a very slow speed. Eventually Captain Joe Borkowski and Chief Scientist Dr. Eugene Domack decided to try another route. We turned and ran for the inside passage of James Ross island and the Palmer Peninsula. This took us another day to travel around James Ross Island. Much to our dismay the ice conditions turned out to be exactly the same there as they were on the outside. The good news was the scenery was outstanding! The sunrises turned the snow and icebergs pink and orange, the blue ice and water shown like a mirror and the mountains made you feel like you were on another planet… stunning!
