Day 1-3 : Ushuaia, Drake Passage, South Shetland Islands...
It was the day to board the ship at Ushuaia to sail to Antarctica!
Day1: Ushuaia, Drake Passage
After worrying about the possibility of a trip cancellation because of the coronavirus or being barred from countries for the reason, I nonetheless finally found myself on a 21 days cruise on Ocean Atlantic on my way to visit the one continent that had always eluded my travels.
Prior to embarkation, I took a quick walk around town to buy some souvenirs, found the ship anchored at the harbour, and took a quick lunch before I made my way to the Tourist Information Office to send a flurry of quick texts <No internet access for the next 3 weeks!>.
I cleared Customs Control and boarded the ship. Each passenger was given two key cards - one as the cabin key and the one for purchase and attendance marking.
The ship started its journey heading south towards Antarctica. At 6:30pm on the first night, we gathered at the Viking theatre for an introduction to the various programs along the cruise, the Expedition team (EC) members from Albatros Expedition who would be in-charge of the passengers' activities and the Hotel Service (HS) team that oversaw the rooms and food.
[At about midnight, the ship sailed into the famous Drake Passage which was relatively calm]
Day 2 : Drake Passage, Antarctic Convergence
The weather was good and the sea was calm too.
Afternoon
The EC team did a bio-security check and vacuumed our outer-wear to remove any possible particles (such as tiny seedlings) that might have stuck on velcro, etc. This was to prevent bringing any foreign contamination to the continent.
We were divided into four groups - red, green, blue and yellow, as each shore landing is restricted to 100 people. In other words, while 100 of us went on land, the others would be zodiac cruising.
[Most of the cruise ships had prior arrangements to be at separate landing sites].
[Most of the cruise ships had prior arrangements to be at separate landing sites].
In between, I read the Polar-Expedition and South-Georgia books that I borrowed from the library. Surprisingly, the time passed quickly.
[At ~11 pm, the ship entered the Antarctic Convergence. The sea remained relatively calm]
[At ~11 pm, the ship entered the Antarctic Convergence. The sea remained relatively calm]
Day 3 : Zodiac Briefing, Antarctica South Shetland Islands
Awake by ~5:30am, I made my way to the coffee bar/library for a cup of coffee + a cookie, followed by a walk on the deck and to explore the ship.
The ship is a small cruise ship with 9 decks, accommodating about 200 passengers and 140 crew members.
Deck 6 has most of the amenities/facilities - the coffee bar/library area, theater and the Restaurant (buffet breakfast/lunch and dinner-set). There is a bistro on Deck 7 with access to the back deck (my favourite spot). < Subsequent usual routine: coffee from library, then to the bistro: sit, read, walk the deck, write, doing nothing>
The mandatory briefing of the zodiac operation was useful and interesting.
Zodiac operation:
(1) Both hands must not be carrying any thing.
(2) Two crew members would be standing by the entrance to help with 1 EC in the zodiac.
Onto Zodiac (when given ok signal):
Step 1: With ship crew holding your arm, step onto the side of Zodiac
Step 2: holding on EC arm, 'walk' across to the yellow block, into the zodiac, sit on the side,
Step 3: slide along the side to allotted space (pointed by EC).
Out of Zodiac
Step 1: slide on side of zodiac, and stand next to EC
Step 2: step onto yellow block, and onto the side of zodiac
Step 3: reach across to hold ship crew's arm, and 'walk' across to ship platform.
Landing: slide along the side to the edge nearest the shore, swing each leg over and walk onto shore
Into zodiac: swing each leg into zodiac, and slide along the side to make space for the rest.
[Tip: Regardless, one is always facing the sea when landing or into the zodiac]
Mudroom and Boot Collection
In preparation for our trip onto the shore, we collected our rubber boots in the Mudroom. We are only allowed to wear assigned rubber boots from the ship for shore excursions.
The progress of the vessel had been smooth as the sea had been calm. We finally spotted an island of South Shetland Islands and the ship arrived off the Antarctica peninsula at about 2pm!
The afternoon program was updated to having an excursion onto Cecilia Island and Barrientos Island!
Sailing Route from Ushuaia to Antarctica
<Found out later, Miao had severe sea sickness for 2 days, so the sea was not as calm for others?>
<One HC said that out of 15 trips through the Passage, ~three would encounter rough seas>
The Cruise:
Some Links:
https://iaato.org/the-antarctic-treaty