Crossing the Drake Passage

Home > Diaries > 2019 > 782

GOOD morning it's 6:00 AM and the sun is trying to rise but won't appear for another hour because we have a very long twilight here. We're now out on the Drake Passage running quite a bit ahead of schedule. We left port ahead of schedule yesterday to stay ahead of the storm. There was a bit of rain last night, but it has cleared up quite well as we've gone ahead of it.

It is very cold up here probably down to freezing even though we only left the Drake Passage two hours ago. We have a moderate swell of maybe a metre or two (actually 3 metres) and the ship is rocking quite a bit. Overnight we did hit some big waves leaving the passage. I don't have my sea legs at all yet so I'm wandering around like a toddler. Hopefully I'll be able to walk properly again soon when I do get my sea legs.

Today there will be a lot of presentations from scientists, photography experts and briefings. We are hoping to do quite a few onshore expeditions when we get down there, so there are quite a few briefings that need to happen.

Check out my new jacket. They gave us all a new jacket to wear on the peninsula because it will obviously be very cold. That's my introduction for today, so I'm going to return to my cabin to thaw out.

It is late afternoon now, and we are already over half way across the Drake Passage. Even though there is quite a swell, this is apparently very calm for here. The boat is rocking a bit and I still don't have my sea legs yet but I'm sure I'll get them eventually.

We're heading towards the convergence zone between the cold sub-antarctic waters which we have been travelling over since leaving South America, and the colder Antarctic waters which are apparently a few degrees cooler. At the convergence zone are a lot of nutrients which attract the krill and other small animals which in turn attract the whales and other animals as well. The wildlife there would be very very rich. There have been a lot of albatrosses around. I don't see any at the moment.

When we reach the convergence area, we'll enter a foggy zone. I don't see the fog yet but it is coming very soon. The convergence zone marks the official start of Antarctica.

I've mentioned before about the humpback whales migrating up and down the Queensland coast. They also do similar migrations along New Zealand and other areas of the world. They spend most of the year here at the convergence zone which we will be crossing very soon. That's very exciting as that biologically marks the start of Antarctica.

It's the end of the day now, and we've just cross the Antarctic convergence zone. I can see a definite line though it would be a bit too dark to see on the video but I did capture it on still camera. It is really cold now and need to put up my hood. It's around zero degrees and dropping so we're definitely in the Antarctic zone. It will no doubt get colder. We are over half way down the Drake Passage and have also just passed the 60 degree parallel here under the convergence zone.

This is very momentous as I've now passed the 60 degree line here, and it is very significant. It is the latitude the official Antarctic treaty recognise as the start of the international territory that cannot be fully claimed by any country, so we're in neutral territory now politically in Antarctica. Some of the crew are saying we are now officially in Antarctica having passed this point, but I won't claim to have been to Antarctica yet until I have actually stepped on the mainland which probably won't happen for a couple of days yet.

So we are half way down the Drake Passage and it is relatively calm here on this calm crossing thanks to our fast progress. The other reason crossing the 60 degree parallel is so significant is you'll probably remember a couple of years ago I reached the 60 degree parallel in the northern hemisphere in the northern suburbs of St Petersburg. So I've now travelled between 60 degrees north and 60 degrees south. So that's 120 degrees of latitude I've travelled around the world.

The next goal now is to reach the Antarctic Circle which our schedule now says we will be able to do in two days because we're now going to make a beeline straight down there with the weather being so good. With that being done, one day I'll have to head up to the Arctic circle which will be a lot easier with there being some cities in the area in Europe.

Anyway it's getting dark and I'm going to call it a day after a really busy day of attending numerous presentations and meeting the captain and crew and a lot of other things. No doubt tomorrow will be another big day. We should be starting to see some icebergs and we should be reaching (south of) the South Shetlands Islands which are just off the actual peninsula. With a bit of luck we may even be landing. So over and out for tonight.