Sailing the Drake Passage... aka Drake Shake!

Saturday, January 9, 2016

I think that is what day it is… we are now traveling away from Antarctica  L  and heading north-ish through the Drake Passage.  Last night we were hit by strong winds (and I don’t know what else) and we were pitching/rocking/rolling all over the place!  The waves were washing over the deck and to keep us from washing over the deck as well, we were all required to wear harnesses and clip onto safety ropes whenever we were outside.  It was wild and crazy.  I would have loved to get some photos or videos of it… but just staying on my feet (and keeping my lunch!) were the priorities of the evening!

This photo is from Elisabeth.  Isn't it magnificent?!?!?  I wanted to get one, but was never able to
get such a wonderful shot.  THANK YOU ELISABETH!!!

Unfortunately, many people got seasick, some desperately so.  Even the captain was affected (!?!?).  I was a bit off, enough to not eat anything but some bread for dinner.  But still did our watches.  We are back on watches again:  3 teams, basically 4 hours on and 8 hours off.  During our watch we rotate through 20 minutes on lookout (mostly for ice bergs) and 20 minutes on helm.   Although, last night the weather was so bad, the regular crew did the actual helming, the rest of us added to the lookout.  

When we have our entire group working (which was not the case last night!) we have 40 minutes off between each shift.  So we are on lookout or helm for 20 minutes each hour.  During our “down time” we help with sail work and may be (like today) we will help peel potatoes!  And believe me, there are lots of potatoes to peel!

 We have had a bit of snow during watches.  Kind of nice!  But it is cold and hard to get warmed back up.  The snow is definitely better than rain!

The weather calmed quite a bit during the night and most folks got up this am feeling better.  Still a lot of heeling, so we have to be careful walking around (and eating/drinking!).  Some folks are risking the rolling to try to shower tonight.  Most of us are pretty much staying in our thermals full time during the crossing (including sleeping) because it is too difficult to try to change clothes.  And basically we are just doing watch, eating (if not sick…) and sleeping.  When on watch, you sleep almost any chance you have!

 Anyway, it is a good thing wool does not absorb body odor… although, I think our clothes will be able to stand on their own when we finish this trip!!  LOL!!  I feel sorry for any airport personnel that go through our luggage!  Yikes!

The sails did get put up during the night and we did get to sail part of the way.  The captain has added motor when we could not get enough wind (or it is in the wrong direction).  We are expected to get favorable winds later tonight and will get to sail some more.

I am going to head off to try to shower and catch some sleep before my next watch at 4am!

Later!!

Stacy, Vet at Sea