Good bye, Bark Europa!

Thursday, January 14, 2016

We were due to depart our dear ship at 9am.  Of course, it took more than an hour more to say good-byes.  Some people were heading straight home, some staying one or more nights in Ushuaia, and others traveling onward!  We all scattered to our various domiciles and planned to meet up later in the day.

Stacy and Captain Eric

Elisabeth and Captain Eric

The Europa in her spot for a few days.

I spent most of the day with Elisabeth and Heidi, shopping and wandering through the small town of Ushuaia.  We constantly met up with folks from our trip.  In the evening we met up at one of the local bars then went out for an incredible bar-b-que dinner.  It is nothing like anything in the States… incredible!  We all ate waaaay too much!

Up in town looking back at the harbor...at our beautiful Bark Europa.

Then back to our rooms for the last night.  Major travel home starts tomorrow.

Buenos noches.

Stacy, Vet at Sea

Friday, January 15, 2016

Had a great shower (did not have to rock and roll with the pitch of a ship!) and a wonderful night’s sleep.  Got us this am for a nice leisurely breakfast and met up with Heidi for a walk to and through town.  It was clear and actually rather warm weather!  We walked by the marina, surrounded by the snowcapped mountains.  Very beautiful.  Stopped at a café for some “hot milk with dark chocolate bar” (an awesome way to have hot chocolate!) and some dessert.  We were definitely in sugar overload by the time we were finished!

Last night's twilight.

Early morning walk.

Then it was time for final good-byes to her.  I returned to the B&B for my bags, had a taxi ride to the airport and was on my way home.

Met up with several more of our group at the airport in Ushuaia, and again in Buenos Aires… but that was then end of it.  We are all scattered to the wind once again.

There is no way to describe the bonding with these folks, the immensity of the trip and the feelings of awe and wonder.  You may just need to book a trip on the Bark Europa and experience it firsthand. 

Signing off,

Stacy, Vet at Sea

Permission to dock?

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

 We had some good winds and got to sail part of the way, in fact we arrive in Ushuaia a bit earlier than expected.  But… the winds were so bad, the cruise ship was not allowed to leave the port and they were in our spot.  The port was actually closed due to the high winds!  And there was another vessel ahead of us waiting to dock!

Ushuaia!

We had been asked how many of us wanted to have dinner on the boat and how many planned to eat in Ushuaia.  For the first time ever, every guest chose to stay on the ship!  Shows what a close knit family we became.  It is very special.

We were finally given permission to dock.  Very impressive to see this gorgeous ship “parallel park” at the dock!!  We were certainly the center of attention, the Europa is so stunning to look at!  By the time we were securely docked and cleared by customs, it was time for dinner.  Afterwards we had our last “eight o’clockies” and had another special program.

Matt was sweating hauling on some lines!

Jordi showed a slide show of the information he put together for us about our trip!  It includes daily logs, information and stories about the areas, photos and information about the conditions.  He is an incredible photographer.  The photos are stunning.  It also includes all the photo entries that we submitted for the contest and photos/email addresses for all the guests.  We were each given a USB drive Europa Penguin with all the data on it!!!  Fantastic!!

A friend of Dr Bob's... but their ship left before ours was docked so they did not get to visit.

Puts a whole new dimension to parallel parking!

B and Peer were the first off the boat to go to town!

The awards were given in six categories for the photo contest.  The pictures were GREAT! 

We went ashore for the evening (some late into the night, morning!!) and returned to the ship for our last night.  We all had to try to get all of our gear repacked… and figure out what to do with any souvenirs we bought… glad I brought an empty bag to fill!!

Well, here is to our last night…

Stacy, Vet at Sea

Still crossing the Drake Shake...

Sunday, January 10, 2016 – Tuesday, January 12, 2016

The last few days have been spent crossing the Drake Passage (un-affectionately called “The Drake Shake” for this crossing.  The crossing at the beginning of the trip was called “The Drake Lake” because it was unusually calm!).  Some unfortunate people felt off the entire time.  Most recovered well.  Thank goodness! 

 We rotated through our watches, we got to sail and made some really good time!  Saw dolphins and whales, sun and snow, sun and moon and stars.  It was beautiful and wild.

We had a big party Tuesday night: huge thanks were given to the crew, Boyd had written a song about the crew and a bunch of us sang it.  Dr Bob wrote a song and sang it as well.  Boyd had also made up certificates of achievement for all the passengers!  I received the award for “Best Animal Outfits”!  LOL!!  We a great time.  I finally called it quits and went to be about midnight.  Others stayed up until 2am or later!

The plan was that we anchor overnight in the Beagle Strait, an Argentine pilot will join the ship in the morning and we will travel the rest of the way to Ushuaia.

I’m sure there are wonderful details that I am omitting… because I am writing this days later!  We were all happy when we finally exited the Drake and (we thought) would be on calmer waters.

Silly us.

Elliot giving a talk on weather.

Jos, the ship engineer.

Jenny enjoying the sunshine!

Water rushing on deck.  Note all the ropes and nets to keep us safe!  We clipped ourselves
to the ropes to keep us from slip sliding away!

Emma collecting water to check the temperature.
 This is done several times daily.

Rockin' and rollin'

Movin' and a groovin'!

What are these ladies up to??
Jane, Jenny, Linda, Damaris, Maggie

Land Ho!

Arron

Boyd, our team leader.

Rick and Helen.

Dolphins!

Stacy at the helm!

Emma being a "snow block"

The compass

Boyd up in the rigging

During the passage, we had lectures, including "knot tying".

Zeze, our bartender.

The incredible Galley Crew
Gjalt, Gerda and Sophie

Laurits showing Maggie how to tie special knots.

Until later…

Stacy, Vet at Sea

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