The journey so far

Saturday, March 15, 2008: At 2:55 PM, we met outside the Albatross Hotel in Ushuaia. Upon clearing customs, I was greeted by Windy and Nick (of 2041) and was told how to get to the ship. It was awesome walking up to the ship and knowing that shortly, we would be heading toward Antarctica. After a lengthy photograph session at the front of the boat, we went on-board and turned our passports in and were shown to our room. I was going to share a room with Eric, from Denmark but we had one of the smallest rooms on the ship (my walk-in closet at home is actually bigger that this room) and due to the size and my ability to snore the only room-mate I have now is Flat Stanley! At last, after 5 months and 2 days since I learned I was going on this expedition, we untied the ship and headed toward the Beagle Channel. Everyone waved goodbye to Anne, who watched from the pier as we left. I was on the phone to my Mom during the launch and what a special feeling that was.
Sunday, March 16, 2008: This morning, I awoke after a comfortable “roll” all night long. We spent the first full day in the Drake and have been told how fortunate we are because it is pretty calm. For the most part, I felt really good (except for a little drowsiness from the seasickness patch I am wearing). No seasickness for me – thankfully! There were long periods of time on the ship when boredom was high. Group’s of people were playing cards, on their computer or reading books. I actually got the golf driver out with several golf balls and we put a jar on the ground as a hole. Several of us tried to play “ship putt-putt”, which was really difficult (a couple people did hit it). You had to judge the ‘roll” of the ship, along with the speed.
Monday, March 17, 2008: Happy St. Patty’s Day from the Drake Passage!!!! I woke up this morning after another excellent night of sleep. We had another great breakfast and then off to meetings. It was interesting seeing some people that didn’t emerge from their rooms yesterday until this morning and it looks like everyone is doing well now. We were having lunch and during lunch, the ship quit moving forward. The reason, we were sitting right in front of our 1st iceberg. It was incredible. It was large, full of many different colors with waves crashing against it. We circled it and everyone took lots of pictures. At 2:33 PM Monday afternoon, we passed the north side of King George Island and headed into Maxwell Bay. WE HAVE MADE IT TO ANTARCTICA!!! Since I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to many people, greetings from Antarctica to my family, Ben Wilde Memorial Golf Tournament “gang” (Kelly, Glenn and Keith), friends (including Ashley Plantation group), Akzo Nobel – Roanoke team and Akzo Nobel – Industrial Finishes employees worldwide.