All entries under Day 12: 24rd Mar

Wow – I slept very well and woke up when Jumper announced breakfast in 30 minutes. After breakfast, several people attended a carbon off-setting presentation given by James Burnham. The swells were really picking during his presentation.

After lunch, I went to the bridge to watch, take pictures and videos of the front of the ship crashing into the swell (waves) and the water completely coming over the front of the bow. On the way down to Antarctica, it was nicknamed the Drake Lake. This lake has awoken and we experienced the world’s roughest waters. At this point, the swells were about 3-5 meters high and the wind was blowing consistently between 30 – 40 knots (34 – 46 mph).

The main part of this storm hit just before dinner. Dinner was tough. There were things (chairs, drinks, plates, people, etc.) flying every which way. It made me wonder how the chef could prepare a meal in these conditions. After dinner, I went back to the bridge. I knew the conditions were bad but didn’t realize how bad they were until I looked out from the bridge. At this point, the swells were about 6+ meters high and the winds were blowing consistently between 60-70 knots (69 – 80 mph) with the highest gust recorded (and a picture taken of the wind gauge) of 80 knots (92 mph). Yes, we went through hurricane strength winds all evening and practically through the night.

I will try to explain the most amazing thing on this crossing that happened with such frequency. The winds were from the North so we would go up the swell and back down, like we were attacking each one. We would go up a swell, with the bow of the ship practically pointed straight upward and then the ship would ride the entire swell and then for a second or 2, the ENTIRE ship would be out of the water until the bow of the ship would bury itself in the sea. Next the rest of the ship would hit the water and there would be a loud noise followed by the whole ship just trembling. From the bridge, this was an amazing thing to watch and feel. From anywhere else, you could just feel it and you knew when it was coming.

As many of us were sitting in the lounge after dinner, it was very difficult for people to walk around and when they did, there were times when they would fall into people or even over chairs. Then Robert, in his usual tone, says you folks wanted an adventure, you are getting it. Nick then says it has been great, can we turn it off now and everyone laughed.

Off to bed to sleep out a hurricane…………………….