After about a day of calm sailing out of the Strait of
Magellan, we entered the Drake Passage. Boy, has it been quite a ride! Winds
have averaged about 30-40 knots (roughly 35-45 mph), with frequent gusts up to
50 knots! Waves have been around 10 feet. So, while it certainly could be
worse, it’s been quite a trip! It takes a lot of effort to walk anywhere on the
boat, and anything not secured has been flying around! Last night Uffe flew
right out of the chair he was sitting in, and I gave up trying to eat with a
plate in the galley and just stick to fruit that I can hold in my hand. Most of
us have hunkered down in our bunks to wait it out (except Connor, who has been
busily studying and doing his homework for classes back at ASU! I’m impressed
that he is able to read and write through this, because I have a hard time just
staying upright in a chair!)
I tried to get some pictures through my porthole to show
what it’s like, but the photos don’t really do it justice.
We were followed for a while by some albatross and
petrels. I stood out on the deck to watch the albatross before the weather got
bad, but now we’re not allowed out on deck at all. I don’t have much desire to
go out there anyway, since with wind chill it’s -20°C right now!
We’ve been moving at a steady 10 knots (about 11.5 mph)
since we left Punta Arenas. If you’d like to watch the boat’s movement, you can
look at these two websites that track us (and other boats in the area):
Tomorrow we’re expected to hit our first stop, which is a
point at the base of the Drake Passage. A couple years ago, some other
scientists anchored some moorings that have been measuring sea temperature.
We’re going to pick up the data loggers for them, since we’re passing by, then
move on to the first sampling point for our soil research. Hopefully the water
will smooth out before then so that we are able to get our gear together and
prepare!
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