The seas/weather when crossing the Drake Passage between South America and the Antarctic Peninsula can be anything from calm (Drake Lake) to ferocious (Drake Shake). We definitely had a Drake Shake this day, with 5.5 to 7 meter seas and 30-35 knot sustained winds.

Just walking from bed to the bathroom required holding on with two hands. The floor, ceiling, and balcony door were constantly creaking. Every now and then, instead of just rocking back and forth, it felt like we’d hit a massive pothole and everything shook. Every surface on my balcony (which is about 7 feet deep and up on Deck 7) was completely soaked from the spray off the waves. There were some rolls around 5a where you could hear deck furniture somewhere sliding back and forth, so I think a tie down broke. Walking around the ship was even more interesting, with everyone wobbling from wall to wall down the hallways. While at breakfast, a poor gentleman nearby tossed his cookies (which he’d just finished eating) into a sick sack delivered at the last second by a waitress. But at least we didn’t have tons of plates and glasses being broken.

Just before 9a, there was an announcement that there was a medical situation onboard and we were turning back north for Argentina. We would arrive at the pilot station on the east end of the Beagle Channel, where the person could be taken off the ship and to the hospital, in about 7 hours. The ship would then turn south again and they hoped that this wouldn’t reduce the number of days we had in Antarctica. All of the scheduled prep activities (mandatory IAATO briefing, vacuuming landing gear and clothes, and getting boots/patches) were postponed until the next day. At 10a, there was a voyage update presentation in the Lecture Hall; the new plan was to flip the itinerary so we’d land in the north (South Shetland Islands) first, starting on Jan 1 as planned, and then head south to the peninsula (instead of spending more time first going further south and missing out on the first day’s landings). They also reminded us that this was likely just the first of multiple times that there will be changes to the plans.

Since the plans for the day were upended and it wasn’t safe to be on the outer decks with the wind and waves, the expedition team quickly added more presentations to the schedule. There was also the scheduled presentation on the optional kayaking, snowshoeing, and camping activities. The sky started getting bluer and the seas got a little bit calmer as the day went on and we got closer to land.

Lunch was our first trip to Fredheim; it lived up to the hype. The burgers weren’t exactly the style we’d expect in the US, but very good.

Just before 4p, they announced that due to the still-strong winds, we could not do a ship-to-ship transfer of the medical patient at the pilot station (which we’d nearly arrived at). We would have to go another 3-4 hours back to Ushuaia. This meant that our arrival in Antarctica would be delayed to midday on January 1 instead of first thing in the morning, and that was only if the weather cooperated and they pushed the ship.

I attended a briefing on the science center and Citizen Science program. This was one of the things that had drawn me to Hurtigruten in the first place. The various scientists onboard each took a few minutes to talk about their studies and activities the passengers could help with – cloud, whale, or seal observations; phytoplankton collection and research on the science boat; and a study on the effect of citizen science programs on passengers. There was a long list of cabins interested in the lottery for the science boat (just as many as were signed up for camping or kayaking) but I was happy to see some of the other science activities were open to everyone.

Dinner was again in Aune but tonight it was a 3-course served meal instead of a buffet.

We reached Ushuaia just after 7:30p, which meant it only took about 10.5 hours to cover the same distance we’d done in 14 hours the previous night. Unfortunately, it took another hour until there was a spot for us at the pier and yet another hour before the passenger was taken off by ambulance. Finally, just after 9:45p, we started the journey to Antarctica again. The weather forecast had drastically improved, with something more like a Drake Lake waiting for us.