The forecast called for another Drake Shake on the way back to South America, with 6-8m seas on the first day. In addition to rocking side to side, we were bucking forward to aft. It felt like an old pickup truck going down a country road.
We still had a bit of business to take care of, however. Throughout the morning of Day 12, boat groups were scheduled one by one to return their boots and patches. You could help the expedition team by cleaning your own boots (picking out any pebbles in the treads and washing them with disinfectant) or you could just drop your boots off if you were feeling seasick (or were lazy). Without help from the passengers, the expedition team would have 800-1000 individual boots to clean; we were happy to help.
We also had to pick up luggage tags for the charter flight. The expedition team ran multiple lectures and workshops during the day, including one on the disembarkation process. One of the items from that briefing was that 6-8 weeks after the cruise, we would receive a link to the ‘log book’, an online cache of all the pictures, videos, animal sightings, maps, scientist reports, etc. from the voyage. Very much something to look forward to.
Lunch at Aune was like an amusement park ride; the seas were definitely getting rougher. The restaurant was emptier at 12p than I’d ever seen it, which was sad because it was one of the most delicious lunches of the trip (salmon, lamb shank, curried rice, and linguine aglio e olio peperoncino, among other things). As I was perusing dessert at the buffet, we hit a wave that actually got my feet off the ground. Dishes and glasses clattered all around the room. It was hard to capture how big the waves were in still images, but at least I managed to capture a rainbow in the spray off one wave.
The crew were taking the conditions seriously; the elevators had all been locked out and the hot tubs and pool had been drained and roped off. We got multiple announcements reminding us to keep one hand for the ship when walking around. They even offered to let people just put their boots outside of their rooms for collection instead of walking down to deck 3 if they were too ill or the stairs were too dangerous (several people aboard had mobility challenges).
The menu at Fredheim changed a bit every few days; the burgers, hot dogs and classics stayed, but the quesadillas were replaced by steam buns and then tacos, the crepes were replaced by dessert waffles, etc. It was nice that they kept things from getting too repetitive. I decided to try the dumpling assortment (meat, vegetarian, and fish); the fish was good, meat was meh, vegetarian was not worth it.
Some of the waves were about level with us when we were eating dinner, which was a crazy thing to say on deck 6. Dad and I went out to the observation area in the bow to see what it looked like from there…
A Q&A session with the officers revealed a few interesting things:
- There were an average of 405 people brought ashore on the 4 landings. Considering there were 418 passengers onboard, that was a very high participation rate. 122 people got to go kayaking (much higher than normal; 4 full days of good kayaking weather is rare) and 120 people got to go snowshoeing.
- The electric engine helps to deliver more power when they need it (like fighting though waves in the Drake) without having to start another diesel engine.
- Horizontal stabilizers take about 60-70% of the side to side motion from the waves out. So if you think it’s bad, it could be a lot worse.
- Neko Harbor was not originally on the itinerary; it was only available to be added after the medical issue at the start of the voyage caused us to travel in the opposite direction along the Antarctic penninsula.
- Speaking of how locations get on the itinerary, IAATO has an online reservation system. The expedition team then has to calculate how long it will take to travel between sites (there’s a 10 knot speed limit because of the whales) to make sure they physically can make the schedule happen. Non-IAATO ships and small yachts don’t follow this system, but it still works well. If a non-IAATO large ship arrives at a site first, they get dibs and the IAATO ship must go elsewhere even if they booked the location. If a small yacht is there first, they can share the site with good communication (like we did with the Amazone at Foyn and Orne Harbors). The online booking system helps with flexibility for weather conditions or other issues (like our total re-plan).
Day 13 started with a bit calmer seas, about 3-4m. They even reopened the hot tubs in the afternoon. There were lots of activities again, though all of the voluntary nature.
Bridge tours were offered to 20-25 passengers at a time (supposedly organized by boat group animals, but no one had patches anymore so I don’t think anyone cared). Having been on a bridge tour for a traditional cruise ship just 2 months earlier, it was interesting how much smaller this one was (just like the whole ship). But they had everything they needed. The Captain, Chief Officer, Hotel Director, and Chief Engineer had cabins right behind the bridge.
There was a lot of napping during the two day crossing; I heard people commenting while at Aune and in line for the bridge tour. A combination of lots of Dramamine and the constant rocking of the ship, I think. The seas continued to die down more and more as we approached South America, and we got up to 16.5 knots (it had been hard to go more than 8 or 9 at times when fighting the wind and waves).
At 5:30p, the Captain led a farewell toast in the Explorer Lounge. The whole crew came through the lounge to say goodbye, to thunderous applause from the passengers. There was also the world premiere of our voyage video from the ship photographer. Watching the film, with its stirring soundtrack, made me feel really proud of what we had done during this voyage, climbing mountains when we didn’t think we could, seeing things that few other people in the world will see in person.
Around the same time, land became visible.
Dinner was one of my favorites – Beef Wellington. Salmon and Beetroot versions of the Wellington were offered for those who don’t eat red meat. The primary dessert was listed as ‘omelet’ on the English menu and ‘Norwegian omelet’ (Norwegisches omelett) on the German menu. The English translation actually should have been ‘Baked Alaska’, not omelet. (Check Google for the hilarious story of where the name ‘Norwegian omelet’ came from.)
The only mandatory activity of the day was to pack our bags. Checked bags (with color coded tags for each flight) had to be out by elevator on each floor by 9p. They were collected to be taken by truck to the airport in the morning. The adventure was almost over.