For the next day and a half, the ship would sail through the Antarctic Convergence, a natural boundary formed by the meeting of cold Antarctic and warmer Sub-Antarctic waters otherwise known as the “Dreaded Drake Crossing.” The Drake Passage was named for Sir Francis Drake who proved that Tierra Del Fuego wasn’t linked to a further southern continent. This body of water extends from the southern tip of South America at Cape Horn to the South Shetland Islands and connects the southwestern part of the Atlantic Ocean with the southeastern part of the Pacific Ocean.

We had our fingers crossed, hoping for the best and prepared for the worst. The Southern Ocean is subject to sharp climatic changes and strong circumpolar winds that generate strong swells. I got sick just thinking of it since it seemed to almost guarantee that we would encounter stormy seas crossing from South America to Antarctic Peninsula – in one direction or another – across the notorious…gasp… Drake Passage.

bad weather crossing the Drake Passage to Antarctica
The storm began around midnight with massive side-to-side movements (rolling) and front-to-back (pitching). Who could sleep! I slid in the narrow bed back and forth and got thrown from one end of the cabin to the other when I tried to get to the bathroom. I even got slammed against the bathroom wall holding on to the safety bars. You should have seen the 2″ bruise on my arm. Pretty impressive. Whatever wasn’t battened down went flying through the cabin, under the beds and all over the floor. Took quite a while to corral everything and, this time, put away securely.

At 7:30 am, an announcement from Susan over the loudspeakers that went something like this…

“Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen. We are currently in a Beaufort Force 9 Storm, with waves from 6-7 meters (18-30 feet) with intense pitching and rolling. Please do not go out on deck as it is unsafe. We recommend everyone stay in bed, flat, all day if possible, as it is the safest place to be.”…

You didn’t have to tell me twice. Already popping Meclizine every 5-6 hours (instead of 8 hours) and I wasn’t moving. ex-Marine (god-forbid he should miss a meal) decided HE was going to get dressed and go up two decks for breakfast. I took a fast look out our porthole and almost got sick…we were underwater! I was Captain Nemo in a submarine. No way was I getting out of bed. I’ll go down with the ship in a prone position.

passengers brave a few minutes on deck crossing to Antarctica
ex-Marine lurched his way out of the cabin. It couldn’t have been five minutes before he staggered back in. He made it up the two decks to the dining room (perhaps, five others were in there), took one look outside and turned pea green. “Sheila, I took one look at the seas and thought I was going to puke my guts out.” He spent the rest of the day in bed, prone, gulping Meclizine and finally, the two of us made it to dinner. There were, perhaps, only 40% of the passengers at dinner, and that’s a generous estimate. The crew wet the tablecloths to keep dishes from flying off.

It was Thanksgiving! How could we not have some Thanksgiving dinner? Snarfed down a wonderful turkey dinner as quickly as possible, trying not to become ill watching the ship roll from side to side, and literally flew back down two levels to bed. The only place to be.

FACT: Sea birds can stay aloft for seven years without heading to land. Love storms because they can just soar and it takes no energy. Wish I could say the same but so far the Meclizine is doing its job. No visits to the “white throne.”

Skua flying