Drake Passage. No need to be afraid of the wild see, she is asleep.

Good morning, good morning everyone: the morning catch cry of our friendly host of the expedition leader Liz Pope. The ship was rolling, not in a gentle sway, but it was none too rough either. It was just enough to cause me to slide on the bed and concentrate on getting my trousers on.

I feel good but dopey with the effects of Phenergan. Tomorrow I will try the Nausicalm or the Travelcalm to see if I fair better with my drowsiness state of being.

Some passengers did not surface for breakfast, no doubt having food far from their mind with their failure to dose up beforehand. Some brave souls thought they could tough it out and only a couple I know did so. The good ship’s doctor Peter and advisory pre-departure documentation did make fair warning !

Our day was filled with various compulsory lectures on conduct in Antarctica and eating between. Outside I was able to with some fellow passengers do a bit bird watching as well as sleeping. I am still in a trance zone state and listen with reflective eardrums about the species identity of them from the experts.

I have a little Sony DSC-HX90V compact camera which I bought as a spare to my Olympus Tough camera. It did an impressive job on its zoom to get a bird (after several misses !). I feel a bit intimidated with the platoon of photographers, though with their monster machines – with the analogy of an AK47 to air rifle. Still, I am glad not to be adding an extra 20 kg of machinery to my existing 11.2kgs of baggage.

We are fortunate to be able to venture up to the bridge at any time. It is very reminiscent of a time gone by with its control panels of a pale green enamel surface, big dials and buttons and old style handsets. We are not supposed to take photos of the instrumentation, but somehow I was able to take a couple of shots those top secret panels – not showing the navigation detail of course.

The menus for lunch and dinner are compelling. There is nothing to complain about from my end with a good range of food to suit vegetarian and omnivores. Perhaps there might be a weight management plan to implement afterwards.

I explored the lower levels and caught Robyn not at her normal vocation – she was ironing a shirt. Having mostly merino vests and travel pants I have avoided the need to go down to this alley. If I wanted to be truly on holiday and desired pressed clothes it was not too costly to employ someone to do it for me. Robyn however, wasn’t too keen for that salubrious job when I asked her. Further along there was a sauna which come in handy on a cold wet day after kayaking.

Exploring the ship is fun with its five levels. We have well secured Zodiacs on deck 3 and kayaks on deck 4 .

The radar, GPS and other navigation aids are all up on the topmost deck with the voyage data recorder in case it all goes pear shaped and the event needs some sort of assessment.

Is there going to much to do to occupy my time during the passage across the famed Drake passage – other than get sick – which is hopefully mitigated with the drugs ? Well it looks much better that a previous cruise I had: these guys have got a busy schedule going viz:

08:00 Breakfast
09:30 Mandatory environmental and Zodiac briefing.
11:00 Bio security vacuuming of all clothes and fabric packs.
12:30 lunch.
15:00 presentation from Gary the naturalist on Seabirds.
17:00 presentation from Chris Bray on “Introduction to Photography”
18:45 Captain’s welcome drinks
19:30 Dinner

The vacuuming was fun, with a plain old vacuum cleaner you vacuum your clothes, especially the socks, velcro or woollens to ensure seeds are removed.

If you think I am a bit of an adventure the stories told by Chris Bray and his wife Jess are something to behold. Chris really tested the suitability of his future wife by buying an old wooden junk rig boat – just about rotten to the core, doing it up and going through the north west passage, and letting her endure crippling sea sickness in the process. She passed the test, so she’s a keeper ! This couple are really living and adventuring dream along with an occupation that allows the adventures to continue. They were really friendly and have time for us all, not denying any photographic tips should they be requested. I wish them well with there eco resort venture on Christmas island – must come up and see the red crab migration when it’s done. (or maybe before it’s complete !) See their web site for photography tours and their ventures.

Our passage is not so long with all this preparation and talks, indeed it was all of great interest (and a great way to assimilate one’s body clock with the new time zone !).