Position: 57*53 S, 0'62*48 W
Temperature: 45*F, sea temp 45*F
Weather conditions: partly cloudy, barometer 1014 mb
Wind: 40-50 knots (50-57 mph) - yeah, yikes!! waves 14 feet
sea depth: 1914 fathoms (3500 meters, 11,480 feet)
Distance travelled from Elephant Island: 373 NM (429 mi)
distance to Ushuaia: 272 NM (315 mi)
speed 15 mph
"I now belong to a higher cult of mortal, for I have seen the Albatross" - Robert Cushman Murphy
Second Antarctic Journey, Paradise Bay unable to reach: So today was supposed to be Paradise Bay and the Gerlache Strait, but since the weather was so bad we turned around yesterday - hence the Sea Day today. Was a little chaotic because we had to move the auction up a day. As usual auction days are busy, so I'm pretty tired. Didn't have a chance to look outside much, but the waves for sure are rough - whole ship's been rocking all day, which made for a nerve-wracking auction set-up, hoping that nothing fell off easels or hurt anybody. So there weren't as many people as we hoped at the auction. Good thing I was able to see the Strait and Bay on the last cruise!
The Drake Passage:
The Drake Passage is the body of water that separates South America from Antarctica. From Cape Horn to the South Shetland Islands, it connects the waters of the Pacific Ocean in the West, to the Atlantic Ocean in the East. This 800km (500 mile) wide passage is the shortest crossing from Antarctica to the other continents. Its waters are known as the roughest in the world. In severe weather, waves can reach over 10 meters - 33 feet. Here, the cold, humid subpolar climate starts changing into freezing, dry Antarctic climate.
While crossing the passage, it is possible to spot whales, dolphins and a diversity of sea birds, such as the Giant petrel and the albatross. One of the most exciting moments of the crossing is when the first Antarctic icebergs are spotted, signaling the proximity of the White Continent.
This passage was named after Sir Francis Drake, the English privateer. In 1577 Drake became the second man to circumnavigate the world, after Ferdinand Magellan's expedition, and is said to have sighted the passage. However, the Spanish navigator Francisco de Hoces was the first European to sight the passage in 1525. That is why the Spanish Armada and som Latin-American navies call it Mar de Hoces (Sea of Hoces.) -Antarctic Log Book - Velazquez, Aranda
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