February 20, 2009

20 February 2009

It’s been extremely busy on board for all staff and crew as we try to make life as comfortable as possible for our new arrivals. It’s an interesting dynamic as we have one group who are extremely grateful for being rescued and another group, the rescuers who have had their trip of a lifetime interrupted.

Overwhelmingly people understand that their own desires and needs are secondary to all matters related to the rescue of the Ocean Nova and its passengers. I can understand the disappointment at having a dream trip disrupted, however, this voyage has in many ways been a trip of a lifetime. It all depends how you view life and the obstacles put in your path along the journey. At the risk of raising the hackles of those who currently view this experience in the ’glass half-empty’ sense, this has in fact been a remarkable experience for passengers from both the Ocean Nova and the Clipper Adventurer. I expect in years to come everyone will recant stories of the rescue and the beauty of Antarctica and no-one from the Clipper Adventurer will begrudge the fact that we went to the aid of another ship.

Its times like this that a few quotes from the explorers of the heroic age come in handy to put things in perspective. My favourite is the final sentence of Apsley Cherry-Gerrard’s famous book about his horrific mid-winter journey to claim some Emperor Penguin eggs at Cape Crozier. “If you march your winter journeys you will have your reward, so long as all you want is a penguin’s egg.”

The first half of our voyage was exceptional. We managed to see all the wildlife that lives on the Antarctic Peninsula with two exceptions, elephant seals which we would have seen in the South Shetlands and the Snow Petrel which is a fairly rare bird in these parts. We also had one of the most pleasant days I’ve ever had in the Antarctic, gloriously calm and warm with views to mountains one hundred miles distant.

The Clipper Adventurer passengers actually had a couple of bonuses. We would not have made it south of the Antarctic Circle and we would not have seen the exceptionally beautiful Marguerite Bay not to mention the feel good factor of coming to the aid of others in need had the journey unfolded as intended.

Earlier today our expedition leader called everyone together to discuss the events of the last few days and give everyone an opportunity to share their thoughts and answer questions. It was a terrific session to clear the air and put an end to any rumour and innuendo.

We are now northeast of the South Shetland Islands and we have the Ocean Nova a few miles astern of us. Today the Drake is not living up to its reputation. We’ve got almost no wind, calm seas and blue skies. On days like this we rename the Drake Passage the Drake Lake.

The downside is there is nary a sea bird in sight. It’s just way too calm. The giants of the southern ocean need some wind and swell to take to the air and stay there so on days like this they just sit on the ocean minding their own business content in the knowledge that a windy day is just around the corner.

In fact it’s so calm that me and one of my fellow zodiac drivers headed to the top deck for a workout. We started out in the gym which is not as wide as the wingspan of a Wandering Albatross and only a little longer. It’s usually a challenge to stay mounted on the exercise bike in the Southern Ocean. Happily I’m not predisposed to motion sickness but I do tend to feel a little claustrophobic so after a while we headed to the top deck with skipping ropes in hand clad only in shorts and t-shirt and had a great time exercising in the frigid air.

Like the albatross we know wind is never far away and quite possibly in a few days time we’ll be staggering around the ship like drunks in a saloon.

David Sinclair