Today started out a little bumpier than yesterday… let’s call it “Return of the Waves”. The morning announcement came with the polite warning to avoid walking on the outside decks, especially the port side deck because of the wind.
Brad and I made our way over to breakfast this morning like two pinballs in a pinball machine. The waves at this point were probably only about 4 meters, so it’s small compared with our first experience on the ship. For breakfast I kept it pretty light with green apples, peanut butter, and some bacon. The bacon was served in the breakfast buffet, but the green apples and peanut butter were prepared in the kitchen. As I waited for my apples to be prepared, I enjoyed some grapefruit juice, coffee, and bacon. The bacon was slightly more challenging to enjoy. Every time the ship rocked back and forth I had to catch my bacon from sliding off my plate. It was like a game of whack-a-mole, bacon edition. At one point I had lost track of my bacon during a conversation and narrowly caught the bacon from sliding off the plate by tilting the plate towards me to catch it from sliding. The same experience was true for drinking my coffee. To keep the cup level and out of my lap I had to rotate the cup like a pendulum. Florian joined us for breakfast today, and we enjoyed speaking with him about his work producing the drone footage and his travels across South America.
After breakfast I went to the lecture hall to hear Sanna- geologist/ expedition leader- discuss her daily life experiences working at an Antarctic Research Station. Her lecture was really interesting and had some incredible experiences to share with us about her year at a British research station. She showed some videos of the winds howling under the research station, and how much gear she had to wear just to be able to go outside and walk across the station. As she spoke about her experiences, I looked out the fourth deck window to see the tops of the waves at eye level outside the window. Occasionally, the waves would splash the window on the fourth deck. I was shocked to see the maintenance crew outside window washing with these waves. I couldn’t tell you how large the waves were, but the fourth deck is pretty high off sea level. After Sanna’s discussion, Marta – assistant expedition leader- arrived in the lecture hall to discuss disembarkation. I spent the whole time thinking to myself… “I DON’T WANT TO GO!” This trip has been way too much fun. Marta explained the timeline for tomorrow’s disembarkation and how the luggage retrieval would go. For those going to the airport, storage unit, or hotels you would be given a colored ribbon. For those with their own arrangements, such as Brad and myself, we would not have any ribbons but would leave our luggage outside our cabins by 6:30am then grab breakfast and wait in one of the public areas until our time to disembark.
Almost immediately after the disembarkation talk Shelli- expedition leader- came to the lecture hall to discuss whales, dolphins, etc. Shelli is a pretty neat lady, she is from Alaska but fluent in Flemish so she has an American/ French pronunciation of her words. She’s very knowledgeable about whales and other marine life. During her talk, we were provided with some sound clips of these massive creatures. We also noticed that the waves were still pretty large and I couldn’t help but stare outside at the size of the waves as we bumped our way along the drake passage.
After lunch, I had some time to kill and staying in the cabin just didn’t seem appealing. So I grabbed my workout gear and headed up to the gym. By now the waves were at a more manageable 1 meter or so… which would make working out much safer. I was surprised to see how many people were at the gym. The gym is only about 8 feet by 10 feet, with mirrors on two sides and a good sized window on another. There are two elliptical, and one stationary bike with a 2″ foam mat to work out on and some room to stretch. I walked into the gym to find two of the machines already in use. I took the elliptical facing the hallway (only one left) and within a few minutes more people showed up to work out. One lady, whose name I didn’t catch enjoyed working out on the mat for a while the other equipment was utilized. One of the Australian kayakers came in 10 minutes following, asking about the use of the bicycle. After using the elliptical, the gym started clearing out a bit and the waves were much smaller. I was finally able to do a decent workout. I realized towards the end that I was running late for Anja’s discussion on other expeditions available for next year…. And I couldn’t miss that. I quickly popped downstairs, threw a shirt on, and sat in the lecture hall in my workout gear apologizing to those around me for the stench.
Anja’s discussion made me dream of upcoming adventures, and a reminder to play to lotto to be able to afford it, **sigh**. She discussed Greenland, Svalbard, the North Pole, and other tantalizing adventures for me to dream about as I prepare for my next adventures over the next few years. After Anja’s discussion, I went back to the room to shower, and dress up for the Captain’s farewell cocktail party. I flung myself back into my black dress, and Brad got into a shirt top, trousers, and tie.
We walked downstairs and were greeted with a hello and champagne from the expedition crew, hotel crew, and a hello from the Captain. I realized I had left my cell phone in the cabin for pictures, so I quickly ran back to the room to grab it. On my way out the door I ran into Jacinta entering the room. She was dressed in a beautiful black dress with her hair and makeup done, speaking with some of the expedition crew. I snuck past her, but not before mentioning how beautiful she looked. As I was walking away, I heard from the Captain “she’s not the only one!”. I chuckled a little as I walked down to get my phone. When I arrived back upstairs, I walked through the procession of people again, stating “I just wanted to do another entrance!”.
The Captain’s farewell cocktail was a fun event. The Captain came to the stage, and gave everyone a farewell speech. By now we were moored in the Beagle Channel so the boat was flat and steady to everyone’s delight. Ida -the Kayak master- came to stage to hand out certificates for those who participated in the Polar Plunge. When my name was called, I headed up onstage to grab the certificate. When I sat down and looked at the certificate, I noticed that it was dated December 28th, 2016 [ one month from now]. Soon everyone found the same mistake, so Anja went onstage to offer to correct the mistake for those who wanted it corrected. After the event, Brad and I went up to the stage to have Keith take a few photos of Brad and myself looking sharp. Of course, as soon as I had Keith my phone I was offered a photo of Keith’s face and a photo of my legs, LOL! Apparently, I had to be more descriptive. He was only joking of course, and he took a photo of Brad and I together. As we walked out of the lecture hall, and downstairs to the room to drop off our gear we took a moment or two to stop off in the hallway and take some more photos with the intention of updating my Linked In profile. After dropping everything off, Brad, Keith, Mo, and myself hit the bar to grab a drink before dinner. The bar is closing at midnight tonight, so I wanted to go up and talk to friends up there. I got a gin and tonic which was mostly gin, so I spent a great deal of time nursing that drink throughout dinner.
After dinner, we all hit the bar again to sit, talk, and discuss what was coming next for us all on the trip. When the bar closed, a few of us hung around listening to music, and being serenaded by Chris’s talent at playing the piano. I think we upset Johnny- the musician, a little. We all took some photos, hugged, and laughed as we all went to bed unsure of what tomorrow brings.
