Monday 24th February
This day at sea gives us an opportunity to reflect upon our experience. The ship is a converted car ferry and has been specially fitted for work in icy waters with lots of stabilising devices and special radar that enables it to get close to land. Our cabin is roomy with a large window, fully fitted bedroom furniture and has a small, but efficient bathroom. The ship is carpeted throughout, except for the mudroom on deck 2. This is where we change into our outdoor and wet gear before disembarking by Zodiac dinghy to the places we will visit. It is also warm, being above the engine room so that everything dries out and one doesn’t have the smell of ‘penguin pooh’ in your room!
On deck 4 is the forward lounge where talks are given and we are briefed about the places we visit. It has AV resources and comfortable chairs to relax in. On deck 5 is the 360 degree observation deck, the Polar Bear bar and the restaurant. Several of each day’s highlights have taken place here. There is a wide range of foods for breakfast and buffet lunch. Dinner is waiter service with at least 4 main course choices. On Tuesday it was an Irish theme, Wednesday a barbecue served on the observation deck (at 65S) and Thursday we were invited to dress in black and white if we wanted. There was a parade of people who wanted to enter the competition, with a prize for the best. As we knew nothing about this event before Thursday it was interesting to see how imaginative some people could be.
We are currently crossing the Drake Passage and at the time of writing we are at 59S with a moderate swell.
