We spend the last night at the Air B&B listening to the gathering of the neighbors preparing to celebrate the coming of the New Year with making an Asado. (a roasted barbecue for a family gathering). Sleep really didn’t come easy due to the noise of the celebration and the anticipation of what tomorrow may bring. We still didn’t know the results of the covid test, but figured no news was hopefully good news.
We planned to be at the boat dock by 10. Since we had the only car we had made arrangements to pick up Jamie and Julia. Ryan and Beth became chauffeurs before needing to drop the car off at the airport and walking back. It was a rainy, cold and windy morning, The predicted storm was arriving. Voy confirms that our Covid Tests were all negative and we are good to go.
We borrowed some trailers and headed to the boat.
Our next task was getting all of our gear on to the boat. This involved carefully stepping onto another boat and then carrying the gear to our boat. It was a coordinated effort and happy to report nothing was dropped nor participants injured.
Ryan and Beth are ready for this adventure to begin.
Don and I are looking forward to spending time with Ryan! (Jeff our other son was not so sure that he could survive a month with his parents on a small boat) We will have to see what Ryan thinks.
We are curious to know where we are going to put all our gear, We soon find out when we select our berths.
There are 4 berths in the front cabin. Don and I are on the starboard side. I (Donna) have the upper bunk and Don the lower one. Jamie and Julia are our cabin mates. Our gear is stored either at the foot or head of our beds. There is also a lee cloth attached to the bunk which is used to keep us in our berth when we are in a rolling sea. Can’t wait to see that in practice!
The galley is small. We learn that we all will get to share in cooking responsibilities.
Beth and Ryan have a stern double berth which is on the small side, Glad they like to be cozy. Jim is given a choice of either sleeping in a bed or rather a cubby hole with no windows behind the dining table or a berth right by the galley. We are all amazed that is even a choice. He easily picks the berth by the galley.
Not a bad place unless there is a lot of activity during cooking or when there is a lot of people getting sea sick and running by his bed. He did have a curtain he could draw, but the sound effects couldn’t be avoided. More about that later.
As we were getting settled Voy gave us a quick tour of the boat and where all the food was stored. Pretty much it was everywhere. The cans and packaged food were under seats and the sailboat floor.
By the middle of the trip we had a pretty good idea of where things were located. The fresh food and meat were located in the front of the boat where the sea water kept it cool.
Always good to have plenty of fresh food.We had apples that lasted the whole trip.
Before heading out to the deck where we will get our lifejackets and safety lines we are introduced to the watch and cooking schedule.
For the first part of the trip we each would have 3 hour watches. They are divided into 90 minutes blocks. I ended up being with Don for my first 90 minutes then Ryan would be with me the second 90. Once we arrived to Antarctica this would change depending if we were anchored or moving. The watches are around the clock.
We ended up cooking with the same person. Don and I were a team for this activity.
Once on deck we were given our lifejackets and a safety strap which would tie us to one of the cables when we were above deck. As predicted the storm is approaching and after doing a weather check and talking to several other sailboats Voy has decided that we will head down the Beagle Channel and find a protected harbor to spend the night rather than heading out to the Drake passage. We later learned that a sailboat which was 90 feet in length decided to head out and a large wave went over the stern of the boat and into the galley. They were all okay, but sounds like it was pretty tense for awhile.
Check out Ushuaia at the top of the map and the Antarctica peninsula at the bottom. The blue and purple shades are wind gusts between 40 and 70 mph. We agree with Voy that we should wait a day before crossing the Drake! This will give us an opportunity to get a feel for life on the boat before the Drake. I don’t think I thought about the Drake passage much before this trip, but after reading about it and seeing some photos, it has got my respect.I read that the Drake passage is one of the most famous waterways in the world. As well it is one of the most treacherous places for sailors and water vessels because of the strong currents that do not meet any resistance from a landmass. One can experience very strong winds and waves up to 40 feet plus. On the other hand sometimes one can even experience the Drake Lake which presents itself as a calm lake in the middle of the passage.
Finally the chores are done and we can head out sea. I pull the first watch and get to try my hand at steering the boat. For a lot of the trip we will be using the auto pilot, so instead of actually steering the boat we watch the gauges and the sails if sailing.
I am so focused while everyone else seems quite relaxed.
It seems quite calm in the Beagle Channel. The plan is to find a place to harbor in a bay tonight and then do some exploring tomorrow and hope the brunt of the storm will pass by before beginning our crossing. We set anchor about 9 and finally eat some food. Voy tells us that several of the large cruise ships have positive covid cases. They are not allowed to leave Ushuaia and some must quarantine. We breathe a sigh of relief that we were good to go. We have to take a covid test before returning to Ushuaia , but that is 3 weeks away. We will be our own bubble so should be good. The berths are calling and we are lulled to sleep by the gentle waves hitting the sides of the boat.
Jan. 2
The wind came up over night and the decision is made to spend the day here. After breakfast we are given a lesson on how to put the inflatable raft together.
It is like a puzzle to find the parts and then figure out how to put it together.
Finally it is time to lower it in the water. It takes two trips to take us to shore. Voy is going to stay on the boat and make sure the anchor holds as the wind continues to pick up. We are in a protected location, we can only imagine what it must be like outside the channel. Glad that we are not going to find out today.
Ewa takes us on a hike. After today we won’t be seeing any trees or the color green so we soak it in.
The forests protects us from the wind, but once we move into the open we feel the brunt of the wind.
We enjoy trying out a red berry that has an apple taste.
Ewa radios Voy that we are ready to return, he suggests picking us up and shuttling us to Puerto Harbeton where we can check out a working range and buy a hot drink. The ranch has been in operation since the 1800’s
There is a restaurant here, but due to covid they have limited services. It feels good to stretch our legs as soon we will be crossing the Drake passage which may be up to a 4 day voyage.
On the way back to the raft we stop and check out another new bird
The Upland Goose
The wind continues to pick up and it is quite a bumpy ride to the ship. It is good that Voy stayed on board as an anchor was dragged.
We took this photo of the boat from the hike that we did. Due to the protection of the bay we are getting some wind but not a lot of large waves. The plan is to leave tomorrow and we prepare ourselves for strong winds and big waves.
The Spirit of Sydney.
Our boat, the Spirit of Sydney is a 60 ft. aluminum hulled yacht that was built for a 1986 race around the road. In 1994 she was purchased and upgraded to become a boat that would take participants to Antarctica, which she did until last year 2021 when Antarctica was pretty much off limits due to Covid. On board we are carrying 2000L of fuel, and we have 400L of water storage plus a water maker. There are two wind generators, 1 diesel engine and 1 diesel generator. There are two cabin heaters. We have 1 zodiac raft, 2 life rafts and 4 sea kayaks.
Jan 3 and 4
Yesterday and today Ewa has been preparing food for our crossing. Once we are underway if the conditions that are predicted continue, it will be difficult to do any cooking. Voy has decided that we are going to head out later this afternoon. Little did we know what lies ahead. First though it is time to celebrate Jamie’s 40 th Birthday. His actual birth date is tomorrow, but it seems doubtful that we are going to be in a celebration mood.
Voy and Ewa bring out the cake.
This should be a birthday that he will remember.
We secure the kayaks and make sure everything is tied down. Ewa hands out crackers for us to put in our berth. We all have put patches behind our ears to help with sea sickness, Don, Ryan and I experimented with patches in San Diego when we went on a fishing boat. We have faith that they may help.
So far all smiles….but we are still in the Beagle Channel
Ryan is upright as well. Stay tuned this is not going to be for long
Don is looking cool as well.
Then as we were leaving our protected channel, our enjoyment of the day quickly ended. It wasn’t long till the throes of sea sickness hit 5 out of 9 of us. The lucky four were Jamie and Jim (who hadn’t ever been on a sailboat and Eva and Voy (which was a good thing) The remainder of this day and the next for the five of us was a blur. Julia was the first one to start the heaving over the side of the boat quickly followed by Beth, Ryan and myself. Don held out a little longer but not by much.
Julia is in the lower bunk, She was only seen when she quickly made her way to the front of the boat. I decided that sleeping in the upper berth would be an impossible task as getting up and getting to the outside had to be a quick maneuver , so I took over Don’s berth., Don took up lying on the floor with a barf bag. Ryan and Beth were comatose in their bed as well
Not much fun.
At one point there was three of us puking over the side of the boat . All hoping that the waves would not send us flying. We tried to make sure that we were attached to one of the cables for safety sake. At the time it didn’t seem very funny but later fortunately we could laugh about it.
The four non sea sickness folks took their turn at watches. Beth imagined that they experienced a monotony of huge seas, napping when they could, taking more of their share of watches and trying to stay out of the way of the wild-eyed sick members as they desperately tried to lean outside of the cockpit to vomit.
And this too shall pass….some of us really don’t know where went the days of Jan 3 and 4.
Jan 5. Don Beth and I , slowly started to emerge when the winds and waves started abating. We were told that the last couple of days the wind was over 45 Knots and the waves were averaging around 15 feet hitting us from all directions. The confused seas were a big part of getting so sea sick. Julia is still hanging out in bed and Ryan is slowing showing some improvement. The wind has died so much that we need to use the motor. Voy says that here is a slight concern of how much fuel we are using. That is an interesting statement, we hope for some wind, but not much. Some of us are able to join the watch schedule. The pattern goes like, do your watch and then go back to bed. Most of us are eating very little. Jim, however, has a great appetite and tells us later that he felt bad cooking and eating while the rest of us were in a survival mode. There is a lot of sleeping going as we recover from the rough seas.
Jan 6
Don and I have recovered enough to get back on the watch schedule. At 1:30 am Don goes on watch. I join him at 2:30 am The seas are amazingly calm. We are experiencing the Drake Lake and it feels so peaceful. We haven’t seen any other boats since we left Ushuaia . We feel like we are a tiny little speck on this body of water. We are now in full summer of the Southern Hemisphere and there is light around the clock. It feels great to be outside and taking in the wide expense. We are probably over 300 nautical miles from Ushuaia when we sight the Black -browned Albatross. It follows our boat gliding from one side to the other. We also identify the Cape Petrel which is easily identified by its chequered dark brown and white pattern on its upper wings. There are also a couple of storm petrels that join us on our voyage. They are quite small and we are amazed that they are here so far from land.
Finally we got a photo of an Albatross.
Life is good as we can breathe deep and enjoy the much more manageable sea state. Later in the afternoon the wind picked up, but thankfully not a lot. We were able to raise the sail and turn the motor off. The sound of the wind hitting the sail and the waves hitting the side of the boat helps to make us forget the days of being oh so sea sick.We can only imagine the life of the early explorers who ventured crossing the Drake without weather forecasts and the aid of GPS. We are sobered by the fact that over 20,000 sailors lost their lives in the Drake Passage.
What a difference a day makes.
The early hours of the morning are so peaceful that Don and I stay up and take Ryan’s watch as he is sleeping so soundly.. The sun rise goes on for hours. We are joined for over an hour by Hourglass Dolphins that play in our bow wave. This was one early morning watch that was worth being on! Life on the boat is becoming more normal as we return to our watch schedule and begin to be able to eat food again.
If we can maintain our speed, we should sight land tomorrow. Voy has been in contact with his brother who gives us added information about wind and sea state. We are also tracking our voyage with an inreach. The confidence that we will see land tomorrow increases!