Antarctica - Dec 12th

Antarctica – Tuesday, December 12th

Today we are heading north across the Drake Passage.  So far the transit has been uneventful.  We have had swells of four to six feet with an occasional swell of maybe eight feet.  Sure, the ship pitches and rolls, but it certainly isn’t harsh enough to cause any major concern.  In speaking with the cruise director we were told that this ship has been in contact with some other smaller expedition ships from other companies.  The other ships did not leave Antarctica last night like this ship did.  Now, due to the weather forecast, they are obliged to wait until the next storm passes.  That will be in three days.  Their plan is to find a safe harbor and wait.

We were told that this cruise has had extraordinarily good weather.  Yesterday was really the only day that the weather did not cooperate.  Yesterday was rainy, snowy, cold, and windy.  Most of the other days have been sunny and mild, or at least mild by Antarctic standards.  The temperatures have been hovering right at freezing.  Now that we are headed north the temperatures are beginning to warm just a little.  We are just a little more than half way across the Drake Passage.  The temperature has warmed to a balmy thirty-eight degrees.  The weather forecast for Ushuaia calls for the high temperature to be in the mid to upper forties with maybe a chance of rain.  We’ll see.

Since we are returning to port a day early Viking is arranging some local excursions.  We are going to take a scenic bus ride through the countryside.  It should be a fun ride.

After the Drake Passage we will then navigate the Beagle Channel.  This will bring us right into Ushuaia.  We should arrive there late afternoon or early evening.

Tomorrow will be another adventure.

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