January 1, 2024

January 1st

We boarded the ship on the evening of December 30th and now we are in the thick of the Drake passage.  I’ve done well adapting to the sea; however, as I told the doctor, I’m growing new muscles going up and down the stairs in the rocky seas.  It’s definitely a leg work out and an experience.

The National Geographic Endurance is an amazing ship and due to the ship’s design, it’s made the crossing quicker and smoother.  I’m horrible at spotting birds and it’s now a game with some of the serious birders to see what Jessica can see.  They’ve taken me on as a personal challenge: I haven’t decided which way to bet on myself (I’m at the moment betting on never being great at finding birds).  I am good at spotting ice bergs!  At about 10:00 am this morning we started seeing the first pieces of ice and now there are bergs all around us.  The weather is cloudy so it makes seeing them a little difficult out on the horizon because of lack of contrast.

Last night was our last night of darkness: we cross the Antarctic Circle later today.  I’m getting settled into ship life and daily routine.  The food is amazing and I’m trying to pace myself so I don’t gain 500 lbs in 30 days.  The talks have been great!  We’ve discussed, Magellan, whales, “how to use your camera phone”, and sea birds.

Hopefully today is our last ‘full sea day’ for a little while.  We are scheduled to get off the ship tomorrow morning, but that is all weather dependent.  When we boarded the ship, on the 30th, it was decided that we would push south as quickly as possible.  The conditions in the Ross Sea are quite icy so we are planning on spending more time crunching through the ice in the most remote region on earth.  Yup, I’m super stoked with that decision!!!