Well, the cold that’s been running through the passengers ever since Day 1 has finally hit our little group.  Sheila had it a few days ago, now the other three of us got it yesterday and it’s a doozy. Nothing but sleep and drugs will help and therefore I’ve not done much outside my cabin … Continue reading Days 16 & 17: Drake Passage

Bright sun blinded my eyes as I peeked out from behind the curtain this morning at 4:30am. It was still blazing at 5:37am so I decided to get up and see what the outside world was like. It turns out it was very icy! Lots of small and medium-sized icebergs in the water and thick … Continue reading Day 15: Antarctic Peninsula

The Vavilov docked in the ice  Another fantastic day on this amazing adventure! We have been so so lucky with the weather, it’s crazy. I thought at 5:30 am when I got up that things were looking bleak but the sun broke through and our first outing was absolutely perfect. The ship cruised into Wilhelmina … Continue reading Day 14: Antarctic Peninsula

We had calm seas but a big rolling swell last night that rocked the ship from side to side often and far enough to keep me from sleeping much. At one point, 2:37 am, I decided to glance out the window above my bunk and I saw the sun had already risen! We are so … Continue reading Day 13: Antarctic Peninsula

The weather was against us again this morning. At 5:30am the fog was so thick you couldn’t see a thing, by breakfast at 7:30am the visibility had strengthened but a light snow had started falling. By our 9:00am launch time this turned into thick, wet snow.  Luckily the anchorage at Half Moon Island was protected … Continue reading Day 12: Antarctic Peninsula

The one day I didn’t get up early there were tons of icebergs passing by our ship! Normally I’m up at least an hour or more before our wake up PA announcement but this morning I thought I’d try to go back to sleep to pass the time. And this is what I was missing: … Continue reading Day 11: Antarctic Peninsula

Elephant Island is famous historically as the place from which Ernest Shackleton set forth with 5 other men on his 800 mile open-boat journey to South Georgia to find rescue. The island is very inhospitable and it’s rare to be able to actually land ashore, which proved to be true today. We arrived at the … Continue reading Day 10: Elephant Island

The seas turned a bit rougher during the night, it’s hard to guess but they’re perhaps 7-10′ rolling swells, but confused and the frequency of which is what pitches the ship’s nose into the bottom of a wave every now and again and green water crashes over the bow and the shudder is felt throughout … Continue reading Day 9: At Sea

Daily Trip Note It was an uneventful night, with the ship rocking a bit more that we’ve become accustomed to but nothing that interrupted a great night’s sleep. I was awake at 6am so I tiptoed around the cabin and snuck out at 6:30am to have an early coffee up in the bar. There were … Continue reading Day 8: At Sea

Conditions were once again ideal for an otherwise tricky landing so we had another 4:45am wake up call to catch the early morning light at St. Andrew’s Bay. At 5am a light breakfast of coffee, fruit, croissants and cereal was served in the bar with a 5:30am boat launch time. The promise of the morning … Continue reading Day 7: South Georgia