Crossing the Drake Passage

[Written by Elizabeth Leonardis for our old blog, So Civilized]

R/V L.M. Gould

This is the ship that safely transported us across the Drake Passage to the Antarctic continent, our new home. The Laurence M. Gould has been making this trip since the late ’90s, transporting scientists and staff to Antarctica. The journey took us 7 days, with one stop along the way, putting in a field station of 4 people studying penguins on King George Island.

Guillermo - seaman on the Gould

night photo from the deck of the Gould

Gould photos: Nathan Hoople

The adventure began on October 15, as we departed Punta Arenas, Chile and headed south along the coast of Tierra del Fuego. By the following day we had approached the southeast tip of Tierra del Fuego and passed through a narrow channel entering the Drake Passage. Initally the Drake offered nothing more than larger more rolling swells. Armed with our seasickness medications we both handled the rocking of the boat fairly well. During the day there wasn’t much to do other than watch birds from the bow, visit the ship’s bridge (whellhouse where the crew steers the boat), watch movies in the lounge, or just sleep in your bunk.

Black-browed albatross

Dave, Amy, & Alex

A sunny day on the deck of the Gould

Monitor displaying wind speed, temperature, etc.

One of the coolest apsects of being on this particular crossing is that there were a number of bird and marine mammal experts being transported to their summer research station as well.  Across the Drake, we were primarily followed by Cape Petrels and Black-browed Albatross. We occasionally saw a Roaming Albatross – which are the largest flying animals on earth (wingspans on the order of 10 feet) – but there were only 1 or 2 of these birds spotted.

Iceberg

By the 8th day at sea, we were all getting a little antsy to step on solid ground again. Unfortunately, 40 knot winds delayed our port call at Palmer Station for a few hours. But by the afternoon on October 22, we were finally here.  Our new home for the next 6 months.

Palmer Station, Anvers Island, Antarctica