2nd Trip to Antarctica...the results!!!

Hello Everyone,
I hope everything is treating you well back home. I hear it is raining in L.A. so I hope you are all staying out of it. : ) I am doing well, one day away from getting back to Valparaiso Chile to end this cruise. It was a pretty good one with a great Antarctica trip and I know you all want to know about it. If you read my previous blog you will remember that I mentioned some goals that the ship was trying to conquer. To the great surprise of everyone aboard we were able to complete all the goals that we wanted to do as well as other interesting events. Here is a quick break down of all three days and the major events.

Day 1 (1-14-09):
The first day we started out sailing near Elephant Island. It stared out foggy and we were not able to get a good view of the island. As the day went on though, the sun came out and was actually very nice. Our main goal of the day was to circumnavigate Paulet Island located towards the north tip on the east side of the Antarctic Peninsula. The ship has only been able to do this once before due to the heavy ice flows from the Weddel Sea to the south. On our first trip we couldn’t even see the island due to the heavy amounts of ice. On this day though we were able to make it around the whole island making it only the second full circumnavigation by a Holland American ship. Passengers were able to see lots and lots of Adele penguin colonies (there are 100,000 pairs on the island) and the scenery was breathtaking. The other major event this day was the katabatic winds reaching 80 knots. While sailing away from Paulet Island the ship was listing side to side very sharply. This caused things on shelves in our cabins to fall off and made us kind of nervous at times. I had never seen the ship list to one side so much. Soon after Kristen and I decided to go to dinner and on our way up stopped in the gym to talk to the fitness instructor, Stacey, who stated due to the high winds she was not surprised that a lounge chair hadn’t gone over into the water. Kristen and I walked out on to the Lido deck and went to the large glass windows along with a group of passengers. Due to the listing on the ship we were basically looking straight down into the water and not out across the horizon like normal. All of a sudden a huge lounge chair and its bright yellow cushion came flying up over the ship and exploded upon impact into the rough seas. Now as I mentioned before, this is a huge problem in Antarctica. Having things go overboard is not an option, and this is the worst that could happen besides a person or oil spill going overboard. Kristen and I then ran into the spa to warn the manager who was already on the phone with the bridge. We all ran to the back of the spa to see about the other chairs. Two were still there but looked as if they were going to fly as well. To prevent this, another fitness instructor, Maria and I, decided to go out and get them……not such a fun idea we decided later. Kristen and 2 other spa personnel held open the door against the 80 knot winds as the instructor and I clawed out onto the deck almost getting pushed down…well I was pushed down almost immediately. We spent the next three chilling minutes prying the chair loose and slowly pulling it back in. I had one hand on the chair, the other on the railing and she had all her weight pushing the chair. Finally we got it in to the safety of the spa and then security came in to get the other chair. Pretty fun way to spend an afternoon in Antarctica, but now I can say I played in 80 knot winds. That was pretty much it for the day.

Day 2 (1-15-09):
Today was overcast with the sun making an appearance here and there. I started off the day taking pictures from inside the ship of penguins that floated by on an iceberg right near the ship. We cruised through Neumayer Channel, Gerlache Straight; passed by the Chilean research station Gonzalez Videla and the Argentine station Almirante Brown. One highlight for me was finally getting to see an Orca whale. It was only for a second and was just the head of one but I still got to see it. People saw many Orca’s and humpback whales throughout the three days. The rest of the day we continued to sail passing many icebergs and majestic mountains.

Day 3 (1-16-09):
Today was probably the most beautiful day we have seen thus far in the two trips to Antarctica. It was bright and sunny out with thin clouds making for the best picture conditions. It was moderately cold but on the rear of the ship the temperature always feels better due to no head wind in your face. The bow is always colder due to the wind. Today was another milestone for the ship. Today we again picked up some scientists and support crew from the U.S. research base Palmer Station located on Anvers Island, on the west side of The Peninsula. From there we sailed to the Lemaire Channel, which is the “Holy Grail,” of the trip. Last trip we were only able to get into the channel a little bit and had to turn around due to the density of ice in the water. Remember, when dealing with Antarctic conditions, things change on a moments notice and can affect a whole trip. Today we were lucky to be able to get all the way through the channel, only completed once by any Holland American ship. Another slap on the back for us. Being bright and sunny out and just the right amount of ice in the water caused the scenery to explode. I could not take enough pictures and it made you just stand there looking out over the water and thinking to yourself, “Is this real?” The furthest south we got was Latitude 65 degrees 09.6’ South. This was 80.4 nautical miles from the Antarctica Circle and 1,460.4 nautical miles from the South Pole. During this time we also saw numerous humpback whales swimming in mostly pairs around the ship. We also got great pictures of penguin colonies as they climbed up the hillsides. Most of these birds are well adapted to this but you always get the clown of the pack who wants to have his own show. We saw this from many different penguins that would roll around or throw themselves on the snow. Before disembarking the crew from Palmer we were able to get down and talk to them and ask them a few questions. They are amazing people who we all admire for their work and enthusiasm for working in such a beautiful yet distant place. The percussionist in the band, Kristen and I decided that we wouldn’t mind working down here for a few months. I guess that’s what’s next to come. If you are interested in jobs in Antarctica check out http://www.rayjobs.com/. From here we headed back north towards Cape Horn and our present location of Chile.

Antarctica is a wonderful place and can bring many great memories. A lot of these I have in pictures now and will be glad to share them with you. Again, if you have any questions and/or comments please let me know. I hope all is well back home and I cannot wait to see you all when I get home. Cheers.

Danny