16th – 17th January 2024
Early dawn saw the Seaventure steam at a good pace in open sea, a few icebergs in the distance. It was a wistful, slow morning without any zodiac cruises or landings. Just two full days at sea, crossing the fearsome Drake Passage.
Danny held a fascinating history lecture on ‘Great Voyages to the Antarctic’. Astonishing endurance by Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Charcot, Swede Nils Erik Nordenskjöld and Scot William Bruce. Lynne also attended a lecture given by Hannah on ‘Women in the Antarctic’. Women may have remained nameless and unrecognised before the Second World War, but their daring feats of endurance have been making headlines in recent years.
Auction
A real highlight was an exciting auction held in the Lounge. The beneficiaries were various Antarctic charities as well as the crew, who spend most of their year away from family and friends back home.
The bidding was on penguin items, hip flasks, ‘naming a whale’, but most excitingly, a navigation chart beautifully adorned by Hannah (who doubles as an artist out of season) with the wildlife we saw during the journey.
The most tense bidding was for a reusable coffee cup that a passenger accidentally dropped overboard, and was retrieved out of the icy water by a swimming pool net! The cup was claimed by the Captain as salvage, and was finally sold back to the original owner for $250. Jenn and Laura compered a hilarious, riotous session, eliciting top dollars for every item.
As part of the auction, we all played the ‘Heads or Tails’ game. Five dollars from each participant was donated to crew welfare. Scotty ended up victorious, earning a Polar Latitudes cap and the applause of the passengers.
Party time
Later that evening we assembled again in the lounge for the Captain’s Cocktail party. The bridge crew, house-keeping, restaurant chefs, waiters, gangmen – paraded through the applause and cheering whistles of the thronging crowd.
After dinner we were treated to the Crew Show. A cracking evening where every performance, some with varying skill, but all with enthusiasm and vigour, was met with wild applause. The performances morphed into a smaller party around our table, where Mimosas and Armagnacs were flowing freely.
Last day at sea
The day started well before wake-up time. Getting closer to the entrance to the Beagle Channel, Drake Passage made itself felt – just a bit! There were probably few passengers that managed to sleep uninterrupted as the ship pitched and rolled through the wee hours. By breakfast time though, the motion was much reduced, and we realised that our Drake Passage had been unusually benign. After our last passage in 2018, that was an unmitigated blessing.
Our last day at sea consisted of briefings, wrap-ups and readying ourselves to leave the ship. We all assembled in the bar lounge to participate in voting for the best photo (in five categories), and the best in the Haiku competition.
It was clear that the winners of the photography categories not only had enormous skill, but also expensive photographic equipment! After each short-listed picture was shown, the audience voted by clapping volume. Hannah first ‘calibrated’ the maximum clapping noise, then each picture was voted for using the Hannah Clapometer!
The same method was employed in the Haiku competition. One Haiku of Lynne’s was a runner up, and clearly voted into second place, after an extremely witty, but slightly rude Haiku…!
Meanwhile, Kalle, the expedition photographer had finished cutting together a half-hour video slide show. We all viewed the film, and we bet there were few dry eyes by the end. Tumultuous applause.
The very final episode on this journey was for the whole expedition team to face their passengers for a final recap and reminiscences. The microphone was handed round for comments from passengers. Peter reminded all of the rarest wildlife we had experienced – Randy, our music man!
Two guests were each encouraged to perform a song they had written about the trip. One who had brought his own guitar, the other who had written a sea shanty, where the audience obliged by joining in the chorus. Nothing could top that!
As dusk slowly set in, we both went up to the open Deck 8. The wind was rough, jackets, hair and ship flags flapping furiously. Ushuaia approaching with street lights and coloured festoons. Car headlights. Trees. Verdant. The Arakur hotel nesting, high up above the town.
It had been an fantastic journey. The expedition team were very clear, it was a journey considered epic even by them.
We moored at our pier, in the company of two other expedition ships and the enormous Serenade of the Seas. We had decided not to leave the ship for a land based restaurant dinner, but stick with our Seaventure restaurant and favourite waiter, Nelson. We also had our packing to finish before an early start.
The bar was deserted after dinner, presumably many taking the opportunity to take a stroll landside. While we were chatting to Randy, two newly-boarded Polar Latitudes staff entered, for a quiet drink and chat. As they brushed past us, we took the opportunity to thank them so much for our experience with Polar Latitudes – the fellow was the President and Founder! A thoroughly agreeable gentleman, we enjoyed swapping a few stories, and learning that Polar Latitudes were planning to conduct voyages in the Arctic from 2025. Something to think about, as we have not yet visited Svalbard….
As passengers returned to the ship after their stroll landside, the bar gradually began to fill up. Randy played special requests – the Titanic theme song (Peter’s request), Black Magic Woman (Lynne’s). The sea-shanty performer, Jamie doing a Master’s Degree in songwriting, also entertained us with his original songs.
Runner up in the Haiku competition: –
