19/02/2020 to 22/02/2020 – Wednesday to Saturday
Drake Passage – an early rise for Calypso and Adrien to get the anchor up and us on our way. Wednesday was an overcast day with fairly poor visibility at sea, so it was even more important for those on watch to be on the lookout for icebergs, no matter the size. There was a bit of a swell travelling up the west coast of Anvers Island, but the seas were without whitecaps, so that was a bonus. The boat listed to starboard and some of us had to deploy the netting across our bunks to stop us from rolling out! It was cold, and at times there was light snow falling. Unfortunately, some of the gang once again experienced seasickness – hopefully it will not be as bad this time as on the journey down to Antarctica!!
We motored along at an average of around 7 knots, and every 15-30 mins a little brown head or two would bob up in the water, as if to say “see ya!!”. I’m going to miss those little guys…… Even when we’d been underway for a while, they were still around when it seemed we were quite far from shore….. No whales. A few birds……
We set a heading around 3500 and resumed our 3 hours on and 6 hrs off watch shifts again, mainly sleeping between shifts, so not a lot of communication between expeditioners.There was certainly plenty of time for private thoughts……… The crew advised that the wind would pick up between 3pm and 9pm Thursday. I was wondering what that would mean with respect to the height of the waves….
So, those who suffered from seasickness on the way south did not suffer on the return journey thanks to some patches from Mark. That was a very good result – it was nice to see everyone on deck.
The wind did pick up around 8pm on Thursday, and we were well under sail. The seas were still relatively easy on us, but moving around the cabin was interesting…… We reached our half way point to Cape Horn during Thursday night, so that was a milestone…..
Friday was very much the same, although our average speed had increased to around 8.5 knots. We estimated our arrival at Cape Horn late Saturday night.
As expected, we got our first glimpse of Cape Horn around 14:30 on Saturday and it was celebration all round when we first sighted the Cape. As we neared, we took in the beautiful mountains cast in various hues of blue. As if to welcome us, Peale’s Dolphins swam and leapt alongside the boat and petrels, cormorants and shearwaters circled around and around.
That evening, we anchored at Herschel Island in Martial Cove, as the wind speed increased and it started raining. There were occasional claps of thunder and lightning which lit up the sky with winds reaching over 50 knots. I think as we attempted to sleep, listening to the wind howling, we were all grateful for the safe anchor aboard Spirit of Sydney.
Post from Denise
February Trip 2020
