Finding our sea legs in a Drake Shake

Well, I can definitely say that we are not on the Drake Lake, it’s much for a Drake Shake. Nine on the Beaufort scale, with strong gales…wonderful. As such, the morning was spent in somewhat of a daze, very few people at breakfast, we just wanted to lay down and sleep, so we did. The rough sea is due to the current going one way and the gales going the other. I stood outside to get some fresh air and had a few almost sick moments. Others unfortunately didn’t keep it in, at one point the hallway really smelled of sick…just what we needed. 

By lunch, we were as right as rain. We must have got our sea legs. We had lunch with a Norwegian group and I just thought how ironic this tour is. British people, on a Norwegian boat, called the Fram, which is the name of the boat that Amundsen used when he got to the pole first. After lunch we had our first lecture, all about geology. Interestingly, every bit of data captured in Anarctica is Open Data, anyone can use it. Our lecturer was incredibly knowledgeable, having worked at the South Pole for many years, part of the US armed forces stationed in Antarctica, worked for the UK Geological Survey. He explained continental drift etc.

As we are at sea all day, we had to a number of tasks such as picking up our jackets and then wellingtons for shore landings. Then we had a photography lecture about taking pictures in the cold and snow, which was fascinating. Dinner at 18:00 and we were meant to be joined by 4 other people but the restaurant was about a third full, many are cabin bound due to rough weather. So, I think we have found our sea legs, but that could be famous last words.