beagle-channel – RVing With a Purpose

February 4, 2025

As you remember from the last post, we left Ushuaia at 6:15 pm on January 18th headed out into the Beagle Channel traveling east for about 60 miles toward the Drake passage. We had another briefing and were prepared for the weather to deteriorate as we neared the Drake. The Drake was forecast to be swells below 5 meters and winds below 30 knots. We had another wonderful dinner, made sure we all continued to take our meclizine to prevent sea sickness and went to sleep.

So, what’s the big deal about the Drake. The Drake Passage, usually a two day journey, is considered one of the roughest and some would say, THE ROUGHEST waterway on Earth. This reputation comes primarily because of the powerful currents created by the collision of cold Antarctic waters with warmer northern waters, combined with strong, unimpeded winds from the Southern Ocean that encounter no landmass to disrupt their flow, resulting in large waves and turbulent seas. More than 800 ships are believed to have sunk in the Drake Passage. This has resulted in the deaths of over 20,000 sailors. The crossing of the Drake is a whole adventure of its own.

All expedition cruise ships must cross the Drake to reach the 7th Continent and modern expedition cruise ships are well equipped to tackle the crossing . Almost all have underwater stabilizers to reduce the rocking and rolling on heavy seas and have the latest technology to follow the weather. Depending on the weather, you might encounter the “Drake Lake” (very smooth) or the “Drake Shake” (what we encountered.) Our ship was equipped with stabilizers, but we still felt the waves – a lot. We did go to sleep as usual after making sure everything in our state room was secured. This was not much different from securing things for a travel day in the RV. We were both awakened shortly before midnight feeling the ship being tossed around but we didn’t fall out of bed and went back to sleep. By morning there really was no improvement. We were having 20 foot waves at times. We were holding to railings as we went to breakfast. At breakfast we were holding onto our plates so our food wouldn’t end up on the floor. At afternoon tea and treats there was a big crash when a stack of dishes hit the floor. Over the next 24 hours there were those who fell out of bed and out of chairs when we would have a larger wave. We finally completed our crossing on the 20th and thankfully the meclizine worked and we were not sick. At 7:10pm we first spotted land. Not yet Antarctica, but the South Shetland Islands and they were a beautiful site! We survived the Drake and it’s fury, no worse for the experience.

As we left the protection of the Beagle Channel “the weather started getting rough and our (not-so-tiny) ship was tossed.” Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

Our GPS Track across Drake Passage shows where the captain changed course from due south to southeast to put the large waves on our starboard aft (hitting the ship at a 45 degree angle instead of broadside.) This reduced the the waves effect on the ship, but it was still rough.

Eating on the Drake Passage was challenging – but we managed.

To keep us busy during the crossing, the staff held educational presentations like Penguins 101 …

Part of the Citizen Science program on the ship was counting birds and reporting the count. It was still a little rough the first time we tried it.

As we approached land (and calmer waters) the outside walkways and decks were opened in time for us to see the first iceberg of the trip.

February 4, 2025

After our embarkation briefing the evening before, we all began the day (Friday, January 17th) excited to finally board our ship later. All luggage was tagged and in the holding area at 8:00am, except for our day packs. The luggage would be taken to the ship and placed in our staterooms by the time we arrived. We spent the remainder of the morning hiking the trails on the mountain – part of a nature preserve owned by the hotel. Another beautiful area with a few inclines to climb but mostly fairly easy. The winds were getting stronger all morning. We went back into town to do a little more shopping prior to boarding the ship.

One of several overlooks in the nature preserve

Ushuaia depends on tourists for its economy, so the town has several popular places for pictures.

While shopping Anne bought this cute wool cap from a local vendor at the Artist Mall

We were picked up by a bus about two blocks from the pier, because we were not allowed to walk through the gates to the ship. So, we all hopped on the bus and then right back off at the entry gangway of Seaventure. By this time – about 4:30 pm, the winds were so high that Anne almost lost her footing when leaving the bus. It was a little scary. The very short distance to the safety of the ship was a challenge. After being led to our state rooms it was time for mandatory safety drills required to be completed prior to leaving the dock. Unfortunately, we learned at the briefing that we would not be sailing today. There was a storm in the Drake Passage with swells over 7 meters (22 feet). The captain planned for a 6pm departure the next day (January 18th). We still had a nice evening on board the Seaventure, enjoying our first of many wonderful meals.

After we settled in we spent some time exploring the ship.

On Saturday morning, due to the delay in our departure, Polar Latitudes arranged for a catamaran tour out the Beagle Channel to get our first glimpses of Gentoo and Magellanic Penguins and South American sea lions. We didn’t get to make any shore landings but that will come later. We all enjoyed the catamaran tour and then as planned on our return, we were able to throw off the lines from the dock and begin our Antarctica Expedition for real. We departed at 6:15 pm.