It is midsummer night’s eve. We are dreaming of the penguins and icebergs and adventures in Antarctica that lie ahead. We left our safe harbor of Ushuaia, Argentina and waved goodbye to solid ground. We watched it fade slowly into the mist that shrouds Tierra del Fuego. All of our preparations have lead to this moment, the moment of letting go of all of our tasks and logistics. Now we are headed to the white world of the Antarctic. We are headed into the longest day of light of this austral summer. The black and white birds of this part of the world flew in swaying circles around our ship as we left: wandering albatross, black-browed albatross, pintado petrels, and giant petrels, to name a few.
Drake Lake is what the seasoned travelers of our staff call this kind of calm crossing. We heard a lecture by Jason Kelley that explained in detail the formation of this deep water via plate tectonics. It only made the suspense as to what we will encounter that much more vivid in our minds. What we are experiencing is a passage as calm as one could imagine. The winds should pick up in the night as we cross the Antarctic Convergence. On the eve of the longest day of 2013, we head to bed hoping for sweet midsummer night dreams.
