2 trips done!

The last two days we spent at sea, most of the time in the Drake Passage. We had a little bit of stronger wind and many of our Chinese guests could not really handle this. They preferred to stay in the cabins and we got the feeling that we had suddenly lost quiet a number of passengers in Antarctica. But on the Captains Farewell they showed up all again. Some still a little bit pale in the face but happy to be in the calmer waters of the entrance of the Beagle Channel.

We thought, that this is the right time to let our wonderful trainee, Niri, from Norway let write again about his experiences until now.

Hallo blogger!

It’s me again, Niri the trainee.

I have now been with the FRAM for 2 trips. The first tour has been a trip with passengers from nearly all over the world to the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), South Georgia and the Antarctic peninsula. My second trip has been a full Chinese charter to the Antarctic Peninsula.

Tomorrow my third and last trip will start; again with passengers from many different nations and again to the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), South Georgia and the Antarctic peninsula. I am looking forward to it as I want to see how different the landscape looks like later in the season and what my new friends, the penguins and all the other birds are doing now, in December.  

I took some time to understand how far from home I really am, but seeing the flora and fauna in Antarctica I understood that I’m on the other side of the planet!

The animals that live in and around the south icy sea are really interesting creatures! It’s very nice to work with a team that consists of people with different specialties! If I have a question about history, biology, geology, organizing or anything else, someone in the team can answer.

Everything runs on tracks in the team. It’s clear to me that they have a lot of experience doing this kind of thing.

The daily life of the ship can be calm, like on a sea day. But if we have kayaking, camping, cruising and ordinary landings all in the same day, things can get busy! But I like it, you get time to relax but you don’t get too lazy. But of course I have not to lecture so that I have a little bit more time, especially on sea days, than my lecturer colleagues.

Here you can see my team and me in "action".

Photo John Chardine

Photo John Chardine

Photo Ina Schau Johansen

Photo Marsel van Oosten

I know I’m going to enjoy the next trip, hiking, polar circle boat rides, maybe camping, more seals and a lot of fun!  

What a day!

We had such a wonderful day yesterday with bright sunshine and calm winds at Half Moon Island, that we were all lulled into the feeling that this is what Antarctica is like. Boy, were we wrong! We woke up this morning to very strong winds, snow, which eventually covered the decks, and some ice around the ship.

We had a big day planned with landings in the morning and afternoon, but neither came to be because of the winds and pack ice. We did manage to sail south to the spectacular (in any weather!) Lemaire Channel, and then got some way through it before we were blocked by ice. Our Captain turned the Fram “on a kroner” and we sailed back the way we came. All this gave us the true feeling of what it is all about to be on an expedition cruise ship. 

Winds continued to blow as we approached Port Lockroy. Port Lockroy, or more correctly, Goudier Island, is the site of the British "Base A" which is now a museum, shop and British sub-Post Office. We anchored off Goudier Island in relatively sheltered waters and assessed the situation. The wind continued to blow but we were able to send a Polarcirkel boat over to Base A to pick up Tudor Morgan. Tudor is a with the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust and has been assisting the BBC, in the production of a documentary on the penguins living around the base.

After a talk about Port Lockroy given to us all in the deck 7 Panorama Lounge by Tudor, the winds had abated enough to attempt a landing at Port Lockroy late in the day. For us patience was a virtue today! The base looked beautiful with the crisp white snow and the black, red and white buildings all surrounded by breeding Gentoo Penguins. There was still lots of snow on the colony and the whole place looked very wintery.

After we arrived on the tiny island, the winds picked up again and blew the snow horizontally. The Gentoo Penguins toughed it out with their amazing coat of feathers. They are so well insulated that the snow just stuck to the outside of the plumage and did not melt.

At the end of a long day, the Expedition Team and Fram crew helped transport 10 pallets of stock for the shop at Port Lockroy from the ship to the island. This was an essential task as the shop was running low on stock from last year. The girls who will be running the museum, shop and post office spent most of the night moving the many boxes to a sheltered storage area. All this was hard work but good fun and great exercise!

Expectations

The start of a cruise is a very special time as we muse about what awaits us. This cruise is extra-special because it is the first of Fram’s season in Antarctica. Yesterday we sailed out of the port of Buenos Aires and into the muddy “Rio” (de la Plata). The estuary of the river is so big many assumed we had sailed into a sea or even ocean, but we hadn’t. Our first day on-board was very busy with many preparatory activities such as boarding, settling into our cabins, a mandatory safety drill, Captain’s reception, and the fitting of our expedition jackets. 

It took us all night to put the river behind us and early this morning we found ourselves in the Atlantic Ocean, the rising sun lighting the clouds before the golden orb broke the horizon. As we did so, we were greeted by a variety of seabirds scouring the ocean for food. It was at that time that our dreams of seeing albatrosses for the first time were fulfilled for many of us. Black-browed and a few Yellow-nosed Albatrosses impressed us with their acrobatics as did several other petrel and shearwater species. As Robert Cushman Murphy, the famous American seabird biologist said “we have joined a higher cult of man, for we have seen the albatross!” 

During the day the expedition staff present several excellent and well attended lectures on a variety of topics in science and history. The seabird talk was interrupted in a good way when we past a fishing vessel that was being escorted by 100s of albatrosses and petrels. The vessel was obviously releasing fish waste, which the seabirds were gladly gobbling-up. This can be a risky business for the seabirds because of the risk of entanglement in fishing gear. 

As we are traveling to the Falkland Islands, and then on to South Georgia and Antarctica, our dreams naturally also turn to penguins. Again we were not disappointed today as we saw many Magellanic Penguins, both young and older, swimming and diving in the ocean around us. They were probably from the large colony at Punta Tombo on the mainland of Argentina to our west. Both the albatrosses and penguins we saw today, though exciting, were mere hors d’ouvres to our Antarctic dreams!

There is so much to look forward to!

North of Rio

This is a typical sunscreen-and-umbrella day. The morning is splendid, the desire to spend the time outside is only limited by the sheer force of the sun, hammering down on us.

So to get cooler, we go inside. Maybe to get smarter, too, as our ship's doctor Milixa gives a First-Aid course for everybody in the morning. Honestly, when was the last time you had one..?!

After lunch the next round of baking outside, then it is time for Navigation Officer Clyde's second round of nautical schooling on the bridge.

Towards the coffee/tea hour in the afternoon (this time with live piano music again), the weather starts to change, clouds are rolling in, temperature is dropping and the winds are picking up. And then the rain is breaking loose. Suddenly it is quite chilly in only shorts and a t-shirt. So, now you go inside in order to warm up.

It's all a matter of relativity.

Oh, and here are a few images from yesterday's Bingo night, which was great fun!

Can we see Brazil??

This is a question often asked, and indeed, looking at the map really makes you believe that we are just around the corner, halfway between Salvador and Recife.

But alas, this is an illusion; we are riding a southbound current, which speeds us up to a little over 13 knots but keeps us about 150-180 miles off shore. So, no Copacabana, no beaches to be seen, we really stay out in the open until we will reach the mouth of the Rio de la Plata, which separates Uruguay from Argentina.

So, apart from a morning lecture in the observation lounge (no slides, just tea and talk), there is not much to do during the day.

So let's use this opportunity to punch in a few images that were sacrificed for the sake of narration. Have the beautiful rainbow for example, shot by Manuel on one of the rainy days. On the same day he captured a magnificent sunset behind thick walls of clouds.

Or take the games in the Observation Lounge, enthusiastically arranged by MV FRAM's welfare committee. With such a small crowd it is a great pleasure to build mixed teams of guests and crew. It was hi-la-ri-ous.

And tonight is BINGO-night, and we really are looking forward to it. Games, Games, Games - one could think we are on holiday...

Out in the Open

There is a difference in the movement of the ship, clearly to be felt after waking up: Instead of the short, rather erratic rolling there is a slow, gentle heaving, like riding on the back of a very large dinosaur.

This can mean only one thing: we have left the passage between the Cape Verde Islands and are now "really" on the high seas of the Atlantic. This is the swell coming from the other side, the old stuff, not trying to impress us with the short, adolescent waves but treats us to a mature, slightly sedate dance, which is really, really soothing.

Still, we have some activities going on. In the morning we join on the bridge, where Captain Rune gives an extensive introduction to the ship's instruments and specifications.

For those who need it deeper, our Navigation officer Clyde welcomes a little later for lesson #1 of his crash course on ship's systems and navigation.

Some brave guests even volunteered to help with the "dungeon task", heaving piles of boxes around, and so we got done with it in record time. Thank you!!!

After the tea hour in the Panorama-lounge the next specialist invites: Chef Jimmy starts his Galley Cooking Class, today with smoked salmon and cauliflower soup.

And of course the Games!

Lots and lots of giggles, cheers and laughter to be heard on deck 7 in the evening, as the disciplines tabletop soccer, darts, and table tennis were on the way, a little less noisy but very enthusiastic over the chess boards.

A great evening after a great day.