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dan emery
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 6890
Location: Maine1/31/19 7:12 AM |
Just rounded Cape Horn. More in a couple days. See if this actually posts.
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Brian Nystrom
Joined: 26 Jan 2004
Posts: 5101
Location: Nashua, NH1/31/19 7:46 AM |
"We read you loud and clear."
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dfcas
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 2815
Location: hillbilly heaven1/31/19 11:02 AM |
We know you went south for the warmer temps,as it is freakin cold in the northern US.
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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19083
Location: PDX1/31/19 11:10 AM |
Any pic you email me I will post for the thread for you.
EDIT:
Last edited by Sparky on 2/8/19 11:35 AM; edited 1 time in total
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dan emery
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 6890
Location: Maine2/3/19 7:20 AM |
Home
Got back yesterday, traveling to and from is a bit of an adventure itself - nternational travel ain’t for sissies these days....
It was a great trip. I didn’t take many pictures - I’m not a photographer and it was challenging enough just doing things. There were plenty with multiple cameras and bazooka like lenses, and I’ll eventually get a selection of the best pics. The pic above is Lemaire Chennel, which we couldn’t get through because it was clogged with ice, causing a change in route. But it worked out as the change had a couple highlights.
Kayaking was a real highlight for me. I got out 5 times for roughly 1 1/2 hours each time. A couple outings were cancelled because of wind and swells, but there was snow and pretty good swells on one outing. Fortunately I was in the front of a tandem with an expert in the back on that one and we had no problems. For some reason I like rough waters in a kayak (though I am prone to seasickness on a regular boat, described later). My favorite was kayaking in the crater of an active volcano at Deception Island - now where else can you do that? Used a dry suit and neoprene booties. I definitely want to do more kayaking and improve my proficiency.
Sleeping on the ice one night was also great. We shared the site with a bunch of Weddell Seals, who were pretty vocal. Plenty comfortable with a good sleeping bag and bivvy sack - the facilities were a bucket with an “everybody sits” policy....
Wildlife was great. A million penguins of course - Gentoo, Chinstrap and Adelie. We saw Humpback Whales quite a bit, and a Minke Whale. Lots af dorsal fins and tails of the Humpbacks, and their was a total breech (Humpback entirely in the air) but I didn’t see that one (it is on film). Lots of seals and birds (I particularly admired the Albatross, who just soar, rarely flapping their wings).
The one “settlement” we visited was Port Lockroy, a small Brit outpost where they do research and also operate an Antarctic Heritage Trust. The women there noted with some irony the historical paintings on the wall of Marilyn Monroe, etc....
Weather permitting there were two events (either a landing or cruise in the Zodiacs or kayaking if you signed up for that) on days we were not traversing the Drake Passage. Plus presentations by the staff Glaciologist, Naturalist, Historian.
I got sick as a dog going and coming across the Drake, meds notwithstanding. I used the patch and added Bonine. Each time it only lasted a day or so and didn’t really stop me from doing anything active (we were traveling those days so no kayaking, etc). The first time through everyone was lurching all over and grabbing hand rails with every step - no “sea legs.”
The food and service on board were like a fine hotel - amazing.
This is a truly spectacular part of the world and I recommend it to anybody.
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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19083
Location: PDX2/3/19 3:36 PM |
Nice!
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Brian Nystrom
Joined: 26 Jan 2004
Posts: 5101
Location: Nashua, NH2/4/19 5:07 PM |
I have to admit that I'm envious; it sounds like it was a spectacular experience!
I'm glad to hear that you've fallen in love with sea kayaking. As you discovered, play around in "textured" water in a kayak is a blast and completely different than the same adventure in larger craft. There's a real intimacy with the water when you're literally sitting with your butt below the water line.
Luckily, you live in a state with arguably the best paddling on the east coast. If you go to the North Shore Paddlers Network website (www.nspn.org), you should be able to get together with plenty of local paddlers who can help you learn the ropes.
Fun aside, paddling is also the perfect compliment to cycling; working all the muscle groups that cycling doesn't.
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Matthew Currie
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 802
Location: Vermont2/4/19 10:18 PM |
Glad it all worked out. I missed this thread, as we just got back from a long trip to Australia and New Zealand.
My wife and I went to Antarctica a few years ago, and though I don't get seasick, my wife does a little, and made the mistake of using a patch. It worked, but the after effect of dilated eyes lasted for weeks.
It sounds pretty similar to the Nat Geo trip we took, except we only got out for one day of kayaking. As close as you can get to landing on another planet. [/img]
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April
Joined: 13 Dec 2003
Posts: 6593
Location: Westchester/NYC2/5/19 10:00 AM |
Did you have to do safety drill? What were the lifeboats like?
The talk of cold and rough water somehow brought up memory of Titanic. Even some who got on the lifeboats froze to death...
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dan emery
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 6890
Location: Maine2/5/19 11:06 AM |
safety
There was a safety drill where you assembled at the muster point where you would load into a lifeboat. Everyone was assigned a muster point. I don't know what the lifeboats were like, we didn't get in them. We all had heavy, waterproof clothing and zipped around in zodiacs frequently.
Probably they were more advanced than the James Caird, in which Shackleton sailed 800 mi from Elephant Island to South Georgia:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abe9-S1fER4
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Matthew Currie
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 802
Location: Vermont2/5/19 2:44 PM |
One always does a safety drill, which is mandatory. Those lifeboats are usually fully enclosed and look like a little submarine. You're more likely to sweat to death than to freeze I think.
I may be wrong but I think the people who froze to death in the Titanic lifeboats were those who swam and climbed in wet, not those who boarded dry.
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Brian Nystrom
Joined: 26 Jan 2004
Posts: 5101
Location: Nashua, NH2/5/19 3:42 PM |
The Titanic's lifeboats were open, so there was no protection from the elements. Modern lifeboats are designed to be self-righting and fully watertight, so they can handle rough weather.
Dry suits make a huge difference when kayaking in cold weather. While nothing makes swimming in sub-40-degree water pleasant, a dry suit with fleece inner layers makes it tolerable for long enough to get out of the water and back into the boat. When our club was doing our annual "spring training", I spent 20-30 minutes in the water on several occasions, while others attempted to rescue me (I was pretending to be incapacitated), before I felt a real need to get out of the water. I could have
survived
considerably longer, had it been an actual emergency.
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daddy-o
Joined: 12 Apr 2004
Posts: 3307
Location: Springfield2/8/19 7:51 AM |
Huge - shows the barnacles are concentrated at the highest velocity, turbulent flow.
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Brian Nystrom
Joined: 26 Jan 2004
Posts: 5101
Location: Nashua, NH2/8/19 10:06 AM |
It might take a while...
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PLee
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 3713
Location: Brooklyn, NY2/11/19 12:41 PM |
Dan - Great shots. Looks like a great trip. You got to see babies!! And it looks like you had a Federal Magistrate Judge in your group . . .
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dan emery
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 6890
Location: Maine2/11/19 12:58 PM |
Indeed we did
I got to talk with her a bit, though I hadn't realized she is from SDNY. She was with her brother I believe who is from CA and various family members.
Plenty of young penguins.
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PLee
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 3713
Location: Brooklyn, NY2/11/19 1:43 PM |
We're friends. I had told her about my Antarctica trip and I knew she was going. I just didn't make the mental connection that you might have been on the same boat!
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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19083
Location: PDX2/11/19 2:36 PM |
"I hadn't realized she is from SDNY."
Like to have participated in some of that conversation, or at least listened in... ;)
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PLee
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 3713
Location: Brooklyn, NY2/11/19 2:37 PM |
Actually EDNY, but close enough.
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henoch
Joined: 12 Jan 2004
Posts: 1690
2/12/19 11:00 AM |
These look amazing, sounds like a pretty epic trip
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daddy-o
Joined: 12 Apr 2004
Posts: 3307
Location: Springfield2/19/19 4:09 PM |
sorry, late, #humor
SDNY
Southern District of NY
sovereign District of NY
chortle
#notmine
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dan emery
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 6890
Location: Maine2/20/19 5:28 AM |
The Drake Shake
Further to Rick’s post, I came across this bit on crossing the Drake from Quark Expeditions, the company that ran the trip. In fact, the video features Woody, an Aussie who was a guide and historian on the trip. I don’t think Woody put on gloves the whole trip. 20s F, snow, wind, swells washing across the Zodiac, Woody had a firm bare hand on the tiller. Awesome guy. As he says of seasickness, “be open to it.”
https://explore.quarkexpeditions.com/blog/crossing-the-drake-passage-how-to-prepare-for-the-drake-shake
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