 |
 |
||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
||||||||
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
||
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|||||||||
YouTube Video Links: |
||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
||
|
|
|
— Day 12: Back in the Drake, Heading North – Sunday, 15 January 2023 — |
||
|
|
|
Diary Entry 30: Sunday, 15 January 2023
We’ve been at sea, heading back north, since before 1:00 pm yesterday. I’ve had some close calls with regard to losing my lunch, dinner, whatever, but so far that has not happened. Some of it may simply be because I am not eating much of anything to begin with, but also, I may just be getting my sea legs in some fashion.
As much as I might complain about the difficulties associated with all this, I say that it has been worth everything to have this amazing experience. Not many people have been able to see and hear and feel the things that I have over this past week. It almost seems unfair to be able to do so in such comfort and luxury, especially when you think of the hardships and deprivations so many who came before had to endure. It was unimaginable to someone like Amundsen or Shackleton to have ever envisioned that 100,000 tourists would flock to this continent in just a single year. And that while here, we can do so in relative comfort, even while keeping in connection with people more than half a world away via email, phones, or whatever it may be. To sit in my room, and be able to call up a movie like Planet of the Apes, or The A Team (I gave up on that one), or The Martian, and just sit in bed to watch as we traverse these frigid waters, would be unbelievable to those far off explorers.
As I type this, the waves are raging outside my window, crashing into the ship as we plow our way through these dangerous waters. Yesterday, when giving my X-15 talk, the waves were smashing under the hull, just feet below the stage where I stood at the bow of the boat. The sound to my ears, and the feeling of that through my feet, as I spoke of the highest and fastest rocket plane to take to the skies, was an experience I will never forget.
Definitely trying to take it easy. Spending almost all my time in bed. Occasionally I'll sit up in bed and watch another movie as that helps take my mind off what's going on outside right now. I did get up and crawled into some clothes as I figured I should get some sort of food here in my room. Not sure if that is a good idea, but had to do it anyway. There were two Chinese women who were behind me on the staircase coming down from Deck 5, and when I got down on the main deck (Deck 4) they stopped me, then thanked me for my talk yesterday. Then they asked if they could take selfies with me! I braced myself against the wall as best I could, and each took a photo. I hope that I don't come out too green in their images.
This evening, I made it out of my stateroom for an entire hour. I had to make it to the Captain’s farewell at 7:00 pm. On the way back to my cabin, Sasha stopped me in the hallway to say how much he liked my X-15 presentation, so that meant a lot.
The Captain says that conditions will calm by sometime in the morning. I certainly hope that is the case. I was informed that I can take an engine room tour at 11:00 am on Monday morning, but definitely need calm seas to be able to survive that. We’re also supposed to have our checked bag outside in the hallway for pickup by 1:00 am on Tuesday morning. Just need calm enough seas to be able to actually get things packed.
It is now nearing 11:00 pm, and we have been in near gale force winds for several hours. The waves are hitting 15 feet, and sometimes even more! There’s a coffee service in my room, and I just about had a heart attack when the ceramic cups went flying just now. Gawd, we can’t make the Beagle Channel fast enough. We still have more than 30 hours before we are supposed make port. The trip north is much longer than coming south. |
||||||||
Expedition Crew Members |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
There were two expedition maps that were auctioned off. I was not up to being there, and figured I couldn't afford them anyway. They were beautiful maps, and signed by the Captain and his crew, along with the expedition crew, and some cool graphics. |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
Passengers start to gather in the Atlas Lounge for the Captain's Farewell. |
||
|
|
|
 |
||
|
|
|
— Day 13: Antarctic Origami & the Engine Room Tour – Monday, 16 January 2023 — |
||
|
|
|
 |
 |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
A wandering albatross, wandered into our territory, along with a friend. Could have watched them swoop around for hours. |
||
|
|
|
Diary Entry 31: Monday, 16 January 2023
Last night was definitely an awful one. Being tossed about was nerve wracking and painful. The ship groaned and buckled. So much for having my “sea legs.” Multiple waves caused random vibrations that I thought would rend the ship apart at times. Of course for actual seafarers aboard, such as the ship’s crew members and seasoned travelers, would probably say that it was just a gentle rocking. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I am most definitely, and proudly, a woos.
This morning at just before 8:00 am, we are still about 100 miles out from the Beagle Channel. Progress is extremely slow to what I very much hope will be the calm waters of that channel. In less than 24 hours my group (Purple) is scheduled to disembark to head for the Ushuaia airport to start my first of three flights to get me home to Cherie.
Opened up the drapes so I could see the sea state for myself. Definitely still rolling a lot, but nothing like the pounding we took last night. Then I saw a bird swooping around just outside my window. She flew around, just keeping pace. Sometimes she’d disappear into a wave trough, then would soar back up. There is hardly any movement of her wings. She just keeps soaring. Eventually, she moved further ahead, and I lost sight of her. But then, a minute or so later, she was back outside my window again. At one point, she was joined by a friend.
We are just north of Cape Horn now, and the ship has turned slightly to port, in order to line up for insertion into the Beagle Channel. However, with that being said, we are still hours away from actually entering those calm waters.
I got out of the room for a bit, and ended up in the Atlas Lounge, which led to becoming part of the Antarctic Origami class. I actually made a penguin and a whale, so now I can truly bring Cherie her penguin! I’d seen this on the schedule, but never anticipated taking part. Definitely helped take my mind off the Drake, and I really enjoyed it. Alexandria had expected just a few people would show up, but she had maybe 30-40 students, and had to keep trying to find more paper.
On the way back to my cabin, I ran into Fernando, who asked if I would still be interested in joining the engine room tour. I had completely forgotten about that, but I told him, “Of course!” I ran back to my room, dropped off my origami, grabbed my SLR, and quickly went back to Reception. I hardly noticed the rolling of the ship. I guess excitement will do that to you. I had to sign a liability waiver, then he took me down to Deck 2 to join the rest of the group in the engine control room. Everything is very automated to run the Rolls Royce engines. They use about 200 tons of fuel on a trip like this. After the control room, they passed out ear protectors, then we headed downstairs to Deck 1 and the actual engines themselves. Very loud and very cramped, but it was great to see this aspect of the World Traveller. So now I have officially visited every deck of this beautiful ship.
They gave everyone on the tour a special gift of a patch and a penguin/snowflake/ice cube key chain. So cool. Made my way back to my stateroom and found that Javier had dropped off a tiny replica of the ship. Then I found it is a USB drive with images and other materials from the trip. Can’t wait to open that up and see all of what they have given us. Really hoping it will include the trip maps. Those are so important for the context of everything we’ve seen. |
|||||
 |
|||||
Can't go wrong with penguins and cats. (Thanks, Michael) |
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
Three friends teamed up to found an origami penguin rookery. |
My own penguin creation, along with my whale. |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
Our Antarctic Origami instructor, Alex Tice. |
The chief engineer is at left, as one of his technicians answers questions. |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
A look down the row of control screens, with a few guests at the right of the image. |
Close-up of the Stabilizer controls, along with a warning placard. |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
The very noisy, but extremely clean engine room. Not like you'd expect from old time cruise ships with dark and dank, dirty and greasy, areas. |
||
|
|
|
 |
 |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
Looking down into the bowels of the engine plumbing. |
At the end of our tour, we returned to Deck 3, where they answered all our questions. |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
Diary Entry 32: Monday, 16 January 2023
Like with so many things on this trip, I happened to go into the gift shop at exactly the right moment. I found out that we can actually mail postcards from Antarctica itself. There are special stamps from Port Lockroy, and on the next voyage that stops there, those postcards will be dropped off for mailing home. The other postcards I wrote will be mailed from Ushuaia after we dock, but now, hopefully sometime possibly far in the future, I will also get one with an actual Antarctic stamp and postmark! It will certainly be months from now, but hey, I can wait for that.
Had a wonderful final debrief for the trip by all 12 of the expedition crew members. After that was our final dinner on board. I actually was able to eat some food, but I’m still keeping it very light. I was sitting next to a couple who now live in Washington DC, but also have ties to Laguna Beach. We also talked extensively about the X-15, the Space Shuttle, and how NASA has changed. Several people came up while we were talking to say how much they enjoyed the X-15 presentation. That keeps happening wherever I go, which is pretty neat.
The ship entered the Beagle Channel a while back, but then we had to turn around and head back toward the Drake for several hours (but luckily never entered open water again). This was because we had to wait for the proper timing to get us to our berth at 6:30 am on Tuesday morning in Ushuaia. I am in group Purple, which is the third disembarkation group. This means I’m scheduled to leave the World Traveller at 7:40 am. After dinner, now that the seas are calm, I was able to grab a well-deserved shower, and finally get everything packed. My big luggage is now outside my door to be picked up. I should see it again in Buenos Aires. I’ll try to get some more sack time. Definitely want to be alert for the flights home. |
|||||
 |
|||||
Crew members and guests mingle at the farewell reception. |
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
The waves continued to pound at us throughout the Drake. At left, the appearance is calm, but then a large wave would cover the Deck 4 windows. |
||
|
|
|
 |
 |
|||
Another excellent presentation on Antarctic photography. This shows Frank Hurley's image of the Endurance stuck in the ice during the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. |
||||
Frank Hurley (L) and Herbert Ponting (R). |
||||
|
|
|
|
|
 |
||||
(Far Left) Captain Robert Falcon Scott's hut at Cape Evans on Ross Island at McMurdo Sound in 1910, during the British Antarctic Expedition, and 100 years later (Left). In both images the volcano, Mt Erebus, is is the background.
"Near enough is not good enough." — Frank Hurley |
||||
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
The skylight dome in the Dome Lounge, Deck 7. |
Penny and her mother, Barbara, playing cards in the Dome Lounge. |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
A couple more images of the Dome Lounge. A chef prepares some hot snacks for the guests (L), while others enjoy the bar (R). |
||
|
|
|
 |
 |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
Two images shared at the final briefing. (L) Kayakers get up close to an arched iceberg, while Sasha met up with a friend at his old residence at the Vernadsky Research Base. |
||
|
|
|
 |
||
|
|
|
Our Expedition Team: (L-R) Pablo Beliu, Expedition Leader; Michael Shapiro, Cruise Director; Maximiliano Arguero Gohde, Assistant Expedition Leader; Jean-Roche de Suzanne, Historian and Naturalist; Vivel Romero, Historian and Hiking Guide; Oleksander "Sasha" Zulas, Expedition Guide and Polar Meteorologist; Rodrigo Tapia Jimenez, Ornithologist; Lucia Fernandez, Mountain Guide; Selby Wilkinson, Expedition Guide and Citizen Scientist; Alexandria Tice, Kayak Guide; Lindsay Zehner, Expedition Guide, and Janel Saydam, Expedition Guide and Ornithologist. (Not pictured is Mats, Lead Kayak Guide.) |
||
|
|
|
 |
 |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
A wonderful return to calm of the Beagle Channel. |
A birthday celebration in the Lisboa restaurant at our last dinner aboard ship. |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
 |
||
|
|
|
A gorgeous sunset over the distant mountains. |
||
|
|
|
 |
 |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
Last rays of the Sun on 16 January, on snow-capped peaks in the Beagle Channel. |
Just after midnight, a ghostly ship slips past us, heading out of the channel |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
— Day 14: Leaving and Returning – Tuesday, 17 January 2023 — |
||
|
|
|
Diary Entry 33: Tuesday, 17 January 2023
I left my drapes open last night so that I would be awakened when it started to get light. That worked out perfectly. As we covered the last few miles to our landing in Ushuaia, I was able to watch as the Sun made its first appearance. It was still below my horizon, but there was a far off, snow-covered peak, and I was able to capture the very first rays of the Sun hitting that high mountain. A while after that, I caught the Sun coming above the horizon for ourselves on the ship.
I walked the World Traveller a last time from the bow to the stern, the Dome Lounge at the bow, to the Zephyr Lounge on the aft deck.The ship spun around in place as we approached the dock, then it started to back into position. Once astride the dock, the side thrusters kicked in to push us to our actual docking. Such precision. At 6:09 am, the engines shut down, and we are here!
After a light breakfast, that didn't sit well, I went to the Reception lobby and found a seat, which was only a few feet from the gangway. All of the expedition crew came out and lined up to say farewell as the passengers departed the ship. That was a nice touch. They all said goodbye last night at the final recap, and also at the Captain’s Farewell. Such a wonderful group of people. I won’t forget any of them.
As I waited for Purple group to be called, I had moved to the other side of the reception area so I’d be lined up to walk past the crew. I was one of the first Purples to leave, and as I walked by, Sasha stepped out of line, and grabbed my bag to carry it down the stairs! An unexpected kindness from him. Sasha has such a great personality, and always a wonderful smile. I was immensely grateful that he did that with my luggage, because those curved gangway steps can be a bit treacherous.
Dropped off my carry on bag, then got into the second row, left side, of the bus, all ready to go. This trip to the airport was much quicker than the one that originally brought us to the ship since the driver wasn’t giving us a tour, but I was still able to get some parting shots of Ushuaia.
Once at the airport, we had to get into a long security line, which wound its way upstairs. That freaked me out, but another passenger, right behind me, stepped up and grabbed my bag to take it up the stairs. Have I mentioned how amazing all the passengers on this trip have been? Once through security we found our gate (5), and waited to board. We departed on time, and arrived in Buenos Aires in 95°F heat! Many of our passengers had worn their cold weather gear, rather than pack it into their bags. Boy, was that a mistake! Mine was all securely packed.
We had to walk a long ways over to Terminal A with all our luggage, then all the way to the very end of the terminal to get to the American desk—which doesn’t open until 6:00 pm!! So now we sit and wait, and sit and wait. There were several power blackouts, which freaked everyone out in the terminal. There’s a McDonalds, and it took them about an hour or so before they could start taking orders again. After the huge line finally dissipated, I gave it a try to eat a McPollo and fries, but neither was very good. I couldn’t finish, and gave them a toss. I think the food had been sitting under a heat lamp since the power had first gone off.
At around 5:30 pm we were told that there was already a huge line for the American ticket agents, so I headed down that way. The line was hundreds of people long. Even for First Class the line was getting pretty big, but they pulled me out, along with some others who were handicapped, and we had our own special line, which I was very surprised at.
So now I’m all checked in, and I’m in the Admiral’s Club Lounge. I was literally the first person here this evening. Very weird. Infy and Opie had to show off their celebrity status. In this terminal there is both an Outback Steakhouse and a Hard Rock Cafe. Even more weird.
After less than an hour, the lounge has now filled to capacity, and the majority of the people here are all from the World Traveller. Another thing that’s cool is that they have ice cream sandwiches in the freezer here. It was a wonderful splurge to celebrate our return from Antarctica. |
||||||
 |
||||||
At sunrise, a last look from the Dome Lounge at the bow, then the Zephyr Lounge at the stern, as the ship spun around. |
||||||
 |
||||||
 |
||||||
The Galileo approaches Ushuaia. Was this the mysterious saliboat we saw down on the Antarctic peninsula? |
||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
Our full trip map, including the last days at sea. |
A close-up on our Antarctic Peninsula navigation chart with the various locations we visited marked. |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
The harbor of Ushuaia is getting close. |
The skyline of the city, as we approach, just before dawn. |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
 |
||
|
|
|
The beautiful mountains of Tierra del Fuego, just across the border in Chile. |
||
|
|
|
 |
 |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
A close up of Tierra del Fuego. |
The first rays of the Sun hit the distant peak. |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
The Sun is not quite over the mountains for those of us at sea level. |
Ushuaia from the aft deck as we docked. Note the very low timberline this far south. |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
 |
||
|
|
|
Sunrise as we approach the dock. |
||
|
|
|
 |
 |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
An Argentine Navy ship across from our berth. |
The birds flocked in to welcome us dockside. |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
Looking out at the gangway from Reception on Deck 4. |
Heading down the gangway to our awaiting bus. |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
Purple group disembarks down the gangway, as seen from my seat on the bus. |
Heading down the dock with the World Traveller to my right. |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
The mountains and harbor. |
An Antarctic wildlife mural right outside the dock area. |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
The Monument of Ancient Peoples and Pioneers of Ushuaia. (Thanks, Debbi!) |
The Ushuaia sign, with the beautiful Chilean mountain range to frame the shot. |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
Waiting at Gate 5 at the Ushuaia-Malvinas Argentina Airport. |
Islands in the Beagle Channel right after take off. |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
The airport at Ushuaia as we left. |
Arriving at Buenos Aires aboard Flybondi. I was again in seat 9C. |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
The American Airlines Admiral's Club at Buenos Aires was empty when I arrived. |
As the celebrities they are, Opus and Infy took over the Admiral's Club. |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
||||
The final leg of my flight home, not far from landing at LAX. Seat 3A on my 787 flight. An amazing trip that covered 25,660 miles, and changed my life. |
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
— Day 15: Home At Last – Wednesday, 18 January 2023 — |
||
|
|
|
Diary Entry 34: Wednesday, 18 January 2023
The entire flight north from Buenos Aires, across South America, and even across Cuba, was all in the dark. The Sun didn’t rise until after we landed in Miami. We were running pretty close to on time, but still faced having to get my checked bag, then clear Customs. After that, it was a terminal change to get to the proper gate for my LA flight. I was getting worried about having enough time to get there. But all went well, and I got to the gate just a few minutes before boarding time.
Then it went wrong. Everything had been like clockwork, but not anymore. Just as we were supposed to board, we were told the 787 had mechanical problems. Even our pilots and crew had to sit just outside the jetway while this was (hopefully) being resolved. We were assured they would give us an update in 30 minutes. It was nearly 2 hours later before we finally got word that we were going to be able to leave Miami. I truly had started to believe we would be cancelled. About 150 minutes late, we were off the runway and on our way back to California. I watched Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, but kept falling asleep. There was no significant turbulence from Buenos Aires or from Miami, so I was surprised at the amount of sleep I got on the way home.
We landed and taxied to the exact same gate (41) where I had departed that rainy morning two weeks before. They wheeled me to the baggage claim area, and there was Debbi, right on time. What a fantastic friend she is. My checked bag plopped out onto the carousel, and we headed to the car, then out of the airport, onto the I-405, and a fairly quick ride home. I walked into our condo at about 3:30 pm, to many warm hugs and kisses from Cherie. Debbi went beyond the call of any duty and friendship to bring in my luggage, and even took it upstairs to help because of my bad back! I was home! Thank you for joining me on 2023: An Antarctic Odyssey. |
|||||
 |
|||||
A beautiful penguin paint-by-numbers from my wonderful friend Debbi Bennet. |
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
Four different patches were available. My favorite is the Antarctic continent. |
A collection of Antarctic souvenirs, including a wildlife identification pamphlet. |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
||||||
 |
|||||||
My film can of Antarctic melted snow, the World Traveller USB drive, my ship's ID card, the box that housed the keychain, my engine room ear plugs, a set of actual Antarctic postage stamps from Port Lockroy, and my Atlas Ocean Voyages pen. |
|||||||
A tiny replica of the World Traveller is also a USB drive. Also a close-up of the film can with my melted snow from Winter Island and Wordie House. |
|||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
||||
 |
||||
The oversized postcards from Port Lockroy, sold in the World Traveller gift shop, along with the British Antarctic stamps. On 23 February, my postcard that was mailed through Port Lockroy showed up at home! I was very surprised, but also very elated that this happened. The postmarked postcard is shown below. The World Traveller called at Port Lockroy on its very next cruise, as the postmark is 21 January. |
||||
 |
||||
|
|
|
|
|
 |
||
|
|
|
 |
||
|
|
|
More than a month later, on 28 March 2023, an amazing, and very unexpected thing happened: My two postcards that were mailed from Ushuaia after the World Traveller docked on 17 January, actually arrived! I truly never thought that they would show up after all that time. They were postmarked on 8 March, so didn't even start their journey back to the United States until seven weeks after we arrived back in Argentina. This was a most pleasant surprise, and finally closed out the events surrounding my trip to Antarctica. |
||
|
|
|
 |
||
|
|
|
 |
||
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
YouTube Video Links: |
||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|