Saturday, December 31, 2011
Expedition Update - 9:30am EST
Good Morning Readers!
The first update of the day was sent this morning by Geoff Green. He reports that they had a great final day in Ushuaia yesterday. The group challenged itself by hiking to and from Laguna Esmeralda. What a hike into the Andes through old growth beech (lenga) forests and bogs to the lake!
An Andes Condor
Up the back, in the middle!
At 6pm they cast off the lines and set sail down the Beagle Channel. Everyone was out on deck to cheer, sing and celebrate this next stage of the journey to Antarctica. The good karma was in full effect, as the sky was painted with double rainbows and friendly seabirds following the ship down the Beagle Channel! Following a ship safety briefing, dinner, stories and an evening recap, it was time to say good night. A tired bunch of explorers crawled into their bunks around 11pm.
Early this morning the ship reached the Drake Passage and started to roll with 35 knot winds and a good swell from the west. As a result, not many people had a sound night´s sleep. All part of the experience! Conditions are better now and it looks like they should improve throughout the day. The air temperature is 4.5 celsius (40 F). For the last day of 2011, the team will fill their day at sea day with lectures, workshops, and time on deck watching albatross and the mighty southern ocean!
Below is an outline of today’s schedule. We invite you to view the expedition field staff biographies to learn more about our team of experts!
0700 - Yoga (Clare Glassco and Danièle Testelin)
0730 - Wakeup call
0800 - Breakfast
0900 - Sea Birds Presentation (Santiago Imberti)
1000 - Workshops:
1. Journal Keeping Circle: Creating a mixed media journal (Elin Kelsey)
2. How to create a powerful photo story (Mike Beedell)
3. Musicology (Tony Dekker)
4. Visual Art (Pablo Gamenara)
5. Wildlife Surveys (Santiago Imberti, Garry Donaldson & Sonja Heinrich)
6. The Global Positioning System (Jeff Kavanaugh and Grant Redvers)
7. On the bridge - Ship Navigation (David Fletcher)
1145 - Presentation 1 ~ Who are they? How do they fit in? Questions andanswers about the ecology of Antarctica (Olle Carlsson)
1230 - Lunch
1430 - Presentation: The Global and Southern Ocean: Oceanography at thebottom of the World (Grant Redvers)
1600 – Snack
1630 - Pod Meeting 2
1800 - Presentation 2 ~ Antarctic Marine Animals (Sonja Heinrich)
1930 - Dinner
2030 - Evening Recap and Briefing, New Year's Eve Festivities and Celebration
Expedition Update - 3:30pm EST
A quick update to inform you that we have posted new journal entries that were written yesterday! Please visit the December 30th Daily Journey Update page to read. Enjoy!
Expedition Update - 9:30pm EST
Expedition leader, Geoff Green, reported today that it was a rock and roll day on the Drake, but everyone is doing well. Quite a few students were seasick but are toughing it out and making it to the workshops, getting out on deck, etc. Sea conditions are improving and the sun is shining! They have had lots of Wandering Albatrosses, Cape Petrels, and other seabirds following the ship throughout the day. Only a few more hours to 2012!
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