December 22, 2021
We were excited to finally board our ship! Finally, it feels like the start of our big adventure. We traveled on a ship named m/v Plancius which was built in 1976 as an ice-strengthened oceanographic research vessel for the Royal Dutch Navy. It will take us approximately 2 1/2 days of sailing to reach Antarctica. Once we arrive, we will sleep on the boat and take daily excursions. We will head down the ship’s gangway and travel by RIB Zodiac boats to shore.
There were 80 passengers plus 30 or so crew members, from the captain and his officers to the deck hands who raised and lowered the Zodiacs speedboats, the kitchen staff who prepared our meals, and the highly educated expedition staff, decorated with medical degrees and PhDs and a vast amount of practical experience guiding trips around the world. The crew took advantage of two days at sea by providing daily briefings on the upcoming excursions. This is mostly to prepare us for our excursions, but I suspect also to give us some structure to our day. Each activity is led by trained and certified experts in their particular field. Each crew member is living their dream and they are looking forward to this trip as much as the passengers.
The first thing we did on the ship was a safety drill. We all put on our life preservers and went to our designated life boat, which can hold up to 60 passengers plus 3 crew members. It reminds me of a submarine, but it just floats and bobs in the water until rescue arrive.
Tierra del Fuego is divided between Chile and Argentina. Upon departure, we passed through the Beagle Channel with Argentina on our left and Chile on our right. Charles Darwin sailed through here on a ship named HMS Beagle and thus this channel was named in their honor. When we sail on the port side, we are required to have an Argentinian pilot to guide us. When we return on the starboard side, we will have a Chilean pilot. A separate boat met us in the water to receive the pilots.
The weather was beautiful, sunny with incredible colors in the sky as the sun set behind us with mountains on either side. We enjoyed being outside on the upper deck taking photographs. Ignorant with blissful contentment, I thought the whole sail would be as smooth as this.
Insta360 photo
