December 24, 2021
Christmas Eve. By now, we are in the lower south end of the Drake Passage. We covered 457 nautical miles, with 2.6 kilos (1.6 miles) of water beneath us. Water temperature is 35F. Air temperature is 33F. One more day of rough sailing. We are estimated to arrive our destination around 5am Christmas Day.
Most of the passengers are feeling better and everyone is getting excited. We have our final excursion briefing today. They sized us individually for waterproof boots which we kept for the duration of the trip.
Oceanwide Expeditions is a member of the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators and as part of that commitment the crew checked all our top layer of clothing and backpacks for any possible contaminants (e.g. seeds or other organic material). They need to make sure we don’t carry any material that could negatively affect the land or possibly harm the animals. Our boots were soaked with disinfectant, to avoid cross contamination, for every landing. They used high powered vacuums, like the ones you see at the car wash, to clean lint off the velcro on our clothing. For Matt and I, no clean up was necessary as our items were newly purchased specifically for this trip. Yes, we will look shiny and new out there amongst the penguins.