January 1, 2022
COVID UPDATE
Today’s COVID test results indicated our 4th straight day of negative results! We are still staying mostly in our cabins, out of caution. We fully enjoyed our trip and we want to make it home safely and without delay.
We awoke New Year’s morning on the Drake Passage with 35 knot wind speed (40 mph). The boat is swaying back and forth, tossing us around. Once again, we are walking like drunken sailors. The white paper bags emerged once again on the railings of the hallways. This time, everyone was better prepared.
It was a quiet day, reading books and relaxing in our cabins. Probably everyone was looking through photos and videos they captured of their adventure.
What did I actually wear?
Looking back with hindsight, here are my recommendations. Layering is key. On the bottom: thin silk long underwear covered with a thicker merino wool under layer then water proof ski pants was sufficient (unless you are kayaking, in that case add a neoprene leggings). We put hot pack foot warmers in the soles of the boots. On our feet, we started with a thin silk layer, then a warmer merino sock and topped off with a knee length wool ski sock.
On the top: we started with thin silk under layer underneath a merino wool layer followed by a down jacket and finally a fleece top over that. Waterproof outer layers finished off our gear. Hands required thin merino wool gloved then hand warmer hot packs followed by our waterproof gloves. We brought both mittens and gloves and switched them back and forth between excursions. If any article gets wet you need to dry it out before you can use it again.
We also wore sunglasses and used sun screen on our faces. We wore balaclava’s and thin hats underneath our thick, wool hats and at times, pulled our hoods up from our jackets to protect us from the winds.
Antarctica is actually a desert. It is one of the driest place on earth. Burts Bees hand salve topped my list of things you wouldn’t have thought you’d need.
I would also recommend bringing carabiners along to tie things down. Our gloves had built in wrist bands which was helpful as we often put them on and took them off while on landings. If you dropped something it would blow away quickly and no one wanted to contaminate this pristine environment.