Overall, I lucked out and had a decent passing of the Drake on my voyage down to Antarctica. The seas were mild and the days blurred together. If you’re interested in find out more details of the journey itself check out these two articles: Sailing South and The First Day on the NBP.
As always, I took a ton of photos while on board. I spent a lot of my time walking around the boat to avoid going stir crazy which gave me a lot of opportunity to look around. As with most ships, there are smaller ships on board just incase of emergency. They serve a super important role but it never fails to put a smile on my face when I see a big boat carrying a few little ones like the one below – granted that the little boat is still about 30 feet long but none the less, it makes me giggle.
Speaking of tiny boats, there was even a tinier full scale model of the the NBP on board – and it even has the small ships for scale! The full scale replica along with the other three images were my favorite pieces of decor aboard the Nathaniel B. Palmer (NBP). The ship, polar poster, and penguin were all located in galley while the Mardi Gras poster was located on our sleeping level. Which meant that I was passing the fun jester poster multiple times a day. And everyday I thought to myself, I should take a picture of that. And it wasn’t until my very last day on the ship, well after we arrived on station that I actually took that picture.
In the middle of the Drake was when the temperatures started rapidly dropping and the windows began to ice over. They created neat textures on the windows which amused me when there was nothing but open sea ahead.
The last day of our cruise is when things began to turn visually interesting. An announcement came through that we would be sailing through the Neumayer Channel, which essentially is the scenic route to get to Palmer Station. They don’t always take this way, as it heavily relies on a few factors like time of day, weather and water conditions. It was a little dark and dreary at the start of the day but cleared out quickly to bright blue skies.
Mountain peaks to ice bergs to chatty birds passing through the area surrounded us. Including a few snowy sheathbills!
As we sailed along, someone shouted “Penguins starboard side!” I ran to the edge of the ship and looked over! My first penguin sighting! They were swimming/hunting for krill about 20 feet away from us. Their cute little heads bobbing and dodging waves! I watched them intensely until they were out of sight!
Not long after, we noticed some spots on land moving about. We grabbed a pair of binoculars and behold, there was a group just chilling nearby. They are so adorable, even as tiny specs!
I ran inside for only a minute to grab another layer as I was beginning to shiver. But even from a random ship window the views were spectacular.
We turned a corner and an unique set of mountain peaks came into view. They’re called the Seven Sisters, an experienced coworker pointed out to everyone who was standing on the deck. He also told us that we can see the peak from station on clear days. At the time I didn’t really understand how that would work because we were in a narrow passage way but they stick high enough above the other mountains in the area so it is actually true!
When we got pretty close to an iceberg I got to marvel at it’s glorious texture. Between the light and the grooves on the ice, I was in awe.
When we took our final turn out of the Neumayer Channel, Palmer Station came into sight. For the first time since boarding the ship, we all saw what we would be calling home for the next 6 months.
