Antarctic Cruises: A Change Of Perspective
Written by MichaelZ on September 5, 2010 – 7:10 am -At the navigation table, two nautical charts wait. Never surveyed waters surround the ship, according to both charts. While concerned, the captain keeps us safe by setting a course over waters known to be safe because of depth soundings. This is a new channel, one he’s never sailed; although he’s safely traveled the Antarctic innumerable times before. You can get the best antarctic cruise information by visiting this website.
We can hardly see as the snow begins to fall and dusk comes upon us. Huge snowflakes stick to the windows, making it harder to see the icebergs that plug the channel. Luckily, radar clearly illuminates them. Strangely, the icebergs are shown in orange on the monitor. Up ahead, the monitor paints a giant orange blob nearly blocking the channel. Three kilometers separate us from the behemoth.
Waiting until the one kilometer mark, the captain whispers his order. Quickly and effectively, the helmsman steers the ship away from danger. Peeking through the foggy snow, a tabular iceberg looks like a shy ghost. These types of bergs are only visible in this area of the planet. It is amazing in its immensity. The sides rise a hundred feet straight up to the huge flat top.
I can’t believe the very size of this Antarctic creation. Attempting to reach the Antarctic Circle, we have been cruising aboard a polar-class vessel. We hope to reach that imaginary vortex on the bottom of the globe. We’ve passed many inaccessible and empty areas of the world to get here. After being discovered in 1820, another 79 years went by before a human spent the winter there. Scientists followed the explorers who quickly attempted to find the southern pole. Going to Antarctica used to be a rich man’s tour. You’ll spend as much to cruise to Antarctica as you would to experience the Caribbean, thanks to falling prices. Visit this site for further information on great antarctic cruise.
The shape of Antarctica is similar to a manta ray with a curved tail. Between the end of that tail and the tip of South America lies five hundred miles of ocean. Some of the most rough seas on the planet fill this gap. It’s called the Drake Passage. Passing though these waters, which are also called ?the slobbering jaws of hell?, is the true price you?ll pay to get to Antarctica. One of the passengers told us all to stow everything and secure the latches on the cabin portholes before they went to bed.
After sailing from Ushuaia, in Argentina, we sailed through the Beagle Channel and reached the open ocean. For two days we saw no land. We were tossed mightily by rough seas that whole time. Nearly gale-forced winds pounded us the whole time. As waves broke over the bow, ocean spray shot up beyond my fourth deck window. Swells could be seen in the range of fifteen to forty feet; size varied according to the observer’s level of seasickness.
After two days of sailing from South America, we got to the Southern Ocean. The next morning, I could see a coastal archipelago. The land mass seemed to have calmed the waters a bit. Clouds dressed mile-high mountain peaks. The smooth, white glaciers showed stark contrast from the dark, angular mountains that stuck through them. The ice found its way to the sea in cracked and frozen slabs. The mountain range seems like it is tall enough to house a Mt. Everest, and it appears to have suddenly grown straight from the water.
One passenger thought that childbirth’s labor was similar to our efforts to reach Antarctica. When looking at statistics, you’ll see Antarctica is the windiest, coldest, driest and highest continent on average. Holding 70 percent of earth’s fresh water, the polar plateau gets the same amount of precipitation as Death Valley does. This land is not owned by a single person, has had no aboriginal peoples, nor any animals that remain year round on it.
Due to the rigorous weather and poor conditions, sailing routes, as well as shore landings are dictated by the weather. Though we’ve been counseled by the guides to remain flexible, our original shore landing becomes reality. Our assigned groups met on deck. My ten member group climbs into an inflatable boat. We quickly ride across the quarter mile of water. Then, with one step, I join the small group of people who have actually touched Antarctic soil.
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