January 18 ….. still crossing Drake Passage

 This passage is the shortest route between Antarctica and the rest of the world – ironically Drake never sailed here.  A Dutchman, Willem Schouten, was the first person to navigate the rough waters of this strait. He crossed it in 1616. It is 1000km wide with an average depth of 3-4000m and has a strong eastward current that flows 600 times faster than the Amazon - whatever that might be, the Passage current is very fast flowing. Our crossing has not been very rough and certainly considerably calmer than our voyage through the Southern Ocean in 2020.

It was a day at sea and full of lectures. From photography to history to science projects. Le Commandant Charcot has a couple of laboratories on board and hosts international science projects. We met the small group of scientists working on board who talked about their work. We will get the chance to visit the laboratories and see what they are engaged in.

This afternoon we crossed the Antarctic circle and we’re starting to see icebergs. Something that I’ve just learnt has blown me away. You may already know this but the Antarctic Peninsula is an island or an archipelago of islands! and is not currently part of the continent (probably was once before the Scoria Plate moved eastwards). In fact there is little land under all that ice in West/Lesser Antarctic. It is the dense continental ice sheet that joins the Peninsula and other scattered islands to East/Greater Antarctica. Hopefully the two pix help. In one the ice has been removed to reveal the land beneath. This visualisation is achieved using amazing satellite technology.

In this pic the ice has been 'removed' to show the land mass beneath

This is what Antarctica looks like with its mammoth ice cap. 

Tonight was a gala dinner and many people dressed more formally. We and a number of others chose not to and dined as usual in Restaurant Sila deck 9. We have eaten once in the formal Restaurant Nuna on deck 5 but prefer the informality and relaxed atmosphere of the buffet-style meals on deck 9 plus the uninterrupted views out to sea through a floor to ceiling glass wall.