Well, it is time to experience a different kind of Drake, one that sings of ice scratching along a ship’s hull. So similar to the artist Drake.

First day in, smooth as butter, we are protected by the islands while passing through the Nuemayer Channel and Gerlache Strait. We are departing inside a storm, so the mountaintops are hidden by clouds and snow. It is a unique and incredible sight to see, but if you were paying for this trip, it would be a little disappointing. The hidden tops make their size even more impressive. You can only guess how far they go up, but the faces are vertical when they disappear into the low clouds.

But I digress, it is currently the second day, and I am in Aft Control on the ship Nathaniel B Palmer (NBP) heading back to Punta Arenas. I have just finished my third winter in Antarctica at Palmer Station. Yes, there is a ship and a station named after Nathaniel B Palmer. He was one of the first, if not the first, to spot the Antarctica mainland along the Antarctic peninsula. Here is a good article about his impact. So I sit rolling in the seas on the Palmer leaving Palmer.

As for the Drake it is one of the more infamous seas in the world. Sir Francis Drake is the eponym for this passage. He was an explorer and a privateer which is pirate flying under the flag of a nation (in the name of Queen and Country). He also actually never sailed the Drake, typically stuck to the Strait of Magellan.

This passage has two conditions, the Drake lake and the Drake shake. You hope for the first and pray the second will not be so terrible. In a modern icebreaking ship, there is zero concern about the safety of the ship during the crossing. The only vulnerability on the Drake is the humans inside being tossed around.

We started with the lake, and the sea state has deteriorated to 15, maybe 20 ft swell with long periods. This means we are pitching and rolling quite a bit but at a fairly reliable rate. Imagine being on a winding road with small hills while trying to read a book; that’s what it feels like here. So, I’m sitting and waiting, just feeling dizzy, spinning around on a merry-go-round for a little too long.

The nausea is a price I am more than willing to pay for the reward that was winter at Palmer station. I will talk about the winter in another blog post. Here is the short version; there is a reason it is joked about being the retirement home of Antarctica. There are comforts and experiences that no other US station contains.

It is now the third day, and things are getting better for me, not for the sea. The sea state is a little more confused; we still encounter the 15 to 20-foot swell, but we are deeper into a storm. With the storm comes wind, and that means the wind-blown waves are building up. Surprisingly, while it looks rougher outside, I prefer it. The ship’s movements are more confused, but the overall movement is milder. I have zero nausea, and we are watching some Shawshank Redemption, surprisingly this may be my first time seeing it fully. I have gained my sea legs today.

This is the most dull part of the trip; we are in the vast open ocean with no ice or anything around us. By the end of today, midnight, we should be rounding the Isla de los Estados (Staten Island) near the point of San Diego. It’s funny how many names are repeated around the world. San Diego, Staten Island, Americas in all varieties of languages.

After the first day of departure, the fourth and fifth days are the next best days. We are near land and sea states are much calmer. The east coast of South America and Argentina is giving a much needed respite from the waves. We have downgraded to a chill kiddie ride in this theme park. We actually ended up passing Staten Island around 0700 with beautiful sea conditions.

With land nearby we now have birds all around us. Some of the fellow crew mates and avian experts hav been enjoying the challenge of naming them. Our winter boat captain is especially excited for the new variety. We have had a short list of flying avian influences at Palmer station over winter.

• Sheathbills
• Giant petrels
• Cormorants
• Arctic Terns
• Gulls

Now, that list has grown to be primarily a variety of albatrosses and this is only what I can remember.

• Giant petrels
• Albatrosses
  • Black Browed
  • Grey-Headed
  • Brown Browed
• Cormorants
• Gulls
• Prion (These were my favorites)

Either way the ocean air force (sea birds) are giving us quite the show. It is easy to see why so many explorers dedicated pages to these ocean going birds.

The NBP crew was kind enough to provide an engine room tour on day 4. This was obviously the plan because if we had done the tour on day 3, we would have stumbled into something substantial. Either way, this engine room is absolutely massive. This one ship makes the rest of the US Antarctic Station power plants look like child play. It takes a massive amount of energy to move a boat that displaces about 13 Million lbs of water and is 279 ft long. The ship has 2 main engines running with another 2 on standby, each running one prop. It is obviously loud and hot, but they take pride in this engine room. You could eat off of the painted steel plating surrounding these massive engines.

At 1000 on day 5 we pick up our pilot near the entrance to the Strait of Magellan. This trip is now just hours away from ending. Soon we will pull up at Prat Pier in Punta Arenas. We will go through customs, hopefully successfully, and then we are back to being financially responsible for ourselves.

Antarcticans joke that one of the most formidable part about returning from a season in Antarctica is acquiring food. As usual comedy is influneced heavily from reality, and this is definitely true here. It takes a non insignificant amount of energy to chose what you will eat and then interacting with humans to order and pay for that food.

Well, it is time to disembark and for the Palmer Winter Crew of 2024 to head our seperate ways. Time away: 6 months. This was by far the shortest deployment from my 3 trips to Antarctica but it checked a huge bucket list item. Maybe I will return to Palmer, or return to the world sitting in an office. That future has not been written yet, but until it is, I will enjoy a nice vacation around South America.