Leaving Ushuaia in beautiful weather.
We sailed out from Ushuaia in the morning of February 28th in
beautiful, sunny weather. It was surprisingly windstill, especially in
the morning. Later during the day a light breeze came from the west,
the captain turned the engine off and we were moving quietly like
sailing ships are designed to do, with just the wind pushing us
forwards. We were on the
Bark Europa,
a hundred year old tall ship which sails to interesting destinations
around the world.
Learning how the ropes are connected to the sails.
Almost right away after departure started the first training sessions,
to make us voyage crew instead of just passengers. One of our duties
was to take turns at the lookout on the front deck, watching the sea
in front and reporting small boats, icebergs or any other obstacles
the ship might risk hitting. We learned how to steer the ship to a
compass direction given by the captain and how to handle ropes when
setting up or taking down sails. We even put on harnesses and climbed
up to the mast, learning where to attach the safety line when working
up there.
Dolphins came to greet us in the evening.
During the whole day and afternoon we stayed in the Beagle Channel, a
relatively narrow passage leading out from Ushuaia to the
Atlantic. Mostly we saw cliffs and mountains but there were also the
town of Puerto Williams and a few smaller settlements on the south
side. Many different birds, mainly albatrosses and petrels, were
flying around the ship and in the evening a group of dolphins came to
greet us. It was a pleasure to watch them dive under the ship and jump
in the air on both sides very close to us.
Steering the ship - or helming in sailing slang.
Little by little the canal became wider, at the mouth of it were a few
islands and then we were out in the open sea. It was the beginning of
the Drake Passage between the southern tip of Chile and South Shetland
islands, which are located a couple of hundred kilometers north of the
Antarctic mainland. For Sandra and me it was the first time on a real
ocean passage, with no land to see for several days.
Sailing in moderate wind.
The wind was relatively light but there was a continuous flow of
relatively large waves, or swell as it is called, coming from the
west. The waves were not sharp so they didn't strongly hit the sides
or splash any water overboard, but made the ship rock back and forth,
and roll from side to side. The wind itself came from a different
direction, which made the movements seemingly random. There was no
easy way of seeing in which direction and how deep the ship will bow
at any given time, even when being outside and watching the waves.
Inside it was of course still worse and within a few hours we both
felt the first signs of seasickness.
Our beds on the Bark Europa.
During the following three days we struggled with being seasick,
trying to still take part in the activities as much as we could. We
took medication which helped a bit, but more important was to pay
attention on what to do and not to do. Easiest was to lay in bed, as
there the body doesn't try to be in control of the movements. Second
best was to be outside and look at the waves or the horizon, and to
sit in the deckhouse with large windows was mostly okay. Worst was to
read a book or to do anything else which required looking down. The
most difficult activities which we couldn't avoid were getting dressed
in the cabin and using the bathroom. Nevertheless, we survived and even
managed to attend to almost all the interesting lectures about
wildlife and practical exercises about handling the sails, led by the
permanent crew of the ship.
Practising climbing up the mast.
On the second and third day the wind picked up in speed and turned so
that it was coming from more or less the same direction than the
swell. It was still relatively light for the infamous Drake passage
but a strong good wind for sailing. The waves became higher and water
was running from side to side over the main deck. That was normal and
nothing to fear about, the ship was taking the waves beautifully and
felt secure. And although it was at times more tilted sideways than on
the first day, the movements were more predictable. In short, it was
behaving like a good sailing ship should. We still had an uneasy
feeling in our stomachs but were slowly getting used to it.
On the fourth day of crossing the Drake passage the wind first turned
to come from the south and later calmed down. The crew took down the
sails with the help of us, the voyage crew (that's how the paying
guests are called on Bark Europa) and the captain started the engine
first time since Beagle Canal, if not counting the man overboard drill
on the previous day. Not long afterwards we saw the first iceberg, a
huge block of ice rising to a height of about 100 meters above the
surface, and nobody knows how deep below it. Only a few miles further
south were the first rocks belonging to the South Shetland islands,
our first destination.
