All my hopes of my body adapting to a moving world after sailing for more than four weeks crumbled the moment we encountered the first small storm after leaving the shelter of the ice field. I had to resort to the magic pill to keep my lunch in, even before science operations where halted because of the heavy seas. I could go lay down on my warm bed or watch a movie to see if distractions would help.
I looked through the porthole, instead, and saw large snow flakes zipping by horizontally pushed by the strong winds, and tall breaking waves in the background. Even when I do not feel great, I realize it could be worse. I am sheltered in this warm and cozy metal cocoon.
I think of Ferdinand Magellan who in 1520 was the first European to cross the passage between South America and the Antarctic Peninsula, now known by some as the Magellan Strait and by others as the Drake Passage. I imagine his crew in wooden smaller tall ships in which the snow sneaked through the whistling cracks in doors and windows. No laying around when the seas got rough, as they probably had to fight the storm on deck manning the rigs.
Floating in this waters, Sir Ernest Shackleton's epic journey seems even more unbelievable. He led an expedition in 1914 whose goal was to cross Antarctica via the South Pole. His ship, rightly called Endurance, was caught in the ice field for 10 months in which they drifted along. The ship was eventually crushed by the ice and the crew drifted on the ice floats for another five months until they reached Elephant Island. From there he sailed with five of his crewmen 800 miles to South Georgia Island where they found help and ended rescuing the rest of his party from Elephant Island. They spent more than a year in these cold and furious storms with barely any shelter. There were no periodic warm feasts waiting for them in the galley every four to seven hours like on the Palmer.
I found this cartoon on a locker in one of the mechanic shops here on the ship. How real it felt.
A comic accurately describing modern Antarctic exploration
Do not get me wrong. I am still way out of my comfort zone while in the Southern Seas, but I recognize our sacrifices pale in comparison to the first explorers' endurance.
And talking about endurance, today is "hump day" in the Palmer. Hump day marks half way through the cruise, and from now on it is all down hill. I want to remind you this is the longest cruise any of us aboard the Palmer has ever been on.