Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 12/18/2008 - 04:17
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Oden Antarctic Expedition 08

How do you sleep when the boat goes bouncing over the waves at night from Daniel Hanley in Mr Mell,s classLaughingCool

Fri, 12/19/2008 - 10:20

Jeff Peneston

Daniel,
During the 4 days that we crossed the Drake Passage the Oden rolled an pitched constantly in the swells and waves that were up to 20 feet tall.  At night, it feels like you are lying in a bed on a gentle roller coaster.  First you tilt about 10? and slide on the mattress toward the foot of the bed and then you tilt back 20? the other way and slide up the mattress toward the head of the bed.  Then as the ship falls into the trough between wave crests, you get a little “air time” which lifts you off the mattress and finally as the ship hits the bottom of the trough, gravity doubles to pull you deep into the mattress.  All of this happens within about 20-30 seconds and then it starts all over again!  Eventually, I learned to sleep through it. But what wakes you up is when the Oden’s flat bow it’s a wave head on and the ship slams so hard that it sounds like we just hit a train locomotive out in the middle of the ocean.  But those big hits only happened about 2-5 times an hour. 
So,  the answer to your question is that I had to get by on many short naps all night long and that did not make me feel very rested.  The good news is that it was an experience I will never complain about because it was an adventure a had volunteered for.  And, one I will never forget.
Take care, and have fun,
Jeff