We set sail March 5^th at 6:00 PM from Ushuaia, AR into the Beagle Channel.  The part was very calm since the Channel is really just a bay.  Since there are only two flights a day from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia the first group had to leave the hotel at 3:30 AM and the second group left at 7:00AM.  I only had an hour to walk around Ushuaia and it reminded me of the small coastal towns of Alaska.

Today I woke up at 2:30 AM because of all the stuff bouncing around in my cabin.  The calm waters had changed as we went past Terra del Fuego and into Drakes Passage.  By the time in got everything nailed back down I was wide awake and went down to the galley and read the book” Endeavor” about the expedition to the Antarctic.   At dawn I went up to the bridge so I could see what was going on outside since all the doors and windows had been sealed shut due to the high wind and waves.

The wind had picked up and was gusting to 50 knots and the swells were 10 meters – or a little less than 30 ft.   I looked at the heading and speed and was very disappointed to see our SOG (Speed over Ground) was only 2.5 knots.  The boat did not have many people walking around until about noon when the wind started to subside and the waves became more uniform.  I watched one of my fellow marathoners lose his GO-PRO into the ocean as a gust and wave caused him to need both hands to keep himself on his feet.   He mumbled something about “whale bait”.

By dinner time the wind was down to about 20 knots and the waves are rolling at about 5 meters or 15 feet.   The captain commented on how many more passengers they picked up for dinner versus what they had for breakfast.  He explained that we will sail all day tomorrow before we will see land at King Georges Island.

Today we were fitted with foul weather gear for our excursions and attended mandatory classes on the International Antarctica Agreement for Tourism Operations.  It is an agreement that all the nations agreed to on the runs for keeping distance from plant and wildlife.  We have to sanitize our shoes before we go on the land and as we come off the land and anything that will touch the ground such as backpacks.  The concern is seeds and or plant live foreign to the Antarctic.  Tomorrow we have a class on sanitizing our gear.

We then had mandatory class on kayak safety and Zodiac safety on how and what you can do boarding and while in the crafts.

So I have been on a ship with 150 maniacs from all over the world.  They make me look like a lazy slob.  I had dinner with a 70 year old Chinese woman who has done the 50 States twice and the 7 Continents three times and has no plans to stop.  When I told her about Beth and Japan and China she wanted to know if I wanted to run Tokyo with her next spring.  At the same table was a young man that I thought was probably in college in Boston.  Come to find out is a surgeon at Mass General who – get this – is in the lead pack of most of the marathons he runs.

The food is better than expected.  The chef is Russian just like the rest of the crew and although we lose some things in the translation – I cannot complain.  Just when I was getting better with my Spanish in Argentina I get on board a ship with a Russian speaking crew!

The downside is I feel like a caged animal.  There is nowhere to run and the gym is the size of small bedroom and the equipment looks like it was salvaged from a South American high school back in the 50’s!

Tomorrow should be calmer and clear so I hope to get some better pictures.