Click here for official Discovery World Cruises website
A Peter Knego Blog
Ice Water Blog, Part Five: MV DISCOVERY Ushuaia to Punta Arenas
February 16-24, 2007
February 22, 2007, continued: Our Drake Passage crossing seems to be over, since DISCOVERY is no longer pitching and gyrating through the seas. It is 10:30 PM and I'm huddled in cabin 7123, savoring some quiet time to gather thoughts.
DISCOVERY and whaling wreck at Half Moon Island: February 21, 2007. Photo and copyright Peter Knego 2007.
We awoke yesterday morning at 6:30, fumbling with our multiple layers of clothing and scarfing down a quick protein bar since it was too early to order cabin breakfast. We would be the first group to tender ashore at Half Moon Island, another spectacular, collapsed caldera in this still very active volcanic land. The crescent-shaped island is home to an Argentine base and a huge colony of Chinstrap Penguins. It was another excellent day, with visibility for miles underneath a canopy of misty clouds. The prior day, while we were enjoying optimal conditions in Gerlache Strait, a huge storm blew in, creating dangerous surf and visibility conditions. Its residue, a gentle blanket of snow, provided a picturesque backdrop for the playful penguins and leopard seals. An interesting wooden whaling boat sat on the beach, looking forlorn, but far newer than its estimated 100 year age. No one seemed to know where the boat came from, but it has been lying on these shores since early last century, sagging, but otherwise frozen in time. We climbed a small embankment to get closer to the penguin's epicenter. Miles in the distance, sculpted white mountains welcomed beams of brilliant sunlight. Like a scene from a Wild Planet documentary, a few yards from us, two skuas fought over the carcass of a recently killed penguin. As they tore at their victim's entrails, dozens of Chinstraps stood silently by, some sleeping with their heads tucked into their breasts.
We returned to the ship early enough to try and get a short nap before lunch in the Lido. I stopped by the wheelhouse for a quick visit with Staff Captain Jaksa Kelez, who hails from Dubrovnik, the Croatian town where my father was born. Jaksa started his seagoing career with Jadrolinija, the Yugoslav state-owned shipping company, and its beautiful little liners DALMACIJA and ISTRA. He also served as an officer on the handsome little ADRIANA, the former AQUARIUS. Soon, he was joined by Captain Kemp, who was kind enough to show me the sea charts of our course before I left the two skilled officers to their business. The sun finally burned the remaining clouds out of the sky. In our ship's sheltered afterdeck areas, it was not even necessary to wear a coat. I barely recognized the spot we visited just hours before, as all the snow around it had melted.
From the Bridge, February 21, 2007. Photo and copyright Peter Knego 2007.
Within four hours of our late afternoon departure, we were back in Drake Passage. I had planned for this by consuming one of those familiar little raspberry-flavored pills they give out at the reception desk. The seas were calm to moderate, but we were warned the conditions could worsen in the middle of the night.
Wheelhouse, facing port: February 21, 2007. Photo and copyright Peter Knego 2007.
In the interim, we joined our press group for a nice cocktail gathering with the DISCOVERY's hotel manager, Eddie Thomson (whose long and varied career began with Shaw Savill's SOUTHERN CROSS and NORTHERN STAR) and one of Discovery World's directors, Duncan Smith.
Dinner was in the Yacht Club up on forward Sun Deck. This alternative dining venue is not extra-tariff, but does require an advance booking. This week's fixed menu is Italian, with carpaccio, minestrone, the day's pasta offering (a delicious basil pesto fettuccini), and an entree choice of grilled fish or veal. I picked between the main and vegetarian offerings, whose non-meat alternatives included a delicious marinated vegetable antipasti and stuffed cabbage leaves. A delicious tiramisu was the dessert (most meals and teas on DISCOVERY include freshly baked cookies, breads, and pastries). Duncan hosted our table and shared many interesting anecdotes about Discovery World Cruises, its formation, and future plans for expansion.
We lingered a bit long at dinner, so caught only a couple moments of chanteuse Jo Nesbitt's cabaret performance in the Carousel Lounge. Shortly thereafter, we managed to find room for some fresh Greek olive salad, humus, and baklava at the late night buffet in the Palm Court before going to bed. Eating at this point had absolutely nothing to do with hunger!
We awoke midmorning today, having finally paid off a bit of our vast debt to the sleep gods. DISCOVERY was pitching in the Drake, occasionally fishtailing as she was hit by converging waves. Instead of going to the Carousel, we chose to watch New Zealand-based Dr. Sarah Mager's sobering presentation, "Climate Change and the Fate of Antarctica" on the cabin television.
Drake Passage Bow Spray: February 22, 2007. Photo and copyright Peter Knego 2007.
Following lunch and my previously mentioned time in the Discovery Lounge, I challenged my normally wobbly sea legs by climbing up to forward Sun Deck to document DISCOVERY's forecastle plowing through the incoming rollers. My left arm was wrapped tightly around the metal railing as my right arm pressed the video camera into the caprail. I was surrounded by nothing but howling wind, sea spray and a handful of fellow revelers. The flaps of my jacket collar whipped my cheeks and forehead as I trussed my legs into a frozen dipod. The cold chilled my face into a mask and the occasional drenching eventually shut down my camcorder, but it was all worth it. I tried getting some shots with my digital camera, but the delayed shutter response and the camera's inability to work reliably in the freezing air took some twenty attempts to get one or two mildly interesting images. Once I had conquered the bow, I went back to the lee of the stern and then up to Sky Deck for more punishing exhilaration. Finally, thanks to the Meclizine, I was free to enjoy the bumpy ride, much like my crazy friends who cross the Atlantic in the QE2 each January. After dinner, I went back out for more wave watching, then visited with friends in the Explorer's Bar before returning to the cabin to write this blog. As I get ready to hit "send" I can feel the DISCOVERY's engines reduce speed as she prepares to pick up the Chilean pilot off Port William. Tomorrow, we navigate Patagonia and the Chilean fjords for one final day of magnificence before we disembark in Punta Arenas on Saturday.
End of Part Five
Continue to final Ice Water: part six
Return to Ice Water: part one
Return to Ice Water: part two
Return to Ice Water: part three
Return to Ice Water: part four
