Weather Update

We still have not reached Drake's Passage. I am currently off the
eastern coast of South America near Tierra del Fuego. In a few hours we
will turn, cut through a pass at the southern tip of the continent, then
head into Drake's. I am told we are lucky because right now there is a
low pressure system sitting in the Pass that is creating gale force wind
and 30 foot seas! 30 feet. That's big. So we are lucky, because that
system is supposed to be moving on tonight leaving us with less than 16
foot seas. This get to what I was talking about yesterday- to me, 15
foot swell is big. To people who do this all the time, its not that bad.
I have been told I will likely need a rubber matt under my plate when I
eat to keep my food from running away. So that will be interesting.
Sleeping becomes tough because you get rolled out of your bunk or
bounced against the wall. On the plus side, its not 30 foot seas...

Tonight I also have my first shift with the XBTs, or something like
that. I don't know what it stands for or even if that is the correct
acronym, but its basically a piece of scientific equipment that we drop
off the side of the ship periodically throughout the Drake and get
measurements of things like salinity, plankton, and a bunch of other
stuff at various depths. Should be interesting enough I guess. I did
volunteer for the midnight to 4am shift, which I am beginning to regret
a little, especially since tonight we may catch the tail end of that low
pressure system and get some decent boat rocking. Although I feel fine
now, I plan on taking some enhanced sea sickness meds. This ship is also
known for being particularly unstable (don't worry, its not in a
dangerous way, just a less comfortable way). Even now, we are only in
maybe 4-5 foot seas and we are rocking at least 5 degrees in each
direction. It might not seem like much, but you can definitely feel it.
I am actually sitting in an office chair with a loose or broken back
support mechanism and every few seconds I have to stop typing as I am
slowly rocked backwards and my fingers are left wiggling over thin air,
stretching for the appropriate keys...

I sat up on the bridge for a while today as well, hanging out with the
3rd mate who was on watch and a biologist doing predator monitoring (sea
birds and marine mammals) along the way. I learned a lot about the ship,
the trip, and some of the craziness that can happen. ALSO I have now
seen black-browed (I think that's the right name) albatross, giant
petrels, Magellanic penguins, South American terns, and some other kind
of bird I cant remember. So that is fun. Apparently there were some
dolphins riding the bow earlier, but I did not get up there in time to
see. Next time.

Ok time to go do whatever I might need to do before tonight. Hopefully
my food stays in one place (both before and after I eat it) and I am
able to sleep a little before my midnight shift.

Enjoy your lives and be thankful your bed doesn't try to throw you out
of it.