66°33′ South

Slept like a log last night but forgot to turn my alarm off this morning – got to see a sliver of sun before the fog set in.

Today is day one of two for crossing The Drake Passage. Drake, as in Sir Francis the explorer, privateer & plunderer, not the rapper dude.

Fun fact: scopolamine patches are no longer manufactured in Canada. When not being used as a truth serum, scopolamine, aka Devil’s Breath, is a very effective seasickness remedy and worked well the first time I ventured to sea. Today I am praying my slow release Gravol and ginger pills will do the trick.

The Panorama Lounge has secondary bridge controls at the bow (under lock and key) where you can track the ships location, depth sounding, water currents etc. more importantly, its home to a 24 hour espresso drink machine.

Our whale expert Simon, from Victoria, BC, tells us that us we will loose count of how many whales we will see since it’s peak krill bloom time.

I was dismayed that there is a TV in the room – one can opt to view the livestream lecture instead of going to the lecture room – but it’s handy for checking out the daily schedule. 

This morning was The Penguin lecture by Fabrice, a french biologist.

I learned that pengies have white bellies and black backs not only for thermo regulation but also for camouflaging while in the water – water predators can’t see the white easily from the below and bird predators can’t easily see the black from above.

I chatted with the head chef about my oyster mushroom intolerance last night before dinner. Nendi  is a dead ringer for a chubby smiling Buddha – he assured me that there were none on board. Great attention to detail is paid here…another staff member was monitoring a list of passenger allergies and carefully conferring with the chef before striking names off…or maybe they were talking about something in Chinese…but I felt reassured

It’s buffet for breakfast & lunch and a la carte for dinner with a lot of vegetarian and gluten free options. Snacks are at around 4:30. Loving the fruit, avoiding the pastries, using the stairs! Handwashing is mandatory before entering a dining area. There are many hand sanitizer stations throughout the ship.

Picked up a few good tips for iphone pics at the Polar Photography lecture and got fitted for boots & dry suit. Dry suit is mandatory for heli rides and optional for zodiacs.  

Checked out the bridge – soon to be my nice quiet escape place – and had a refresher on the discovery and exploration of the White Continent.

Our expedition staff was introduced before the captain’s dinner and at the end of the day, it was a fireside chat about marine superstitions.

A pretty full day on water as flat as lake Ontario.

I placed my guess on the iceberg spotting contest hoping for a second consecutive win in.

And finally, a full moon.