What's next after Antarctica? Scuba Diving!

Learning to scuba dive is one of those things that many of us may put on our "bucket list" and I am no different. A few times in the past I have thought about signing up for a course at the local YMCA or university but never got around to it. However, after my aunt invited me to join family for a vacation in Key West this year, I decided that it was time to take the plunge, literally! My good friend Amy and her husband Sean also were interested and we signed up for the beginner open water class beginning in August. I'll spend the next few blogs discussing the process of learning to be one with the fishes. It was certainly not as easy as I thought!

Happy Feet Penguins!

Hanging out with the penguins was definitely one of the coolest part of the trip (no pun intended). Every so often a penguin or group of them would start running around and it looked like they were dancing. It may have had something to do with the molting process and trying to get that old fur off as fast as possible. Whatever the reason, it sure was funny!

What was the course like? Watch this.

I have been asked numerous times what it was like in Antarctica and to run a race there. One of the runners, Chad Leathers, ran the course with a helmet camera and captured wonderful footage, as well as his very honest opinions of the course along the way (note--this is a PG-13 commentary). I share this video with many thanks to Chad for having enough strength to film this and complete the marathon. If you are inspired by the video and this experience, please take a look at the NF Team Extreme website: http://ctf.org/NFETblog/about/. Chad and eleven other runners traveled to Antarctica as part of a concerted effort to find a cure for a pretty frustrating disorder called neurofibromatosis (NF), which causes tumors to grow anywhere in the body. NF occurs in 1 in every 3,000 births.

Video is at: http://vimeo.com/10281755

Home again!

It literally takes days to get to and from Antarctica. In addition to the mileage that must be covered by boat and plane, there are those factors which we can't control such as weather and airplane delays. All together it took four and a half days to travel from Antarctica to Washington, DC, and that is with minimal airline delays. By the last flight (the last of four flights), I felt a bit like I was one with the plane...me and the seat were a single entity. Is this was being zen is all about? :)

I will be adding pictures and video to this blog over the next few weeks as time permits. I hope you enjoyed the blog!

Delayed by the Drake Shake

Yesterday afternoon we hit rough seas with waves up to 7 meters high (21feet). The waves have caused the boat to list almost 40 degrees to each side. No one was able to sleep last night as we literally were sliding from one end of our bed to the other. The waves were crashing into the ship and reaching as high as our port holes that are about 20 feet above sea level. The closest experience I can compare this to is the pirate boat ride at the amusement park. Perhaps you have seen it or even ridden on it--the one where you sit on a bench and the ship swings back and forth like a pendulum until it eventually swings all the way around. Because of the extreme rocking back and forth, the captain made a decision to adjust our course to reduce the rolling of the ship. Apparently if we roll more than 40 degrees to each side, people are seriously injured and often have to be medically evacuated (there is a helicopter landing pad on the ship). We have just been informed that despite the ship going as fast as we safely can go, we will arrive in Ushuaia approximately 4 hours later than expected on Saturday. That is very bad news for half of the group because they will miss their 9:30am flight to Buenos Aries. The next available flight is 10pm, which means they will miss their Buenos Aries connection to the United States. The Marathon tours staff are trying to rebook flights as best they can but it is time consuming as each flight must be changed over the phone. I do not think I will be affected by the delay as I am with the other half of the tour group scheduled to take the 2:30pm flight from Ushuaia to Buenos Aries. This is a good example of why to buy travel insurance for extreme voyages like this.

How to amuse yourself for 60 hours on a ship

The key to surviving the Drake Passage is taking some kind of motion sickness medicine. With it, you can then function somewhat normally, despite the rolling of the ship. I am a huge fan now of the motion sickness patch that you place behind your ear and leave in place for 3 days. I am certain I would be sick without it. The ship has been rocking from side to side constantly. We are required to always have “one hand for the ship” when we walk anywhere. That one hand is for grabbing handrails, seat backs,or even another person as we try to move about. This morning I had a chance to visit the ship’s bridge and see the navigational equipment. The ship was built in Yugoslavia in the 70‘s. It looked very dated. There was a wide metal panel that covered the length of the bridge and built into it were a few grey boxes with knobs and levers marked with Russian writing. The ship was updated recently with a new sonar device and we could see onthe screen several icebergs ahead. The most interesting device to me was an indicator gauge that showed just how much the ship is listing from side to side. While we were up there, the indicator said we were rolling 10 degrees to each side. When we had the storm on the way down, we listed up to 30 degrees on each side. The worst that it can get is 45 degrees. The ship officer who led the tour said that we were experiencing fairly calm seas for the Drake Passage. I am thankful for that! The crew get weather updates every 6 hours and adjust course as necessary to avoid rough seas and highwinds.



After the bridge tour I decided to get some exercise in the ship’s fitness room. The fitness room is a 10 x 8 space containing two exercise bikes from 1980 and one elliptical machine that may have been the first one ever invented. The machines are facing two windows that open to the outsidew alkway around the ship. [Side note--there is a contained walk-way around the ship that allows us to move around without getting wet or blown away. We also line up in this walk-way as we await our turn to go down the gangway and onto the zodiaks.] I opted for the exercise bike. It was quite odd to feel like I was riding up and down hills and yet sitting still on a stationary bike. That was because of the rolling of the ship. I managed to ride for about 30 minutes without falling off. I think I may have burned enough calories to make up for the fabulous dessert we had last night at dinner (vanilla ice cream in a warm cherry sauce).

The rest of the afternoon has been spent reading, napping, watching moviessuch as “March of the Penguins,” and listening to the expedition company’s historian discuss his experience during the Faulkland Island War. At the time, he was a scientist working at the British research station in the Shetland Islands. The scientists were in a bit of a bind because it was not clear whether the British or Argentinians would comply with the Geneva Convention provisions relating to noncombatants.

The ship is definitely listing from side to side more than it was earlier this morning. It is hilarious to watch people try and walk normally through the lounge area. It is just not possible. It will be very weird to walk on land again. I wonder if I will still have to use a motion sickness patch after all this time at sea?

It just gets better and better...

I sit here at my computer wondering how I can possibly describe what we saw yesterday. Our day began with a wake-up announcement over the ship’s loudspeakers that we were about to enter the Lemaire Channel. I could see out our porthole that the sun was just coming up and a few rays were piercing through the snowclouds and painting the icebergs with a rosy glow. I grabbed my pocket camera, slid on my crocs and ran out onto the deck. We have not seen the sun very much since our crossing the Drake Passage so it was a treat to get this nice sunrise. After snapping a few pictures, I went back down to my cabin to see if my SLR camera was working again. It was! Yeah! The camera-in-the-bag-of-rice-trick really worked! We spent the next 3 hours cruising through the Lemaire Channel, a 7 mile long passage that runs between Booth Island and the Antarctic continent. It is 1 mile wide at its broadest point and a half mile at its narrowest point. There were lots of small icebergs in the water which the ship captain had to either navigate around or push aside as we made our way through the channel. Both sides of the channel were flanked with towering peaks nearly 1000 feet high that just seem to explode from the water up to the sky. Some of the tops we were not able to see due to fog that settled along the peaks. These rocks were covered with glaciers that were nearly at least 100 feet thick. We could see how the ice had compressed over thousands of years and had layer upon layer of sediment mixed with the ice. Some of the glaciers seem to glow an eerie blue as the light made its way through water carved channels and caves that twist through the glacier ice. The temperature was about 34 degrees with a windchill about 10 degrees cooler. Even with all my winter layers on I had to go inside every 20 minutes or so to warm my fingers and toes.


After lunch we reached one of the United States' Antarctica research stations, Palmer Station. The station is home to about 38 scientists and support staff during the austral summer and about 10 staff during the winter. Some of the scientists came on board our ship and gave an overview of their research. The main research done at Palmer is monitoring how the marine ecosystem is responding to changes in sea-ice cover. The glacier is retreating about 10 feet a year, leading to warmer temperatures and less icepack in the water. This is also affecting where the penguins migrate. After their briefing, we made our way onto land via the zodiaks. We were thrilled to see the clouds clearing and a beautiful blue sky emerge. Palmer is nestled at the foot of a huge glacier on a rocky outcrop that looked much like the coast of Maine. Only about 6 ships a year are invited to come and visit the station. The reason for that is that it really takes the entire station staff to support the 100+ visitors. Staff led tours, manned the souvenir shop (which took credit cards or US dollars), and met with us in their dining hall and offered us home-made brownies (which were yummy). After leaving Palmer, we cruised around the bay in the zodiaks. We made our way through pack ice, circled the huge iceberg in the middle of the bay, and observed an Adelie penguin colony on a nearby island. It was so awesome to see the tops of the mountains which for most of this trip have been covered by fog or not visible due to the driving snow. This was a wonderful last stop before undertaking the 60 hour trip back across the Drake Passage.

We are now heading home and will spend the next 2 days on ship. We will pass the time with lectures on history and wildlife, tours of the ship’s bridge, movies, and of course, eating. Our email accounts will be cut off at 8pm tonight (which is about 6pm EST) so after that, there will be no more blog updates until I reach Argentina on Saturday morning.

We finally experience Antarctica in all its glory

Today was absolutely the best day thus far in Antarctica. I already shared with you that we had a chance to visit a penguin colony this morning and cruise around lots of icebergs. That was an awesome experience.


I couldn't image it getting better (other than the storms dissipating and blue sky appearing, which does not seem likely with the current weather pattern). However, it did actually get better. First, we had our official awards ceremony this afternoon and I was recognized for placing third in the half marathon. That was great. Then, we cruised several hours south to Nicco Bay (not sure how to spell) and had a chance to land on the Antarctica continent itself. It was snowing pretty hard and there was quite a bit of pack ice all around the land. There were huge glaciers and mountains towering above us and we could sort of see the tops through the snow. It was so humbling to see the majesty of the continent. The zodiak rides were somewhat like Mr. Toad's wild ride because the winds and waves were fairly intense. The expedition staff had to stand in water almost to their waist to meet the zodiaks trying to land and disembark passengers. On land we were surrounded by penguins, almost like we were part of the colony itself. You couldn't come close to keeping the 15 feet safety zone because they walked right up to you and walked around you all the time. The snow was almost blowing horizontal due to the high winds and yet the penguins didn't seem bothered at all.


My new Nikon D90 camera has stopped working, probably due to all the moisture this morning. Instead, I used my small point and shoot in the meantime, while my D90 camera sits in a bag of rice to try and draw out all the moisture in the camera body. I hope it works tomorrow. Thank goodness I purchased the extended warranty from Best Buy!

This evening I sat at the German table for dinner. One of my roommates, Till, is a German native who is working in America. Till, his girlfriend Brooke, myself, and two other German runners (including Horst, the runner who was trying for his 1,500+ marathon), sat together and had a lovely dinner. My German was rusty but I was able to contribute to the conversation and understand some of it. After dinner, several of us gathered in the smoking section of the ship to enjoy our post-race celebratory Cuban cigars and Scotch. I really don't like smoking and detest cigarette smoke. However, I am willing to make the exception once a decade for a really fantastic cigar and single malt Scotch. The last cigar I had was on New Year's Even in Korea in 2001. My new friend Andrew (not that kind of friend, truly just a friend) and I purchased Cuban cigars and single malt scotch in Buenos Aries and were joined by about 8 other people who had also purchased/brought a cigar. It was lots of fun and we even took a picture of ourselves with the Antarctica marathon banner to send to Cigar Aficionado. One of the participants was the Prince of the Netherlands. Heis a very nice gentleman. I enjoyed a nice lunch with him earlier today and we discussed homeland security stuff. He is very involved in homeland security in his country and so we had lots in common to discuss. He is traveling with his friend Olav, who used to be a professional cyclist and competed in the Olympics in Athens. Both are very interesting to talk to and good company.

It is still snowing hard outside so we'll see whether we can go ashore tomorrow. I hope so because we have been invited to visit the United States scientific research station called Palmer Station. They only offer 6 invitations a year to outside parties to visit. After that, we will start the 60 + hour journey back to Ushuaia. It is hard to believe but we are getting close to the end of this wonderful adventure.

It’s official...

The race results are in and by unanimous decision, everyone decided that it was the hardest race course anyone has ever done. The weather deteriorated during the race day so the longer people were on the course, the more challenging the mud and wind became. At times, the wind was so fierce that people could barely walk, never mind run. The tour company put a laptop in the lounge and invited people to load their top 10-20 photos which will be included in a DVD presented to each of us at the end of the trip. As aresult, the lounge has now turned into THE place to tell stories and share pictures of the race. I’ll post photos and some video when I am back to the States.

Here are the top finishers and their times:

Marathon: Men (1) Robert Youngren (3:50:02); (2) His Royal Highness Pieter-ChristianVan Oranje-Massau (4:22:55); (3) Peter Barbera (4:23:28) Women (1) Kathryn Youngren (3:58:59); (2) Marit Janse (4:57:40); (3) Kelly Hansen (5:04:11)

Half Marathon: Men (1) Fred Lipsky (2:25:52); (2) Olav Bekker (2:45:55)*; (3) John Shull(2:56:29); (4) Libor Pilar (2:57:56) Women (1) Cynthia Tan (2:56:16); (2) Kasey Jenck 2:57:20); (3) Judy Boyd(3:00:01)

*Olav Bekker hurt his ankle and dropped out of the marathon and just did the half marathon. He will not be eligible for a prize for the half-marathon. I think John Shull will therefore get second place and the Libor Pilar may get third place.

Yesterday we went to Half Moon Island and had our first chance to get ashore and visit a penguin colony. It was so cool to sit or kneel on the ground and watch penguins going about their daily business. In case you were wondering what penguins do all day when they are on land-- they sit around in groups and jabber away, poop, molt (shed their outer feathers and have a new batch grow in), and periodically follow the penguin highways through the snow pack down to the water to take a bath. The weather was foggy and the winds began to pick up as the morning progressed. By the time we reached Deception Island a few hours later, the fog, rain and winds had gotten worse. The captain made the decision that it was not safe for him to anchor by Deception Island and let zodiaks go ashore. Instead, he just kept going south along the Antarctica Peninsula. The winds and waves increased enough that I put another motion sickness patch behind my ear. It makes me a little sleepy but that is better than getting sick! Spending more time on the ship meant we could do more of what we are all very good at--eating and drinking! Someone joked that the only exercise he got yesterday was walking from one side of the boat to another and yet we are eating enough each day to run another marathon. We have a breakfast buffet, four course meals atlunch and dinner, plus a full spread of cakes and cookies at tea time (5pm).

Today we reached Denko Harbour. When I looked out of the port hole in our cabin this morning, I was amazed to see huge icebergs and that it was snowing fairly hard. We bundled up and spent quite a long time on shore among the Gentoo penguin colony. These penguins had no fear of humans. We always maintained our 15 feet safety distance but if you were still, the penguins would come right up to you. They were quite curious. It was also funny to watch groups of penguins do the Happy Feet dance (Happy Feet is an animated penguin movie, for those of you not familiar with the reference). I am not kidding--three or four of them would run around, flap their wings and make noises as if they were dancing and singing. Often they would lose their balance or grip on the ice and have to use their beak or wing to catch themselves.

We did not return immediately back to the ship but rather took a zodiak cruise around the bay and explored the icebergs. They were amazing in their texture, shapes, and then varying intensity of blue. The bluer the color, the older it was.
The ice compresses over time and all of the oxygen is squeezed out. That somehow results in bluer color. The water is incredibly clear and we could see the bottom of the bay in some places, along with the portions of the icebergs beneath the water line. My zodiak driver noticed a leopard seal swimming in the bay and quickly turned off the boat engine. We then watched the leopard seal swim around and under our boat. They are huge seals--about 8 feet long and have a giant mouth that contains sharp teeth. Some can be aggressive and bite the boat. This one was more curious than aggressive. After about 2 hours out in the heavy snow, we were all very wet and getting a bit cold. It was time to return to the ship and get warm and dry again.

We are now sailing to Paradise Bay (sounds nice, doesn’t it?). If the weather is nice, there will be a BBQ out on the deck and the race awards presentation. Also, people will have an opportunity to do a polar plunge off the gangway of the ship. If you go all the way under water, you get a certificate of accomplishment. Lot's of people have said they are going to do it but that may have been false bravado inspired by a few glasses of excellent Argentinian wine.

ExplorerBoyd's Ground Crew

ExplorerBoyd, like ocean rower, author, motivational speaker and environmental campaigner Roz Savage, has a Ground Crew supporting her. Or, more accurately, a ground person.


When ExplorerBoyd boarded the Lyubov Orlova she lost web connectivity. Always resourceful she asked 2009 dogsledding team mate Jerry Long, author of dustyvarmint's Mostly Archery to update Antarctica Marathon 2010 using her e-mailed daily reports. Ground person Jerry takes full responsibility for blog post errors, omissions and anything else bloggy gone awry while in a supporting role.


If interested you can read more about their 2009 Outward Bound Boundary Waters Canoe Area dogsledding trip here.

And the winner is....

Going to be officially announced tomorrow. I think I may have placed third in the half marathon for women, which would be quite a surprise since I did not think I was in shape enough to be competitive. The course was REALLY hard. There was no single element that made the course hard but rather the combination of elements: lots of hills (38 hills per 6.1 mile loop), extreme mud covering at least half of the course, crossing water, snow and ice, winds that increased to about 30 knots by the end of the day, along with a sleet, rain, snow mix that fell lightly all day. The temperature was in the mid 30’s but the windchill made it quite a bit cooler. It took me exactly 3 hours to complete the half marathon. That is about 30 minutes slower that I would likely run a half marathon conducted on roads. Every runner had anywhere from 10 minutes to several hours added to their normal running times due to the conditions. Because of the difficult course, several runners decided to not do the whole marathon after completing 2 loops (13.1 miles). After making that decision, they dropped out and will be given credit for completing a half marathon.


As if running the race is not hard enough, you then have to get yourself back to the boat. That was quite a challenge since there is no nice recovery area to get warm and dry. All of our bags were by the starting line and had gotten quite wet from the rain. In our bags were extra clothes, including our waterproof pants and jacket that must be worn when in the zodiaks. The ground was uneven and there was moss everywhere that can’t be stepped on. I had put peppermint tea in my thermos and that helped warm me up after the run. Also, I had a light down jacket that I put on over my shirt and under my jacket. [Let me take a moment and put a plug in for my clothing at this point--I wore an Under Armour thermal mock turtleneck as my base layer and due to the rain, did not use my running jacket and instead, wore my waterproof, windproof Marmot Genesis softshell jacket, and REI windproof cycling tights that were over a pair of Under Armour spandex shorts. The warm layer I added after the finish was by Patagonia and is called a Down sweater. My shoes were gortex trail runners by Salomen and kept my feet pretty much dry. All of my gear was terrific. Now back to the story.] I was so appreciative when one of the Quark adventure tour guides helped me put on my overpants and rubber boots. My fingers were pretty cold and not working very well at that point. After gearing up, we had to trudge a half mile down a dirt road to the beach where the zodiaks were pulled up, sit on the edge of the rubber boat and swing our legs over to get in. Again, a bit of a challenge with very tired legs. My ride back was not too choppy and within 10 minutes, I was back at the gangway of the ship and soon taking a wonderful hot shower. Those runners who finished later in the afternoon found themselves riding through rough seas with waves 5-6 feet high that were crashing over the boat and over the shivering riders. Once on the boat, we had to decontaminate our rubber boots and then we were free to shower and eat something from the wonderful buffet the cooks had laidout.

By this evening, everyone was back on the boat, safe and sound, and there was a great celebration in the lounge area of the ship. Whenever anyone walked into the lounge for the first time since the race, everyone cheered and clapped. It was lots of fun and showed just how much the group has bonded during the past week. We all passed each other on the course several times due to the out-and-back format, and everyone said hi and offered a word of encouragement. But, we all ended at different times and it was definitely too cold to stand around and wait for others to finish--hence,the cheering on the boat. There were a few injuries, but nothing too serious--a woman broke her finger when she slipped on ice, another woman hit her head and got a gash on her face when she tripped over a rock, and there were several twisted ankles. Some people were lucky enough to see a few penguins on the course but I was not one of them. I did see a few skuuas flying around but no one was directly hit by one as they dived by or near the runners.

All in all, it was a great race. A storm is expected in the area tomorrow so it was good that we had reasonably decent weather today. Now we are headed toward Half Moon Island and Deception Island where we should see lots of wildlife. Some brave souls may even do a polar plunge in the waters heated somewhat by the active volcano at Deception Island. I think the water might be 42 degrees instead of the usual 37 degrees.

Twas the Night Before the Race...

Twas the night before the race and all through the boat, 99 runners were stressing about what gel to eat and the appropriate thickness of their running coat. Soon the decontaminated shoes were stored in vacuumed bags at the foot of each bed, and visions of muddy trails, penguins and puddles were running through their head....

We just finished our pre-race meeting and everyone is very excited about the race tomorrow. The winds were too fierce today for us to go ashore but the forecast tomorrow looks better: light winds and temperatures in the mid to upper 30s. As long as the winds stay calm, it will be fairly comfortable running weather. The windchill can be quite fierce though if the wind picks up. The race organizers set up the course today in a way that complies with all the environmental and political restrictions (such as, no running through any of the scientific research stations or on the glacier). It will be an out-and-back course of 2 loops for the half-marathoners (for a total of 13.1 miles) and 4 loops for the marathoners (for a total of 26.2 miles). Thom Gilligan’s has described the course as the most difficult course they have ever laid out. In some places the route is over a well-packed dirt road but much of the route is filled with LOTS of mud, puddles, some snow between 12-18” deep and glacier stream crossings up to our knees. The first mile is supposed to be the most difficult, with a 250 meter steep hill that has lots of mud at the bottom. Can you believe that 99 people paid thousands of dollars and spent a week traveling half-way around the world to have this much fun?

As I mentioned, there are strict environmental controls placed on the race and runners. There are two rules that will result in instant disqualification: 1) no littering (hence no gel, gu, or powerbar wrappers can be brought on shore) and 2) no urinating on the course other than in the port-a-potties at the start/finish area, 1.75 mile marker and the turn-around point at 3.28 miles. We must also stay on the course and not step on the delicate moss on the land. That may mean running through a huge mud puddle in order to protect the moss. A footprint in the moss will last for 1,000 years but wet shoes will clean up overnight.

Because this is such a difficult course there is a real possibility that some of the marathoners will not be able to complete the course by the 7 hour cut-off mark. To meet that goal, there are time checks along the way--you have to reach the 13.1 mile mark by 3 hours and 20 minutes and the 19 mile mark by 5 hours and 10 minutes. Failure to meet those time hacks will result in a runner being pulled from the race. However, a marathoner who does complete at least 13.1 miles will be able to get credit for completing a half marathon (but they are not eligible for the top finishing spots for the half marathon).

The final topic of discussion was about whether runners could wear an ipod during the race. The running purists were inclined to say no--it should just be you, the course, and the camraderie of your fellow runners. Others felt strongly that music makes the hard parts of the race not quite as hard or alternatively, makes the experience more like having a movie soundtrack going on that matches your life. The end result was that runners could use them if they want but are encouraged to keep the volume at a reasonable level so as to still connect with others around you, as well as to not be surprised if a skua bird attacks you. Oh, did I mention that there are big birds that like to dive bomb the runners?

So now we are laying out our race clothing, packing our bags with dry clothes to change into after the race, and marking our water bottles that we can bring out and place along the course as we run. The ship will make a wake-up call over the loud speaker at 5:30am, breakfast is available from 6-8am, and then we will start shuttling to land via the zodiaks at 8:15am. The race will begin around 9am or when everyone is on shore and ready to go. It's going to be GREAT!

In case you were wondering what runners think about before the race, check out the video link below. This was taken the morning of the race as we were getting ready.

Land Ho!

Everyone was excited this morning about the sight of land and the promise of exploring it soon. The morning started with the crew loading equipment and 4-wheel ATVs into the zodiaks for the race organizers. They will meet with the scientific research station leadership and then mark the course for tomorrow's race. It was amazing to watch the ATVs lifted out of the hold with a giant crane and then lowered over the ship's edge into the zodiak bouncing in the waves below. In addition to the race organizers, the National Science Foundation observer and two other passengers went on shore. The NSF observer will make sure that the race is laid out in a manner that complies with the 17 pages of race restrictions imposed by the Antarctica Treaty nations. The other two passengers are part of the US company that is installing the landing system for the new airstrip being completed. It was easier and perhaps even cheaper for them to take the ship to the island rather than trying to catch a military ship or flight. The airstrip is due open for test flights on Monday so they will have a busy weekend ahead of them.

After the zodiaks were off, all passengers had to complete the final stage of our eco-decontamination scrub. As part of our no-impact tourism efforts, we had already vacuumed out all of our bags and outer gear to catch any possible seeds or bacteria stowaways. Now we had to scrub our running shoes and rubber boots in a special chemical bath. These steps were done to make sure that no new species or diseases are introduced to this ecologically sensitive part of the world.

We are now ready to go ashore but unfortunately, Mother Nature has not been cooperating with us. The winds have picked up considerably through the day, with sustained winds of 41 knots (about 50 mph) and gusts up to 50 knots (about 60 mph). If you recall the Beaufort Wind scale I mentioned the otherday, we are hovering between levels 9 and 10. The wind is so strong coming across the ship that it is listing towards the port side. For safety reasons, the expedition leaders will not take zodiaks out to the land if the wind is over 40 knots because they can and do flip due to the high winds. We are now cruising along the Antarctica Peninsula in search of a place to do a landing under less windy conditions. Appropriately enough, we arewatching the documentary "Shackleton: Endurance in Antarctica." We are all hoping that the winds die down so we can go ashore for the race tomorrow. The last thing we want is to have to run the marathon and half-marathon on the ship deck, just like runners had to do several years ago. It was something like 400 laps around the deck equals 26.2 miles!

Crossing the Drake Passage--the Drake Shake or Drake Lake?

Greetings from the middle of the Antarctic Ocean! We sighted our first iceberg after two days traveling at sea. You can imagine the scene that followed--a mad scramble to grab coats and cameras and rush on deck. The weather has been fairly mild during our crossing of the Drake passage. The total time it takes to cross the Drake Passage is 60 hours. Sometimes this passage is called "The Drake Shake" due to high winds and waves up to 30feet high. Other times the water is smooth as glass and is referred to "The Drake Lake." We were closer to the Drake Lake-- it has been a 3 or 4 on the Beaufort Wind scale [with 1 being a beautiful day and 12 being a typhoon]. Despite the relatively smooth seas, there are no stabilizer bars on the ship so we constantly rock from side to side in long slow motions. During the rocking, one side of the ship goes up about 15 feet and then down about 15 feet. That means we can not walk upright and constantly have to hold on to one of the railings. Taking a shower during this tilting is quite a challenge as well. I have not felt sick at all and expect that is due to the motion sickness patch behind my ear. Yay!

Update--later in the day the winds really picked up, reach top speeds of over 30 knots. Here is a video to show how hard it is to even walk with speeds like that.



You can also go to the following site and see a short video clip that demonstrates how much the ship was rolling before the storm! http://vimeo.com/10282538 .

We have passed the time with lectures on history, seals, penguins, tasty meals, and great conversation in the lounge/bar area. Everyone I've met thus far on the trip is really interesting to talk to and hang out with. The entire ship is sold out for the tour--99 runners, about 12 friends/family members, and 14 tour support staff. Talk about a small world--I have met a guy who also graduated from my alma maters--North Carolina Wesleyan and UNC-Chapel Hill, a lawyer who works for the US Coast Guard and knows me (but I didn't know her till now), and a DC lobbier who is a good friend of the DHS Office of the General Counsel Chief of Staff that I work regularly with.

Tomorrow we will reach King George Island. The race organizers will go ashore to mark the course while the ship travels further down the islands and we stop in to visit the Polish research station and see lots of elephant seals nearby. There may also be fur seals which we will have to be careful around. Apparently they do bite and will chase you if you get too close. I'll be sure to keep my distance and rely on the zoom lens on the camera to get that great close-up shot!

All Aboard!

In just another hour we will board our ship, the Lyubov Orlova, and begin our journey southward. A large group of us just finished "patching up." By that I am referring to the motion sickness patches that you place behind your ear and leave in place for three days. We just had a wonderful lunch of king crab in the port town of Ushuaia and then placed those magic dots of medicine behind our ears. Sara put two on, logically thinking that since we have two ears, we must use two patches, right? Not right. Luckily she happened to mention that to us at the table and we could stage an intervention before she got too much of the medicine in her system and started to hallucinate! Ushuaia is a smallish town (70,000 people) located at the base of the Andes mountains. It reminds me of some of the Alaskan towns I visited while doing the glacier cruise a few years ago. There is a rustic charm mixed with the many tourist traps selling stuffed penguins, post cards, and liquor to bring aboard ship. I will pick up a bottle of wine to bring with me because I am optimistic that my patch will work and I'll actually be able to eat and drink. Then again, sometimes the swells on the Drake Passage are over 40 feet high and it is all you can do to stay in your berth and not be bucked out!

By the way, the Crown Prince of the Netherlands made it in okay. He joined us at the restaurant for lunch. No sign of the couple from the French Polynesians though.

Next stop--Antarctica!

Polo was a blast!

When in Argentina, do what the Argentinians do....which often includes polo matches. Most Argentinians watch the matches and a few play. A group of us from the trip decided that we wanted to learn how to play ourselves. We got in touch with Fernando of Elite Polo and he was more than happy to pick us up at our hotel, take us to the polo stables and field located about 40 km outside of BA, and teach us how to play. Of the four of us who went, only one new how to ride a horse (she actually owns a horse and goes foxhunting for fun in northern Virginia). The rest of us have ridden only a couple of times, usually part of one of those long lines of horses shuffling down a dusty trail. Within minutes of getting out of the car, we had our protective helmets on our noggins and were on a horse. We then quickly went through the process of learning how to walk and gallop on the horse using our body weight or pulling on the reins. Once we had that down pat, we added the long stick used to hit the ball and we practiced going up and down the field whacking it. If we felt particularly ambitious, we would tell the horse to gallop and then would try and connect with the ball. I think we usually connect every other time we swung the club! The time went by quick, despite the bright sun and high humidity today which made the sweat run down our cheeks. We paused for about 20 minutes and relaxed in the shade with a cool glass of a local version of lemonade made with a type of grapefruit (it was not as sour as most grapefruits and very refreshing on this hot summer day. Keep in mind that the seasons are reversed and it is summer in Argentina. We then moved on to our final exam--a polo match of guys against the girls, played by the real rules of polo.


I can't really recall all of the rules but it had something to do with staying on one side of the plane of the ball or else being called off-sides, as swing and a miss is a fault, and that shoving your horse against another is excellent defense. We played for about 45 minutes in a game that probably appeared to real polo fans to be conducted in slow-motion. Every once in a while we would gallop and some how I managed to stay on the horse. Did I mention the saddles were English and not Western? That means, no pommel to hold on to (not that you could because you had the reins and whip in your left hand and the mallet/stick thing in your right). The guys eventually beat the girls, 6-4, and we all shook hands and called it a day. We then relaxed with a glass of cold Argentinian beer before heading back to town. What a blast!! If you find yourself in Buenos Aries, look up Fernando at Elite Polo. He is a professional polo player who loves to introduce beginners like me to the sport he loves. Now I feel like I have earned the right to actually wear a polo T-Shirt. :)

Royalty, politics, and setting world records

Last evening we had our race check-in, welcome banquet, and received an overview of the upcoming race in Antarctica. Nearly everyone has made it to Buenos Aires, with a few notable exceptions. A couple from the French Polynesian Islands were diverted from landing in Santiago due to the earthquake and are currently somewhere between Australia and South America. The Crown Prince of the Netherlands and his wife are still en route and should arrive some time this evening. [We were briefed that protocol requires us to refer to him as "His Highness Peter Christian" unless he says otherwise. It is possible that he may relax the rules of protocol while we struggle against the 30 mph winds during the race together. We'll see.] Having royalty amongst us will certainly add another dimension to the event, such as having the Ambassador to the Netherlands as part of the welcoming party at the hotel when he arrives. Another interesting piece of news was that Vice President Biden's son and daughter-in-law are not going to be running after all due to the politics tensions between Chile and the United States regarding the building of a new aircraft runway in Antarctica by Biden's son's company. But the MOST critical piece of information we learned was that there can be no powerbars or gu wrappers brought on to Antarctica land. This caused quite a murmur through the crowd since long distance runners usually rely on the energy gels and bars to help sustain them through the race. The reason for this ban is because someone had a powerbar wrapper blow out of their hands during the high winds of the race last year and was found by one of the scientists on the land. This was enough proof for several countries that maintain a claim to land in Antarctica to assert that the marathon should no longer be permitted to continue. Litter. [These are the same scientists that are using diesel generators, spilling fuel, and driving all over the land in ATVs, trucks and snowcats.] Hypocracy aside, all of the runners all feel very strongly about taking care of this very special place and everyone is willing to do what it takes to ensure that the race can continue in the future. To that end, the U.S. State Department has assigned an environmental scientist to the accompany us to Antarctica. He will be assessing the impact of the race on the land and ensuring compliance with the 17 page declaration of conditions imposed by Antarctica treaty signatories on the runners and tour company.





A few other fun facts:

• This is the 11th running of the race.
• There are 99 runners from 15 countries participating: US, Canada, Columbia, Czech Republic, France, French Polynesia, Germany, Netherlands, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, UK, Israel, Ukraine, and Lebanon.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The youngest participant is 24 and she is on track to be the youngest person to run 7 marathons on 7 continents.The oldest participant is 72--Horst Prestler from Germany. He has completed 1703 marathons already. When he was introduced, he received a standing ovation from all of the runners. Thom Gilligan (the tour organizer) later quipped, "What took you so long to get to Antarctica!?"
• We have been officially invited on behalf of the US government to visit the Palmer Station. Only seven invitations are extended annually.

We have one more day in Buenos Aires and then are off to Ushuaia to sightsee and get on the boat. Tomorrow may be the last day I can post before I get on the ship. There is no internet on board so I'll catch up when I get back online again. I now have to figure out how to get my gu in a container with a hinged lid that cannot blow off...I am thinking that a small toothpaste container may do the trick. I'll let you know how it works out. :)

Tomorrow's Adventure? Learning to play polo!

Argentina is famous for several things: the tango, their red wine, and having world class polo teams. Lucky for me and a few others in their group, there is a polo instruction center just outside of Buenos Aires called Polo Elite. You can check them out on Facebook. This should be quite a hoot to ride a horse and try and hit a baseball with a giant mallet, especially since I have only ridden a horse a couple of times in my life. I will be asking for the smartest, gentlest, accommodating horse possible. :)

Losing myself among the dead at La Recoleta Cemetery

Without a doubt, the most beautiful place in Buenos Aires is La Recoleta Cemetery. Our tour included about 20 minutes at this historic and still active cemetery located in one of the most upscale neighborhoods in BA.

I have always thought cemeteries are special places to visit because they encourage us to reflect upon life, death, and those special people or experiences we cherish. This cemetery was no different. Taking up several city blocks and surrounded by a wall 20 feet high, the interior of the cemetery is a maze of cobblestone walkways between mausoleums both grand and modest in size and appearance. The tour buses were dropping their bus loads of people off every 10 minutes and the guides hustled the groups through the narrow streets of this living city of the dead in the most direct route to reach Eva Peron's grave site. Remember Eva Peron? Or perhaps more likely, do you remember the musical Evita which was based on her life? Eva Peron is something like a saint here in BA. People still hang pictures of her in their shops and houses. While I followed our tour group into the cemetery, I never made it to her grave. I began to walk slower and slower and then eventually gave up trying to keep up with the group winding through the mausoleums. Instead, I focused on the amazing sculptures on the mausoleums. They were so life-like in their expressions of grief, hope, and judgment. It was an appropriate reminder of just how precious life is when you are still clinging to it.

Doggie Kindergarten

Did you know that Buenos Aries has doggie kindergartens? They do according to our tour guide for this morning's city tour. Apparently the city has gone barkin' mad for dogs in the past several years and owning a dog is a critical part of your social status. If you are a well-to-do family in the city you must have a Golden Retriever. The most eligible bachelors have Rottweilers and the Paris Hilton wanna-be's will have lap dogs or purse dogs (meaning, the dog is small enough to be carried around in your purse). Since many people have places to go and things to do during the day, someone has to take care of all those dogs. As a result, dog walking is a big business. You can hire someone by the hour or for an entire day. We went by several parks that had designated areas for the dogs to sit in the shade and rest or to romp together. Those are the areas which our tour guide called "doggie kindergartens."