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?