Last day at the Drake Passage

Strong winds and growing seas all the way until arrival to the South Shetland Islands

It is only in the late afternoon when the spectacular Smith Island comes into view. The heavily glaciered Imeon Range, with its highest point Mount Foster shooting up to 2,105 meters above sea level, remains veiled by a band of thick low clouds. But the lower slopes are to be seen ahead of us. Having a glimpse of it doesn’t mean that we have reached our destination; still, our first intended landfall at Deception Island lies miles ahead.

Smith Island stretches over 32 km in length and is about 8 km wide. Located 45 nautical miles from Deception, it offers the most spectacular first sight of the South Shetland Islands.

A group of Antarctic islands that had to wait until relatively recent times to be discovered. It was not until 1819 when William Smith, an English merchant sailing in his brig, the Williams, from Valparaiso to Montevideo, was blown off his route and ended up this far south, spotting these new lands for the first time.

For us, it has not been the easiest way to get here. A proper sailing Drake Passage, with little calms and lots of strong winds and growing swells. A bit of sunshine, most of it overcast and rainy. Drake must have asked itself why to change its moody weather and seas now that it is just the last day before Europa reaches Antarctica. So before arriving at the South Shetlands, for today, of course, the sailing has been a hard one too.

The wind blows at 45 kn in the early morning. The main upper topsail gives up and rips, not a long one, but enough to have to douse it. It will not be set again until it can be stitched whilst aloft. Anyway, the big seas and this wind also make for taking away the fore upper topsail as well.

As the hours pass, the sun shines for a while, and the conditions abate. And when the situation eases down, it is time to set more canvas. Hands on the outer jib halyard pull it up, the larger Desmond replaces the small Aap over the main deck, all while it blows a more steady, less gusty 30 kn.

A day of strong westerlies becomes an evening of southwesterlies. Gusts of 40 kn are back, rain squalls pass over us. Time to take some sails down and spring aloft to furl them again, both to better deal with the shifting winds and to adjust speed to get to Deception Island in the morning. We have reached the South Shetland Islands.

A last day of an exceptional sailing crossing of the Drake Passage, a day as well to prepare and get ready for the upcoming time we are to spend in Antarctica.

Time to be familiarised with how to behave and operate in Antarctica, and to be hands-on with the mandatory biosecurity procedures to minimise the risk of introducing anything alien to such a unique environment. Measures that nowadays are more important than ever due to the recent outbreaks of HPAI (Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza) that have resulted in the death of hundreds of thousands of seabirds around the planet.

Today is also the last time we are at open sea before arriving at coastal waters, the last chance for the moment to join our guides on deck identifying and counting the diversity and number of seabirds that can be spotted around the ship. Observations framed within the citizen science projects in which Europa is taking part. This collective is a community created to bring opportunities for research and public education by connecting scientists and research institutes with tour operators in the polar regions.

And today, south of the Polar Front, the diversity of birds braving the harsh conditions of the Drake has changed from a bit further north. Southern fulmars show up, flocks of Cape petrels and prions, and on a couple of occasions the elegant light-mantled albatrosses pay us a visit, soaring effortlessly in the strong winds. Some of them can often be seen further south than other albatrosses; even some individuals, now and then, are spotted near the edge of the Antarctic pack ice.