Crossing the Antarctic Convergence Area

11th February 2018 ABATING CONDITIONS IN THE DRAKE PASSAGE, CROSSINGTHE ANTARCTIC CONVERGENCE AREA. FOGGY WELCOME TO ANTARCTIC WATERSWinds veering more to the West welcome us to this cloudy and foggy day.Despite the low visibility the fair winds decreasing to about 20-25knfrom yesterday’s strong blows, allow us to start steering due South andset more canvas. Outer Jib, Middle staysails and Top Gallants are set,giving us speeds over 6kn. Likewise, life on board is becoming graduallymore comfortable on the abating winds and seas. Increasing numbers ofpeople keep showing up and joining the meals, their watch duties or thetalks offered during the day.On her way, Europa fully entered Antarctic waters, crossing the PolarFront. We definitely left behind the temperate Sub-polar area andentered the cold and denser Antarctic waters that sink under the watermass from the North, producing instability and/or changes in weatherconditions. Today this showed up with smoother sea state, as theconfused short swell became longer and predominantly from a SSW-lydirection, together with the appearance of foggy conditions, quitecommonly found just South of the Antarctic Convergence Area.The steep decrease in surface water temperature that all thisrepresents, indicate a biological boundary for many species as well.Being already quite close to South Shetland Islands, sure more and moreAntarctic related species will start to show up. So far, the firsts Capepetrels were spotted during the day, showing their beautiful black andwhite plumage while joining us on our way South. Several Wilson stormpetrels seem to enjoy the tough conditions of the Drake Passage, not tobe fooled by their fragile looks; these small birds can be foundeverywhere in the South Atlantic and Antarctic waters, further away fromland than many other birds while dealing with the infamous weather ofone of the roughest oceans on the planet.An introduction to all those species plus many others that can be foundin these waters and in Antarctica itself, was done today by Jordi. Inthis talk we could learn about the different seabirds that we have achance of seeing during the trip, their biology, their habits and wewere also given some identification tips.During the day we all continued with the preparations for our soon tocome first landfall in Antarctica. Biosecurity procedures need to betaken care of, plus the mandatory attendance to the “InternationalAssociation of Antarctic Tour Operators (IAATO) Briefing”. Bark Europa,like all other tour operator companies working in Antarctica, belongs tothis membership organization that advocates for environmentally friendlyand safe touristic operations in Antarctica. That talk sets the rulesand a code of conduct for touristic activities, in the frame of theAntarctic Treaty agreements. Good to have it today as we just have 110nmto cover until arrival to our first planned spot to land in the SouthShetlands, after having sailed 112nm during the last 24 hours.The gradual wind shift during the day, veering to a NW-ly in theafternoon and steadying to around 20kn, let us set all the remainingcanvas, but the Gaff Top sail. For the first time on this trip Europaunfolds practically all her sails, and braced Close-hauled on Starboardtack attains speeds over 8kn, thus providing a chance to try a landfalltomorrow afternoon.