Sailing the wild Drake

10th February 2018 SAILING THE WILD DRAKE PASSAGESun shining through the thick clouds accompanies us for the first coffeeof the day, but soon it became overcast and drizzle. That, together withthe spray of the 4m swell crashing against the hull, made us wet duringthe journey.Strong SSW winds of about 30kn welcome the new day, as we keepmotorsailing under Lower and Middle Staysails, Spanker, Inner Jib andFore Top Mast Staysail, the latter one succumbing to the harshconditions of the Drake Passage and shredding all along. Soon the crewstrike and furl it, waiting for better conditions to assess the damageand probably bending it off to repair, looking for a replacement sail inthe meantime.Slightly veering and increasing winds, blowing now up to 35kn made agood opportunity to set more canvas, stop the engine and sail once more.After the morning coffee-time Top Sails are unfurled and set, joinedstraight away by the Courses, all hoisted counting with the help of theones of us that were on duty and already overcoming the seasickness. Thework on deck represents an exhilarating experience for many of us, whilewaves occasionally wash over the decks and Europa behaves like aroller-coaster.Sailing on that fashion and now steering on a 145º course, our speedincrease to over 8.5kn.Gradually along the journey the weather deteriorates as the wind picksup while the seas grow. The Drake was about to start showing off itsfierce reputation, at least for a few hours. Conditions to be afraid offor the ones of us suffering from seasickness but welcomed for a fewthat wanted to experience the rough seas and weather of one of thePlanet’s most dreaded seas. The Drake Passage and the surrounding waterslay in a vast belt of swell and wind that go around the globe in the midand high latitudes of the southern hemisphere. This region of the 50ºand 60º latitude south, has earned the dramatic names of “furiousfifties” and “screaming sixties”.In the Drake Passage, which is sort of a narrow gateway betweenAntarctica and South America, the temperature difference over arelatively narrow band of latitude produces sudden and dramatic changesin weather and wind. The wind predominantly blows from a Westerlydirection attaining at times prodigious force. Like this afternoon, whenthe increasing swell surged on torrents of water pouring over the decks,as the gusts picked up to over 45kn. Under these conditions it wasnecessary to reduce sail. First the Middle Staysails are furled, andlater on, under a good Force 9 conditions, the courses are clewed up andstowed away as well. Now on our way to Antarctica (now distant 222nmafter having sailed 145nm during last 24h) our speed dropped to about 5kn.Even some of the most seasoned sailors started to feel the effects ofseasickness on this uncomfortable Drake Passage. Not just this, but therough seas presented some troubles to all of us as well, making walkingaround the ship and having our meals a whole adventure. Not to mentionthe difficulties the permanent crew had to overcome to clean the ship,take care of the night jobs during their watches or bake bread on agalley where everything flies over… including the main baking ingredients.It was not until after midnight that the increasingly rough conditionsstarted to abate. We all cross fingers hoping that tomorrow will be ourlast full day at sea before reaching Antarctic shores. Nevertheless, noweverybody can be proud of having experienced the harshness of sailing inhigh latitudes, necessary to reach the Southern continent that ofteninvolves rough conditions. It’s admirable to feel the strength of ourbeloved old Europa, riding wild seas and dealing with strong winds. Herhull today brought us to reach the Antarctic Convergence Area, where thetemperate Sub Antarctic waters meet the colder Antarctic ones. As wesail along, today the surface water temperature that has been prettystable around 7ºC since our departure, started to drop in a short spanof time to approximately 4ºC, and will keep decreasing slightly aroundanother degree until reaching the colder Antarctic shores.The wild weather and rough seas didn’t invite much to stay out on deckto take pictures or spot wildlife. However, many of us got spectacularshots of the impressive sea and sailing conditions, and also got aglimpse of the small pod of Hourglass dolphins that joined us for awhile during the morning. They usually show their striking black andwhite colour pattern while bowriding ships, escorting them for a whileon their way across the Drake Passage. This beautiful animal is the onlyspecies of dolphin that inhabits these cold open waters in the zonearound the Antarctic Convergence, also called Polar Front.