The Drake Passage – on the Russian Ice-Breaker!

On the early morning of Tuesday February 22^nd we awoke at 2:00 a.m. for a 3:00 breakfast and a 3:30 bus to the domestic airport in BA for a 5:30 flight to Ushuaia, the most southernmost city in the world. After a 3-hour flight, the arrival into the airport was simply the most spectacular flight one could imagine. Snow capped jagged peaks, simple but beautiful houses rising up the hills in a bay surrounded by these mountains. The approach was hard to put into words, we were all so excited to be another step nearer to the ship and our individual goals for the marathon. Only the pictures can due justice to this city.

When we arrived, we were given the day to explore before we boarded the ship at around 4:00 pm. Mike and I took a stroll around town to do some last minute shopping including presents we were supposed to buy for our Russian hosts at their base on Antarctica. We decided to take a short taxi ride to the Hotel del Glacier where I will be spending the last 3 days of the trip for the 2^nd Fin del Mundo (End of the World) Marathon on March 6^th (the day before my 48^th birthday. The hotel was simply fabulous, sitting high above the city and bay with spectacular views down below and an alpine setting like a ski lodge.

There I met and spent some time with Reto from Switzerland. Reto has run around 123 marathons he said, many of them back to back (consecutive weeks). I had never met anyone who had done more than 10 or so. When he does Antarctica, this will be his seventh continent. He has worked as a banker most of his life and ran his first marathon when he was 32 years old and had such a bad experience he said that he did not do his next one until he was 40, over 8 years later. Then after he did a few, he found out about this 100-marathon club and set his goals for that. Reto also told me about someone he knows in Germany who has done over 1250 sanctioned marathons, sometimes doing as many as 50-80 in one year! This is unimaginable for someone who thought (and still does) that 3 in one year is fantastic.

After spending some relaxing time in the lodge over a cappuccino, we took a ride back to the town center, where we finished our shopping. We ended up in a parilla (BBQ) restaurant where we had some of the best lamb and sirloin we have tasted and were pretty full up when we boarded the bus to the ship. We were very excited now!

On the bus, I met John, whom it turns out had a long career with Nortel in Toronto where he has spent his whole life. John used to be head of HR, before politics and culture caused him to set about new careers. His story was also very inspiring, as he has led since then non-profits, retailing companies and for-hire CEO jobs, which he just completed an assignment for. He was also very reassuring that starting over in a new job or company in your late 40’s (like he did) was and could be a very good move to do something you really like to do!

Ship boarding!!!

After walking up the gangway to our ship, we were shown our cabin. Since we had reserved so long ago and I wanted to get as nice as I could, we got one of the very few “Peregrine Suites”. This had two separate rooms and beds, desk, refrigerator, coffee, lots of storage, etc. It also had a small TV with a remote. It turns out it gets 2 channels, one of the front of the ship video camera and one showing the statistics of the journey (latitude, longitude, temperature etc). We decided that there would not be much fighting over the remote!

We first had the mandatory ship briefing where they tried to explain everything over a big buffet of food and drinks. This after a large late lunch was bit much but we made it through that. Then they had a “surprise” lifeboat drill where we all dressed up in our warm clothes and life jackets. We all hoped we would not end up in freezing waters in a lifeboat that is supposed to hold 65 passengers and crew.

This was followed by our first shipboard group dinner where the talk turned to seasickness and everyone at the table compared their patches, medicines and pressure point bands. I of course stated that I had never been sick on a ship, plane, train, car or any other moving object in the world. But it got me thinking too much … Then after I saw Doctor Clair – an older weathered Aussie who had last been stationed in Alice Springs – I also told her I had never been sick. She said something like “bah humbug”, that experienced sailors had gotten sick in the Drake Passage where we were heading. They called it the “Drake Shake” and the last journey had waves and swells something like 15 meters high. She also said something about a large dinner and food etc. All of this got me thinking and freaking myself out way too much!

Immediately afterwards I had psyched myself into thinking I would be sick any moment and started really feeling that initial stomach pains of something to come. When I mentioned this to Susanne at the “bar”, she offered to get me a patch, which I had never used. I said ok and then later put it on behind the ear. I am not sure if it helped or just as a placebo, but after talking a bit and distracting myself with her worries about running a marathon on the ice, being so heavy, etc, I was ready for a good nights sleep.

We awoke to heavy seas and swells and things moving around, but later they called it the “Drake Lake” because the passage was so calm! The next morning I awoke feeling good and ready for the next steps of the journey!