Day 2 on Ocean Albatros: Preparing for Antarctica

Yesterday was the end of day two onboard Ocean Albatros and though we should have been headed to Antarctica last night, we’re still tucked away in the Beagle Channel.

Unless you’ve been caught out by the weather, like us, you’ll be half way to Antarctica, travelling across the Drake Passage by now…

Either way though, these are the activities and meetings you’d expect to have happen on day 2 – your first full day onboard with Albatros Expeditions.

Day 2: Preparing for Antarctica – and in our case, going nowhere fast in the Beagle Channel

The sea was calm last night in the Beagle Channel, so sleeping wouldn’t have been a problem, had we not been jetlagged.

Normally though, you’d be off on the Drake Passage, so whether that’s calm or flat for you is anyone’s guess!

We’ll run through our day in order, so you know exactly what to expect, but before we do, it’s worth mentioning that there is still awesome wildlife in the Beagle Channel!

Throughout the day we spotted sei whales a number of times (the third-largest whale, after blue and fin whales), along with a range of beautiful seabirds including albatross and imperial shags/cormorants.

It’s worth having a small pair of binoculars in your pocket at all times, and for serious photographers, your camera too.

Breakfast buffet

Breakfast was served up at the buffet restaurant from 7.30 am to 10 am.

I’m a sucker for a cooked breakfast and was adqueately impressed by what was on offer…

Pancakes, scrambled eggs (and an omlette station, if that’s more your thing), crispy bacon, pork breakfast sausages and much more. Yum!

There were also lighter, healthier options available, but honestly, I didn’t pay much attention to them 😉 I’ll check them out in the coming days, ready to report back.

IAATO briefing (10.30 am)

After breakfast, we headed back to the lounge for a compulsorary IAATO briefing.

This explained everything we needed to know to ensure we would be safe and minimise our impact on the environment and wildlife in Antarctica.

The guidelines were straight-forward and clearly explained, once again, in English (and Chinese, for those that needed it).

We’ll need to keep at least 5 metres away from wildlife, so plan to take our zoom lens out with us on the snow.

Antarctic stretching (12 pm)

Stretching/yoga was offered up on the front deck, but it quickly filled up so we didn’t join in.

Instead, we headed back to our cabin to relax and write our last blog post, before heading up for a late buffet lunch.

What a spot for it though!

Biosecurity

Across an hour or two, we were called group by group up to the louge to have our outer layers and gear inspected.

Anything that was new was a straight-pass, while old gear needed a good brush down and vacuum.

Then we moved down to the mudroom to be fitted with rubber boots and to disinfect hiking poles and tripods.

This is to help prevent the spread of avian flu and to avoid introducing any contaminents to the continent.

After the disappointing news that our sailing was delayed, it was exciting to be down in the mudroom preparing for our landings!

Dumpling making (4.30 pm)

Again, we headed back to our room to watch a movie/finish a blog post, but others headed up to the kitchen to learn how to make dumplings that would be served for dinner.

There haven’t been a great deal of activities onboard yet (which I had read was a slight critique of this company compared with others), but our days have felt busy enough with meetings.

It will be interesting to see how the next few days feel without all the compulsorary meetings – though we might all be too seasick to take advantage of any organised activies as we’ll soon be crossing the Drake!!

Captain welcome drinks and recap (6.15 pm)

Every evening we gather in the lounge to recap the day and what was seen, and to discuss the following days.

And we got the news we were all waiting for… there is a gap in the weather from tomorrow evening so we’ll be charging ahead, not only to Antarctica, but below the Arctic Circle!

We’ve been warned the crossing will be rough, so we’re not expecting it to be a lot of fun, but we’re all ready to make a move and feel excited to hopefully still make it to Antarctica.

It certainly demonstrates the benefit of choosing a sailing that gives you more time in Antarctica, if possible.

The original sailing we were booked on (in December) gave us four days on the continent, whereas this one was due to give us six. 

Now, we’ll only end up for four or so, but that’s still something to be grateful for – and it certainly gave us reason to raise our glasses!

Dinner (7 pm)

Dinner was once again served in the main restaurant, but we headed up to the 7th floor to join some other guests in the hot rocks restaurant.

It was a great night, with tasty food and great company!

Dining there is included in the cost of your sailing, it’s just a matter of booking in when you’d like to head up.

You’ll be invited to choose two proteins, but they’re also happy to serve another portion (which Nath took full advantage of).

Both of us chose the sirloin, while I also had a little lamb chop and Nathan had the tuna (in a double-serve because it was that good).

Complimentary wine is served with dinner in both restaurants, and they also announced that afternoon/evening drinks at the bar would be half-price until we got to Antarctica – yahoo!

After dinner we had a lovely time chatting with another guest up on the viewing deck before turning in. 

We had another night of calm weather in the channel which ensured a comfortable night’s sleep, though we expect tomorrow night will be anything but, as we set off around 7pm.

Still, no complaints here – we’ll finally be on the move!