Jan 18-19

The weather forecast for Saturday the 18th of January called for moderately strong westerlies south of Invercargill, our departure point from New Zealand. Our expedition leader Nathan explained there had been a “slight change” in our itinerary—instead of heading first toward The Snares islands, we would sail directly to the Auckland Islands and hope to visit The Snares on our return. Visiting The Snares requires fairly calm seas as we are not allowed to go ashore and must negotiate a course close to the coastline. It was too windy to try that at this time, so we set sail for the Aucklands.

Our ship the Akademik Shokalskiy left around 4:00 pm. We were told to stow away our gear in the drawers and cabinets provided in our cabins. We stowed our clothing and camera equipment but didn’t bother with folders of papers, my water bottle, and a couple of souvenir coffee mugs. We sailed along the east coast of Stewart Island and then entered the open seas, where the wind started to pick up. Heading south, we experienced a crosswind and the ship began to roll. Initially it rolled only 10 degrees or so and the gentle rocking motion felt soothing.

Gradually, the wind from the west grew stronger and the ship began rolling side to side with gradually increasing amplitude. My water bottle bounced onto the floor and the stainless steel coffee mugs clattered about. A bag of snacks we purchased in Invercargill fell to the floor and burst open. Cashews, peanuts and wasabi peas scattered to all corners of the cabin.

It was a challenge to keep from rolling out of bed. There weren’t any grab bars and the guard rails only extended a foot or so from the ends of the bed. Before long it was dark and it was harder to gauge how far away the walls and doorway to the bathroom were. Cynthia and I found ourselves preoccupied with staying secure in our respective bunk beds. Our beds were aligned parallel to the ship’s axis so as the rolling increased, it took considerable effort to avoid falling out.

The ship rolled 20-40 degrees from vertical. I speculated that perhaps a hammock would work better than cabin bunks. At one point I did fall out of bed, bruising my hip and lacerating my arm on the carpet. I started thinking about how I might improvise a grab bar. I got out my belt and wrapped it through the eye of bolt on the window. I held on to the belt without letting go. Anything in the cabin not secured fell, rolled or bounced across the floor from one side of the cabin to the other. Suddenly a big wooden drawer beneath the bed went flying across the room. The rolling motion went on for a couple of hours and neither of us could fall asleep. I had to constantly brace for the next wave. I realized I would need a way to strap my body in bed if I were going to get any sleep.

After a few hours, I dreamed up a system that might work. Using a strap that we had used around our big duffel bag, I wrapped it around my torso and looped it through the other belt. The system worked; I could begin to relax, allowing my weight to be supported by the belt. I finally began to feel comfortable.

Then suddenly the ship lurched over to about 45 degrees. Before I knew it, I was practically dangling; my body weight strained against the strap. A few seconds later the strap broke and in a moment of terror, I went flying hard onto the floor. I landed flat on my back in the dark and had the wind knocked out of me. The impact was like the time I fell off a horse, but harder. I stayed down on the floor for a few minutes, trying to assess the damage and catch my breath. It was extremely painful. I could hardly get up. When I got back into bed, I could only lie flat on my back. Turning on my side was too painful. I had several bruises on my shoulders and back. I gripped the edge of the bed and held that position until dawn.

In daylight, our room looked like the aftermath of a really rowdy party. A privacy curtain around the bed had torn down, the nails ripped from the ceiling. An open drawer was in the middle of the floor, which was covered with cashews and wasabi peas. Papers and file folders were scattered all about.

I discovered that my bloody arm had left several stains on the sheets and comforter. I decided I should probably visit the onboard doctor, just to have him check to see if I had any broken ribs. I went to the clinic but didn’t see the doctor in. Apparently, he had suffered from seasickness most of the night. After a few minutes, he got up and checked me over. Any tingling sensations or numbness? No. Could I raise my arms over my head? Yes. Could I walk? Yes. Did I feel any sharp pain along my spine as he pressed against my ribs? No. I had some large bruises on my waist, my back and my shoulders, but it didn’t look like I had any serious injuries. I took a couple of ibuprofen tablets, got dressed and went to breakfast.

At breakfast, we shared our experiences with other passengers: one man’s head and face had several lacerations; a woman described crawling on the floor and banging her head against the wall. Another took a fall resulting in the privacy curtains being ripped down in his cabin as well. Many passengers told of getting seasick. One man even suffered a dislocated shoulder. Pure mayhem.

The rolling of the ship continued throughout the day and we tried to find refuge in our beds. The ocean didn’t calm until we sailed into Ross Bay on the north end of the Auckland Islands. Finally, we were able to get a good night’s sleep. My injuries were relatively minor, but I was glad that Cynthia had remembered to bring along bottles of ibuprofen and acetaminophen. One woman had to be evacuated by helicopter. I don’t know the details, but I wouldn’t be surprised if her condition had been related to the night of stormy seas.

We have now been aboard the ship for a week. We have not seen seas as rough as that first night. People’s injuries have been healing and everyone is developing sea legs. The man with the dislocated shoulder is keeping his arm in a sling. People seem to be adjusting to the motion and have overcome their initial seasickness. The pain in my back and shoulders diminishes with each day that passes. It’s very interesting to watch the process of the human body accommodating to these circumstances.

Our encounter with wildlife in the Auckland Islands and on Macquarie Island has been phenomenal. We have seen hundreds of seabirds from the ship, including petrels, shearwaters, prions, penguins and albatrosses. We have gone ashore many times where we have spent long leisurely moments with sea lions, elephant seals and four different species of penguins. “The Galapagos of the Southern Ocean” is a perfect description of the subantarctic islands. They are teeming with animals and birds that have no fear. If you simply sit on the beach, it’s not uncommon for a king penguin to walk up within a few feet and investigate you and your camera gear. At times, it’s hard to focus your camera, as the bird is too close. I’ve taken several hundred photographs already and now I’m winnowing them to select a few to share. But I won’t be able to post any photos on the blog until we return to New Zealand in about three weeks.

On board ship are some of the world’s most experienced and knowledgeable people about the southern ocean. When we are not on shore amongst the penguins, seals and sea lions, we have a full schedule of lectures by biologists, geologists and historians. So memories of our first night are fading fast. Now we are on course to the Ross Sea in Antarctica, where we are expected to arrive on January 28.

[I am not sure that this blog post will actually make it, but I will give it a try anyway. Future posts will be infrequent while we are at sea.]

David