Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 02/11/2014 - 19:12
Forums
Joint Antarctic School Expedition 2014

I heard you will either travel by ship or by air to King George Island. When will you find out? Which is better? How long does the ship take for the journey? Are the seas typical rough?

Wed, 02/12/2014 - 19:36

Juan Botella

Thank you for your questions. We are now sure we will travel by airback and forth to King George Island and not by sea. I crossed the
Drake Passage three years ago during a PolaTREC expedition an it was
not fun for me, even though we did not encounter terrible weather. I
was very sick depsite having been sailing for 65 days because I am the
worst sailor I have ever met. So for me, I am happy to fly there and
back. For other people who have never experienced the crossing by sea,
like m students, might have been better to have gone by boat.
The Drake Passage is considered to be the roughest part of the world
for sailing. Winds blow around Antarctica without any obstacle that
will slow them down, like mountains, trees etc. The ocean also has a
very strong current that moves around Antarctica, the Antarctic
Circumpolar Current. This current gets narrowed at the passage because
the Antarctic Peninsula and the tip of South America are relatively
close. This makes the current move faster and more turbulent. So
strong winds coupled with a strong current and large weather systems
makes this spot really rough, even for good sailors.
I believe last time it took us two days just to cross the passage. We
then sailed for half day through the channels in Tierra del Fuego, el Estrecho
de Magallanes, between Ushuaia and Punta Arenas. So a total of two days
and a half to three days.
Thanks again for the questions, I look forward to receiving more as
the expedition progresses.
Juan.