My Antarctica Log -
Day #1...
Leaving the port in Ushuaia.
February 3, 2006

Coming On-Board

We’re here! We’re here!

Well, we aren’t actually in
Antarctica yet…but we are on the boat making our way out there.

We met some people at breakfast this morning that had just come from their respective cruises.

One man was on the same boat that we are now on. He said he had a great time and that we were going to enjoy it. He also said
that we were definitely going to be sick for the first two days. (I would also find out once we got on our boat that it’s not a ‘cruise’
that we are taking but an ‘expedition’ as this is an expedition boat – pretty cool, huh?)

The other couple at breakfast had a different experience on their massive cruise boat. The woman’s arm was in a splint. There
was a good reason for that: 25 people onboard their boat had gotten injured after their boat broadsided a 30-foot wave. The boat
was at a 20 degree angle that caused all of the dishes and glasses (and I’m assuming many other things) to break. They had to
come back into Ushuaia to take the injured people to the hospital.

Before talking to these people, I didn’t have anything with me for motion sickness. Now I am in possession of Dramamine and my
little wristbands that apparently work for stuff like this. I tried to get a patch but have learned that it can only be obtained by
prescription. Oops. Maybe I should have looked into that earlier? Oh well. Too late now.

But back to our boat…

We were all greeted with a champagne glass filled with orange juice and sandwiches. Once we unloaded our stuff in our room, we
went back to the lounge to hear the introductions of the crew. It took everything in my power to stay awake during these. I
couldn’t believe I was so tired. Alicia reminded me that it was probably the Dramamine. That made perfect sense. We went
outside to watch our boat take off for the Antarctic waters. Then I decided to test my bunk-bed out by taking a nap on it.

The nap was short-lived as it was time to do a safety lifeboat drill. We geared up and headed out. Being in the fresh air did
wonders for me as this was all it took to really ‘wake me up’.

It wasn’t long before we were having our first dinner aboard our boat. And let me say that it shocked the you-know-what out of
me at how good it was. We ate dinner with a couple guys that are roommates with each other. We had some wine (which, of
course, led to
more wine later on in the night). I can already that this trip is going to rock.

Now it’s just time to make it through Drake’s Passage…
Back to Antarctica.
Our boat: The Explorer.