Drake Lake - Last day at sea
Day 10 : Dec 19, 2019
As our ship navigates through the Drake Passage on the 10th day, a calm & serene Drake Lake gives us great relief on our last day at sea.
Drake Lake
It was middle of night at 2:30 am, when we woke up to a calm Drake Lake with the sea lit up with a pre-dawn diffused light. Greatly relieved, we enjoyed the scenic beauty of the Drake Passage for some time and went back to sleep. The ship was sailing smoothly now and there was no rock-n-roll motion.
We woke up at 7:00 am and enjoyed the morning tea. Quickly, we freshened up for the day and at 8:30 am went to The Restaurant on Deck 4 for a leisurely 4-course breakfast.
Environmental Practices on Silver Cloud
At 10:00 am we had an appointment with Mr. Iurii Gladkov, the Environmental Engineer of the ship. We met him at the Ship Reception area and had a quick chat on the environmental practices followed by Silver Cloud on its cruises to Antarctica. Antarctica being an environmentally fragile zone is governed by strict policies, protocols and procedures mandated by the Antarctic Treaty. All cruise lines adhere to this treaty and ensure that pristine environment is preserved for the future generations.
Mr. Gladkov enlightened us on the environment friendly measures adopted on Silver Cloud. All fresh water was sourced from the sea. The potability of the water was endured through desalination by reverse osmosis process. The waste water was classified into Grey Water from kitchen and Black Water from toilets. The Grey Water was recycled for flushing use after due treatment. The Black Water was treated & filtered and then released into the high seas. The treatment of waste water was a multi-step process using chemicals, ultra-violet rays, filters etc. The food waste from kitchen and restaurants was treated in digester plant using bacteria. The bones & solids were segregated and stored in the cold room, and subsequently unloaded at the shore. The paper waste was incinerated and the ash was unloaded at the high seas. All plastic & metal waste was stored on the ship and unloaded at the shore. In adherence to the environmental regulations, the ship used 0.1 Sulphur Diesel as the fuel. It was extremely heartening to know that our ship Silver Cloud was following environmentally sound practices on the cruise and was doing its bit to keep Antarctica environmentally secure.
Back in our suite, we quickly completed packing our suitcases and attached the Blue identification tags provided by Silversea Cruises. Thereafter, we went up to the Tor’s Observation Lounge on Deck 9 and parked ourselves comfortably to enjoy the view as the ship cruised back towards the Beagle Channel. We enjoyed the vast expanse of the Drake Passage over multiple cups of hot tea, as the ship cruised past ice packs, small icebergs and brash ice. At 12:30 pm, we went down to the suite to keep our cameras and freshen up a bit before heading out for lunch.
Dolphins!
At 12:45 pm while we were looking out of the balcony window, we suddenly spotted a pair of Dolphins leaping out of sea at a great speed. Executing a sequence of leaping in & out of water this pair went below the ship and disappeared out of sight. We were very much excited to have watched the sight even though it happened extremely fast and didn’t give us a chance to even grab our cameras from the table. Some sights have to be just captured by eyes and kept eternal in the mind! Soon there was an announcement by the Captain about the sighting of the Dolphins.
At 1:00 pm we went up to La Terrazza on Deck 7 for lunch. After enjoying the lunch, we went back to the Tor’s Observation Lounge on Deck 9 and enjoyed the views. At 4:00 pm we spotted the landmass as the ship approached the southern tip of South America signifying the end of Drake Passage. We went down the Panorama Lounge on Deck 8 and relaxed over cups of hot tea while enjoying the views outside.
The final recap
At 6:00 pm, we went to the Explorer Lounge on Deck 6, for the final recap of the voyage by the Expedition team. We were informed that the ship was scheduled to reach the mouth of Beagle Channel at 9:45 pm and a Pilot would board the ship to navigate through the Beagle Channel and sail up to Ushuaia. The ship was scheduled to dock at Ushuaia port at 1:00 am the following day.
We went to La Terrazza on Deck 7 for dinner and enjoyed our last dinner on the ship. Back in the suite, we kept our tagged suitcases outside the suite door. The suitcases were supposed to be picked up by the cruise staff and transferred to the chartered flight at Ushuaia airport. We had to collect our suitcases at Santiago airport on our arrival.
We retired for the day at 10:30 pm. The ship was now cruising through the Beagle Channel. Our hearts were heavy with mixed feelings. We had a fantastic expedition and our beautiful voyage was coming to a close. We also now looked forward to returning back home.
