The dreaded Drake Shake
Day 9 : Dec 18, 2019
On 9th day, we finally encounter the dreaded stomach churning Drake Shake as we sail back through the infamous Drake Passage.
A calm sea greeted us in the morning as the ship sailed through the Drake Passage on its return journey to Ushuaia. We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast at 9:30 am at La Terrazza on Deck 7. Back in the suite, we relaxed and enjoyed the views outside, trying hard to spot the whales on the horizon, as we kept locating whale spouts using our binoculars. Soon the sea started becoming choppy. By 12:00 noon the swell was 3 metres high and we could feel the churn in our stomachs. The much dreaded ‘Drake Shake’ was making an appearance!
We did a quick round of packing our suitcases. Meanwhile the rocking of the ship kept increasing. Looking out of the window we could see huge waves in the sea. But the Petrels were still keeping us company and flew along with the ship.
The rock-n-roll motion of the ship increased the churn in stomachs, making us nauseous. We decided to forego the lunch and lay down on the bed. We were confined to our suite for most of the day and spent the time in the bed.
At 5:00 pm, we went to the Explorer Lounge on Deck 6, for the briefing on Disembarkation Procedures. We were informed by the Expedition Leader that the disembarkation at Ushuaia would start from 8:30 am on Dec 20, 2019. The process of disembarkation and the transfer to Ushuaia airport, with a short trip to Tierra del Fuego National Park, was explained to us. The Expedition Leader Schalk Botha introduced the entire crew of Silver Cloud – the Expedition Team, Sailing Crew, Hospitality Staff, Housekeeping Staff, to the explorers. As various teams entered the lounge and made way to the stage, they were loudly cheered by all the explorers. Captain Mino addressed the gathering sharing his experiences of this particular voyage. A charity auction of the Navigation Map was conducted. We witnessed some fierce bidding by a few explorers and finally the map went under the hammer at USD 4200, won by an explorer from New Zealand. Meanwhile the swell started subsiding and the rocking motion of the ship decreased.
At 8:00 pm, we proceeded to The Restaurant on Deck 4 for the farewell dinner. At our table, we were hosted by the Assistant Expedition Leader Ms. Riette Botes and Assistant Expedition Leader Mr. Patrick Demus. We were joined by three other explorers. It was a leisurely dinner punctuated with some very interesting conversations. It was 11:00 pm when we finished the dinner. We retired back to our suite and called it a day.