Day 2 of the Drake

It's the second day of cruising through the Drake Passage. So far the seas have been pretty calm. The Orlova rocks from side to side, but we have not experienced the infamy that are the Drake Shakes. (Knock on wood.) For most of us, it's been an uneventful cruise so far. If anything, it's been sleepy -- there's been a lot of napping, but we can't tell if it's from the sea sickness pills/patches, rocking of the boat, or the 3 square meals plus afternoon tea. Whatever it is though, it's been very restful.

The one exception to has been Ronaldo... he's been waylaid by the Drake. Fortunately it hasn't been violent upheaval of food or anything, but he's been in bed more often than out of it for the past couple days. I feel bad for him, but am hopeful that once we hit land his symptoms will disappear.

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I've never been much of a bird watcher. Sure, I have taken pictures of them from time to time, but it's not the norm. However, onboard the Orlova is a ornitholigist, aka the "Bird Man". His excitement is highest when sharing his knowledge about these winged animals, whether in lecture, on the stern, or in the lounge. His expertise is quite handy -- I can usually tell the difference between an albatross and petrel, but David is the resident expert on the topic, and I look to him to name the species of birds that have been gliding around our vessel.

In the past, I rarely took pictures of birds, but I've come to enjoy it. I think the reason is that it's a new skill in photography for me. Birds glide, dash, cut, dive -- These actions, intertwined with the rolling of the Orlova, require as much fast reaction time and luck as it does camera skill to get a shot. To compensate for this, on my camera, I've been shooting pictures in the high speed continuous option, with the full expection that I might only get 1 out of 10 images. Since I'm using a digital SLR, I have no regrets about shooting in excess. It allows me to pick and choose the best later, and concentrate on the subject at hand.

Another thing that I was able to photograph today was our first iceberg. After the expedition leader annouced it over the intercom, many of us quickly headed up to the bow to see iceberg numero uno in person. The iceberg was a bit of let down (it was tiny) -- just a small chunk of ice floating in the middle of nowhere. But it reminded us that soon we'd be entering waters where many more icebergs would be seen, and that Antarctica was drawing closer minute by minute.

The reason I bring all this up is because photography from the outside decks have been one of the pasttimes we have here on the ship. Life on the boat for the past couple days has been slow. People are anxious and impatient -- we all want to disembark ASAP. But like most things in life, we are required to be patient. So we wait, knowing that the time is coming. (It just so happens the time is tomorrow, mid morning.)