Heading south towards Antarctica across the famous ‘ Drake Passage ’
Toby Tyrrell , January 9 , 2013
This morning a lot of people took their last chance to shop or go for a walk . The deadline for getting back from shore leave was 12pm , and shortly after 1pm we cast off from the jetty . It took a couple of hours to get out of the harbour and bay , stopping to test lifeboats on the way , and then , all of a sudden ( so it seemed ), the horizon through the window was going up and down and the ship rocking slowly back and forth as we got out into the ocean swell . It was sad to leave behind the Falklands but the predominant feeling is of anticipation as we are at last able to get started with the science we came here to do .
Last view of the Falklands , penguins on the beach at Gypsy Cove @ Jeremy Young
This afternoon at 4pm we had a general meeting of all the scientists on board , to enable everyone to get an overview of what the science is about , how this cruise will work , and what the daily schedule will be .
The ship is rather full for this cruise , and this was evident as 35 of us only just squeezed into the ship ’ s conference room for the meeting .
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