Back Home

For the trip home, I had a great group of traveling companions: Sam, Stella, Patrick, Jesse, and Chris.  The flight from Punta Arenas to Santiago went very smoothly and passed more quickly than expected.  We had a few hours to kill so we got some dinner and then I decided to do some duty-free shopping.  I went a little crazy in the duty-free alcohol section in Santiago and bought four bottles of wine and three bottles of Pisco.  Since I bought them in a duty-free shop, they kept the bottles and gave them to me on the jetway after having my bags searched.  I had a row to myself on the way from Santiago to Dallas which definitely made the flight much more comfortable for me.  We picked up our bags and said goodbye to Jesse.  Stella, being a non-US citizen, took a lot longer to get through immigration.  She eventually showed up in time for a quick goodbye to her, Patrick, and Sam.  It was probably good that it was quick as I tend to get mushy and teary-eyed at goodbyes much more now that I am older.  It was sad to see the last of the seal team go as I had really enjoyed their company and their letting me be a part of their adventure.  I met and enjoyed spending time with a lot of great people on this trip, but they were definitely my favorites.

Now that I had my bags, I had some creative packing to do.  Since liquids are not allowed on US flights, the trick came in figuring out how to pack seven glass bottles into my checked luggage in a way that would keep them all from breaking.  It took a little time, but luckily I brought a huge suitcase.  The flight from Dallas to
Denver seemed the longest, but I made it home without any problems.  A soon as I got my bags, I opened up the one with all of the bottles, and was VERY relieved to see that they all made it safely.

I'll continue to add a post every few days as I go back and fill in moments and upload pictures now that I have a bit more time and am on solid ground.

Returning Home

I'm leaving Chile today to head home.  My flight leaves at 1:55pm EDT and I get back to Denver at 10:40am tomorrow (AA 0701 for those at the airport who might want to stop by).  It's been a great trip, but I'm really looking forward to getting home.  I'll work on a summary post on the flights home.

Almost to Punta Arenas

The real-time map shows that we are 19 nmi from Punta Arenas with the

Drake, the South Atlantic, and Antarctica behind us. I'm scheduled to

disembark from the LMG tomorrow, check into the Jose Nogueira hotel,

turn in the massive amount of gear that I was issued, and still wrap up

some work on the LMG and in the warehouse. Needless to say, I'm going

to have a busy day, so there might not be a post tomorrow. Good news is

that I'll be sleeping in a hotel and not on the boat. Also, I'll

hopefully be getting some different food. Carl, if you ever read this,

no offense to you or your staff as I know you have limited means with

regard to your land-based competition.

Not Getting Off Easy

We finished the Drake yesterday, but the South Atlantic is not letting

us go home without a fight. I think most have spent too much time in

their bunk as I'm starting to see more of my companions throughout the

day, but for lesser amounts of time. I've given up on the Melcizine as

it makes me too groggy and incoherent. We are supposed to make it to

the Straits of Magellan this evening and be in Punta Arenas around

0400. I've also had about all I can of the ship's food. For dinner

last night I had an orange, some Fruit Loops, and a sugar cookie. I'm

REALLY craving a good pizza.

Wanted: Cast Iron Stomach

After dinner, the lounge was pretty full with people for movie night.

Last night's feature was "The Big Lebowski". I started off doing pretty

good, then all the sudden I needed to lie down. I got and made it to my

bunk about as quickly as I could. After 10-15 minutes, I was doing much

better, but figured I was in bed for the night. My roommate had just

started watching the first season of Deadwood, so we stayed up for three

episodes until we reached the third disc. It was missing and in it's

place was a sticky with "I have the third disc, Phil". As far as we

know, there is no Phil on board. :(

I didn't sleep too much as I kept sliding around and rolling off my

side. I had also taken a couple of naps that day, so my body had taken

just about all of the lying down that it could. I can only lay in bed

for so long and then my insides seem to get sore. Not sure why, but

keeping my bladder empty seems to help. This was a no-win situation.

The Meclizine was making me very thirsty so I had to drink a lot of

water but then in order to sleep I needed to keep going to the bathroom

every hour which in turn made my stomach unhappy. Needless to say, it

was a VERY long night.

I got out of bed around 0930 this morning and went to the galley to find

some leftovers from breakfast. A few pieces of bacon and a slice of

French toast was all I figured I should eat. I'm writing this from the

lounge on the first deck which has been a chore. I'm in a chair without

casters and I'm still sliding around. Sometimes I have to hold onto the

table, which is bolted down, just to keep from sliding across the room.

The ship is two people short of maximum capacity, but you wouldn't know

it from the number of people not in their bunks. The ship seems fairly

deserted and for good reason. Speaking of which, I think I need to lay

down now.

"The Drake Will Be Nasty"

We left Palmer this morning. The wind was very strong which delayed our

departure a bit. There is usually a traditional 'plunge' done by some

of the residents when the ship departs. The weather was pretty nasty

with a lot of snow and a 35+ knot wind so we figured it wasn't going to

happen. However, right as we were leaving the pier, several figures

emerged from Biolab darting for the pier. All were in their skivvies

except one wearing a dress. Most were my cohorts from the previous

evenings jump.

The captains premonitions about the crossing appear to be true. It's

supposed to get rough about midnight tonight. This might be my last

post for a bit as the whiteboards around the ship are blank except for:

"Please secure everything tonight. The Drake will be nasty."

Polar Plunge

Just a quick update.  Last night I did the traditional 'polar plunge' by jumping off the pier into the water.  It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, but there was alcohol involved which might have taken off the edge.  The roughest part was running the 50 yards barefoot in the snow to the hot tub.  I uploaded the pictures to the photo album.  I think they are still G-rated. :)

We leave Palmer tomorrow morning, so we have moved aboard the ship.  Last night was my last night sleeping on land.  For the next 4-5 days, my email will be back to:

mike dot forrester at lmg dot usap dot gov

The wind really picked up last night and it has been raining lightly on and off.  I don't think that I've ever had it rain while there is a lot of snow on the ground.  In any case, the captain said that the last crossing was probably the best in 12 years.  Then he supposedly said that because of unusually long string of fairly good crossings, he is due for a 'good shellacking'.  Hopefully not. :)