Educational Learnings

Thus far this blog has been dedicated to the experiences I have had on my expedition to Antarctica. These next few postings are going to be dedicated to educational learning's with pictures I captured.

1. What is the difference between the Arctic and Antarctic?
2. Icebergs - how are they made? Are there more than one kind? Where do they go?
3. What whales did we see? How do they feed? How do you tell them apart?
4. Penguins -Boy, did we see penguins. What types? Who are their predators? Do they stay on the ice?
5. Seals-What types and food source?
6. Who owns Antarctica?
7. More, more, more

These postings should be educational to all, but I want to make sure all the students have some of their science, wildlife and geography questions answered. I'm not an expert, but I learned quite a bit on this expedition and I want to share this knowledge with the students. The list above is not a comprehensive list, so if there is something specific you would like to know or understand, please send me your question through the comment section.

Cape Horn, Beagle Channel and our return to Ushuaia

It is 12:30 am and I write this as we make our way up the Beagle channel to Ushuaia, Argentina. Earlier today, we passed Cape Horn, the southernmost point of the Americas. This formation is part of the country of Chile, so we can only come within twelve miles because our ship did not register to go within Chilean waters. You should be able to see the Horn in the background.

Cape Horn was encompassed with clouds which gave it an ominous feel. This is a significant navigation point on the map that sailors throughout the centuries have highlighted. It was almost a sign for them that they had passed the oceanic right of passage through the southern ocean on their way to the Atlantic. It is now something I have in common with a select group of ocean fairing people. This is a pretty select bond with these people when you think about it.

The Drake Passage had rough waters for the entire passage. When we were not rocking from bow to stern then it was port to starboard. People were running into the walls of the ship or often times into each other. Now that we are in the Beagle Channel it is very calm. In about half an hour, a pilot boat will guide us the rest of the way into port at Ushuaia. My bunk mate Sean Hannaby and I have our bags packed. The members of our expedition will have a 6:00 am wake-up call. Breakfast will be at 7:00 am and I will disembark with all those expedition members who need to make it to the Ushuaia airport for early flights.

At 5:15 I looked out the porthole window of our cabin and tried to decide whether to brave the cold morning and wind one more time. Going out on deck to capture one more picture, one more experience that I could relate when I arrived home. For a moment, I decided to get back in bed and try to get a few more minutes of sleep. It was going to be a long couple of days flight to get back home. Then I remembered the commitment to myself of getting as much out of this opportunity as possible. I put on my clothes and coat and made the final walk to the top deck. I walked out into the cold wind and watched as the sailors brought us into dock. Watching as sailors pulled the massive ropes to shore that would hold the ship in place. There I reflected on the past few weeks. Everything I had seen, heard and said and tried to develop a mental message to share on my return. As I stood in thought, a shorter figure dressed in black walked up. Robert Swan said, "good morning mate" with that British accent. I asked how he was doing and he responded saying, "Good, this is my time. It is the time I can relax knowing that everyone has returned from the expedition safely." We chatted about the expedition for a moment before he dismissed himself to make final preparations to disembark.

This will be a sad goodbye as we each depart for our small corner of the globe. This expedition has developed some good relationships. We have been able to share a part of the world relatively few have experienced or seen close up. However, I know I will be able to call or send an email to Sean, Jens, Parker or a number of other expedition members and get a laugh or a reflective moment from our expedition memories to Antarctica.

I’m very excited to get home. I have been away from my family and friends for too long and it will be fun catching up. I miss my wife and children. In fifteen years of marriage, I have never done anything like this for myself. My energies have been invested into raising my family and building my career. As I sit and reflect on this expedition, a few things come to mind. I had dreamed of going to Antarctica and having a life changing experience like this expedition, but was never sure if it would happen. I’ve previously mentioned that it is part of my personality to try new things, find new adventures. But there is emptiness when you can’t share it simultaneously with those you love the most. It is great to finally reach that distant goal I set for myself, but it would have tasted better if my wife was there to experience it with me. I will bring home the pictures and rave about Antarctica and how we need to do all we can to preserve it as a global wilderness area, but in the end, I feel the experience may fall short.

Our Return through the Drake

We left for the Drake Passage a little earlier than planned based on a weather report that was less than promising. The captain of our ship wanted to try and get out in front of the storm. I don’t know for sure how much this helped, because we were in rough waters for the entire return through the Drake.

It is difficult to explain how the ship was being tossed about, so I’m going to include a few pictures to provide perspective. The first is a picture of me sitting in front of the bow of the ship at the pier. The others will be pictures of waves cutting over the bow. So everyone understands, we were not allowed on the open deck to take pictures for the most violent parts of the storm. Even the bridge was off limits. This is an enclosed area where the captain and navigators manage the actions of the ship. The captain would often allow expedition members access to observe what was happening on the horizon.

As we "Drake proofed" ourselves and cabins and ourselves, I took a chance and did not take any Dramamine or other prescribed motion sickness medicine. It seemed as if most others had a skin colored patch (a prescription based motion sickness drug that lasts about three days) behind their ear as a bit of insurance. Dr. Ludwig (our family doctor) had provided this type of prescription and I made the purchase at my Albertsons pharmacy, but I didn’t want to use it. I’m sure some will criticize and question, others who have been on the ocean might think it was very stupid decision, but I wanted the full experience of going through the Drake Passage, come what may…bring it on.The feeling of being tossed around on a ship during a storm is quite exciting. However, I would say that about three quarters of the expedition team came down with seasickness. About half of those were throwing-up. Most of the team did not come to dinner that first night in the Drake, including Sean (My cabin and expedition partner) because they were a bit queasy. One member of the team thought it would be a good idea to get something in his stomach, hopefully to settle it a bit. Not a good idea. The smell of food when you are seasick only exacerbates the nausea. I saw him try to get out of the galley, but it was too late and all for nothing. He ended up vomiting in front of his team’s table (the few who had made it). Their facial expressions were priceless. I thought they were all going to run to the bathroom and start upchucking. This may sound a bit demented, but I actually think Robert Swan got a kick out of the fact that we were to encountering the Passage’s true personality….helped to solidify the experience for the team :)

We were in gale force winds and the waves were huge. How I would explain to adult and children, imagine/visualize being at Disneyland or another entertainment park on one of those zero gravity rides. The “re-entry,” “launching pad” or whatever they are called. However, there are multiple movements instead of two and it lasts for over two days. Like I mentioned, there are multiple movements (back and forth, up and down, side to side, all of them together). The first is when the ship rocks bow to aft (front to back). The second is port to starboard (left to right, sometimes referred to as a Dutch Roll). In the first, one moment, the ship is plunges in a downward forced motion. Like having the side walk drop out from underneath you in the dark…you don’t see it coming. The next, almost immediate, motion has is the whole ship being propelled upward until you are weightless and your body and ship hits zero G-force and is light as a feather. I found the Dutch Roll or second to be more uncomfortable and usually disruptive. This is the one that has the tendency to knock you out of bed or throw you against the walls when walking to some other part of the ship….It is quite the ride.

Enjoy the pictures.

Niko and Paradise Harbors - March 23, 2009

Well everyone, this will be the final blog I can get out before we head for the Drake Passage on our return voyage. In some ways, I find it a little sad because I'm sure there is so much more to see and experience. This is adventure has been incredible, but now I look forward to returning home and sharing my thoughts, experiences, photos and videos with my family and others. The photos and video will not fully communicate what I have seen.

In some ways, I feel it may minimize the experience. Regardless, I look forward to speaking to students about what it is like in Antarctica and encourage them to find and learn from their own experiences.

We were hoping for some spectacular weather these final two days instead of the snow, wind and cold. Today, the last half of the day was sunny, cold and windy. That may sound funny, but the snow makes you wet and weighs down your gear.

We entered Niko Harbor this morning. It is a beautiful harbor and was shielded somewhat from the elements. For some reason, it is also one of the more active areas for the glacier breaks. This is when large sections of glacier facture and fall off into the ocean creating a large tidal wave.

This magnificent event occurred a number of times while we were hiking up one of the more safe glaciers. One moment it was quite and then you hear a loud cracking sound, then a thunderous explosion. A wall of ice then crumbles into the ocean. The Antarctic has so many dimensions to her. From weather that seems to change from moment to moment, to the magnificent beauty of her black mountains scraping the assure sky, covered with glaciers of blue crystals almost as tall as the mountains them self. Then there is the clean blue ocean and wildlife that is usually seen only in documentaries.

On this day while we were out, we came across a humpback whale feeding on creel about 25 yards from out zodiac boat. We then caught some movement by one of the icebergs and found a curious leopard seal that was as interested in us as we were in him. As we were watching the leopard seal, a Minky whale surfaced no more than 10 feet from us.
Since we were short on time, we then moved to Brown Base, which an Argentinean Antarctic base. As we went ashore, two more leopard seals were
keeping eye on our movements. We are now on the ship heading down the
Gerlache Strait. We will make one more stop before heading to the Drake Passage.
I have often wondered as I have been blogging, if anyone has been reading or following this expedition. If you have, I hope you have found some value.
Take some time and leave me your thoughts and how the blog has made you
feel. This Antarctic expedition is not the only thing that has been new to
me. Keeping a blog and sharing my daily adventures is new for me also. If nothing else, it has acted as a great journal for this period of time in my
life. It is a form memory documentation and personal expression. I will
look back and draw on the mental video and snapshots this wilderness has provided me. In some way, I hope it has sparked a desire for some of you to look for your own adventure or expedition.

Base Camp - March 22, 2009

Today has been a long day. We got up fairly early and have kept moving. The weather is so unpredictable. The day started out beautiful and then turned to snow wind and cold. We were able to get a picture of the HP banner early in the morning and I'm attaching it to this blog. Wanted to let the team know they are great and hope Conversion, AOS and RPC is high on my return. Even though it was snowing, we jumped into the zodiac boats and traveled to an island that has the largest penguin colony in the area. Penguins were everywhere. You could hardly step off the boat without having 10 curious penguins waddling over to check you out. The area also stunk to high heaven because of all the penguin poo. On the island, our video specialist captured film of me sitting (yes, poo and all) and using my HP notebook and mobile digital picture frame. I'm sure we will see a jump in sales. I'm attaching a picture of one of the leopard seals. We have some awesome video of one of them catching a penguin. It is a bit graphic, so I'm sure it is not something everyone will want to watch. We spent about three and a half hours on the island and by the time we jumped back into the zodiacs, we were completely soaked. We are now in a snow storm..did I say the weather is unpredictable here?

Base camp - March 21, 2009

It was windy periodically during the night, but not too cold in the tent. Outside the tent was a whole different matter. It was forcing my body to get up and go out about 2:00 am when I had the sudden urge to go thebathroom. It is never enjoyable getting up during the night to relieve one's self, but it even more excruciating mentally when it is sub-zero. Once I was awake, I knew there was no turning back . I didn't take the timeto put on additional layers. I slipped on my cold wet boots and looked likea polar bear as I wandered to the latrine in my white long johns. I turned my head lamp on, so I wouldn't surprise or be surprised by any wildlife. As I approached the designated area, I could hear a couple of seals start to growl. Doesn't make one real comfortable when you are trying to relieve yourself and get back to the warmth of the North Face sleeping bag. Feeling better and not so full, I noticed something I had missed out the way out of the tent, the beauty of the evening sky. The stars, planets and MilkyWay were spectacular in their brightness. I have gazed at the stars while camping in Idaho and in Colorado, but I have never seen anything so spectacular. I forgot how cold and windy it was and wished I had a camerato capture this picture for my family. It was not just the stars, but the reflection of whites, grays and blues from the water and glaciers. It willbe an image I carry with me forever. Words cannot capture how insignificant I felt at that moment as a creation in God's universe. About 5:00 am I started to hear other members of the expedition up and walking around camp. I didn't pull myself out until about 6:30 am. We are now headed for a new expedition site. I need to hurry and close. Our communications expert is getting ready to upload the satellite and send messages across the globe. My blog will be one of those. I'm not sure what we will see or encounter, but the beauty makes me pause in reflection and grateful for all I have been given.

Whilamena Bay - March 21, 2009

The weather continues to be cold, windy and snowy. Team members are wearing so many layers they look like little kids who have moms that won't let them out of the house without wearing every piece of winter clothing possible. Then they over heat after moving around and end up taking half their layersoff in order to cool down.Today, we spent time in Whilamena Bay and from what I understand; Whilamena was a queen in Holland. We were able to observe a number of hump backwhales, fur seal, penguins and a leopard seal. As I have mentioned before,when we need to cross water, we use Zodiac boats. The bay was full offloating ice and you could hear it grind against the propeller when we hit asubmerged piece. As we went around the corner of the bay and entered a small inlet, part ofthe glacier crumbled. The zodiac driver told everyone to hold on as he quickly maneuvered out danger from the oncoming wave of ice and freezingwater. Everyone braced themselves as he turned the bow of the boat to take the impact.It is now evening; around 11:00 pm Antarctic time and 8:00 MST. I'm in our tent typing this posting as everyone is preparing for bed. You can hear idle chatting coming from other expedition member's tents, but it is muffledagainst the wind. The wind has started blowing a bit harder (I wish I couldgive the exact temperature, but I don't have it) and we are expecting tohave another storm hit during the night. The sides of our tent areflapping around like a kite and my expedition partner thinks it is quitefunning that I have my Hewlett Packard (HP) laptop powered up to continue making blog postings. My laptop is functioning quite well in the coldweather and battery life has been decent even with the draining affect thatcold usually has on batteries. My Nikon camera batteries are also holding up well. As we entered our planned camp site tonight, we had penguins roaming the area and a leopard seal came off the shore and has made its present right outside our camp area. We have been instructed to be very careful because these seals are quite mean and aggressive. They are fairly large and Iwouldn't want to get to close. It is interesting to me to watch the penguins walk near it. Tonight it was also announced that the Drake Passage is having a majorstorm. Winds at gale force 60 knots. That made quite a few people worried about the trip home. Time for bed..

The Continent of Antarctica - March 20, 2009 - (Afternoon)

Today we landed on the continent of Antarctica. It was minus three degrees Celsius with a wind chill of probably fifteen degrees below that temperature. The sea was very rough and as the Zodiac boats hit the waves, sea water splashed over the entire team, so we started out wet. Most of ourgear is stored in our waterproof bags made especially for this reason. On top of these conditions, it was snowing. Other than that I can't complain. This is the Antarctic and I expected it to be cold down here. The expedition leaders immediately had us start our march up the glacier at Brown's Bluff. The glacier was very steep and our climb was made especially more difficult with the strong wind and snow blowing against us. Most of the expedition wore goggles to keep the wind and snow out of our face. The cold air also made the lungs burn a bit.On the beach we ran into quite a few fur seals which are not afraid of humans. In fact, they have been known to charge humans. The females have all headed out to sea to feed during their pregnancies. Some of the males remain behind for a few weeks and will then follow the females north. I was able to get a photo with my expedition partner Sean Hannaby who hails from England. We held the Idaho State flag near the top of the glacier.The wind speed would have made it almost impossible to hold at the top. I also held small flags that were given to me from the Boy Scout office in Boise. One represented the Cub Scouts and the other for the Boy Scouts.The weather has seemed change on us. It has been cold and clear, but now ithas turned very cold, windy and snowy. I wish the Summer wind Skippers good luck in your competition which I think takes place this week.

Iceberg Alley

I apologize that the blog postings are not happening as quickly as I would hope. The person in charge of communication has had some trouble uploading data into the satellite. This morning I got up at about 5:00 am and looked out my port window and there were icebergs floating all around. The expedition team was called on deck for viewing. It was -5 degrees Celsius and it was foggy and snowing. The wind is the most difficult part, because it will freeze any skin if it is exposed too long. Icebergs are actually quite stunning and the blue hues expressed under the water are beautiful. This area is called iceberg alley and you can immediate understand why. The captain turned our ship and went into the Weddle Sea where we were about 100 miles from where Sir Ernest Shackleton'sship Endurance was caught in the ice. His story is quite an amazing lesson in leadership. If you are interested, his book is called South. The entire expedition was on deck snapping pictures. The great thing about digital photography is that you can take as many pictures as your memory card will hold, then review and delete later. This is awesome, because youdon't worry about film and you don't miss a shot. This morning we were ableto observe; fur seal feeding on penguin and three Humpback whales.This afternoon we are headed to shore. If the weather continues to be foggyand windy, it is going to be extremely cold.

King George Island

First of all, I want to wish my daughter a BIG Happy Birthday. She was not real happy when she found out I was going to be in the Antarctic on her birthday, but how often do you receive birthday wishes from the bottom of the globe.We were up early this morning which would turn out to be a long day for some. It was extremely cold as we boarded the Zodiac boats for shore. Welanded on King George Island which is part of the Shetland Islands. Then a freezing wet wind and fog set in as we climbed to the e-base.Bellingshausen, the Russian base here in Antarctica is right next to the e-base. They have twenty 23 people manning the base. One woman film maker arrived ten days ago to do a documentary. She will be the only woman here for a year. We then separated into team as we hiked into a glacier. We have all been instructed on how and when to layer our clothing. On our hike, many people started to get hot, so they took off layers to cool down. The best way to regulate your body temperature is to first, walk at an even pace. Don't go too fast or hard. Otherwise you will overheat and sweat. If you stop, the wind instantly cools your body down and you could swear ice is forming onyour body. This is dangerous. Second, use your hat to release heat. Seventy percent of your body heat escapes through your head. We have learned that you take your hat off for a bit and your body will cool down. During our hike, we heard something that sounded like a sonic boom. Laterwe found out it was part of the ice field that had broken off and fell into the southern ocean. Members of the team who were higher on the mountain could see the large wave created by the breakage. At the glacier we found a few penguins waddling on the beach and playing in the water. My daughter wanted one for her birthday. Honey I'm sorry, but this picture will have tobe enough. They keep their distance, but seem afraid of human presence.It was a pretty good hike and many in the team struggled. One of the bestparts of the hike was the discussions we entered into. We have a very international expedition team represented by members from China, Spain, England, Scotland, Netherlands, Germany, Japan, South Africa and other countries including the United States. It is fascinating to learn aboutother people. You talk about families, social norms, language differences,travel and many other topics. In our situation, barriers are lowered because we are all in a new learning environment.After we finished the hike, I walked into the ocean to clean off my boot sand gaiters. The water was bitterly cold at 5 degrees C. My Sorel Conquest boots have been awesome. Very warm, good traction and water proofand would recommend them to anyone who will be in extreme cold environment. Tonight we are on our way to Iceberg alley and the continent of Antarctica. About an hour ago I was in the captain's bridge looking at the radar. He showed me the radar used to spot icebergs. I was amazed. On the screen Icounted 18 icebergs. I asked how large these were, but I don't think hewanted to answer. You can constantly feel the ship changing directions to avoid the path of the bergs. It is also an uncomfortable feeling knowing weare traveling through an iceberg field during the night.


The captain hasslowed the ship and we are only using one engine. I've been told the designated wake time tomorrow morning is 5:30. At this time we will beofficially in iceberg alley. Then we head to the continent and disembark.We will have photo opportunities with our corporate flags (I will have two.One for HP and one for the state of Idaho) and then the team will be underthe direction of Robert Swan as we head to the ice fields and glacier.

Antarctica - We've Arrived!

This area of the world is spectacular in beauty. We continued through the Drake Passage for most of the day and the weather remained good. As wemoved closer to the continent, more and more people from the expedition came out on deck. Everyone was trying to spot a whale, seal or penguine. It seemed like everyone wanted to be the first to see something. During the course of the day, we saw a few fur seals, wandering albatross, penguinesand one orca killer whale.

The whale picture is not a very good one sinceit was far away, but I included it anyway. As I mentioned in the last blog, we passed through the Antarctic Convergence. Standing out on the deck I could feel the temprature becomemore cold and sting my face as though it was being poked with thousands of needles. The ocean became very eerie when a fog bank set in as we grew closer to King George Island. This was going to be our first stop in Antarctica. The e-base and Russian station of Bellanhausen are found on theisland. We all loaded into zodiac boats and headed to shore. There was asmall group of penuines as we disembarked from the boats. We have beeninstructed to keep our distance from the wildlife, even if they approach us.The fog was very thick and we did not have very good visibility, so theexpedition team only stayed on the island for a short period. We thenloaded back into the Zodiacs and headed to the ship. As a point ofinterest, everytime we arrive back at ship from being on land, we have towash and scrub our boots to remove all dirt. The same was true with heboots we wore on our hike in Ushuaia. The reasoning is because the don'twant possible contaminents moving from one place to another.

It is excilerating to experience this adventure. Seeing these animals intheir natural habitat, looking at the deep blue, smelling the clean air, itl ifts the soul. Some of us have had discussion regarding how easy ordifficult is it to protect something that is so pure? I would like to askall the students following this blog to think of some ideas on how topreserve Antarctica.

At Sea

We have been out to see now for an entire 24 hours. I have not been sea sick, but I know others who have spent a little time with head over the toilet bowl. I find that the motion and pitch of the waves has a comforting feeling. Drake's Passage has not been extremely rough and some of the leaders have stated it has this is the smoothest passage they have experienced. Last year some of the team were caught in a storm and the waves were similar with the videos I posted.

Today was somewhat of a free day for everyone, with the exception of a couple more brefings. After our expedtion briefings during the day, I usually go out on deck for fresh air and look out in the distance and ponder. Some of the thoughts have been how grateful I am for the the law of gravity. Ability to find beauty anywhere in the world and being grateful to experience new life changing events.We have crossed over into the Antarctic Convergence. What that means is we are officially in the Antarctic a region. The water temprature has dropped,the wind is noticably colder and the waves have been larger. While out on the deck, I was staring down at the ocean. The water is an incredible navy blue color. It looks much cleaner than what I have experienced at beachesaround the world. It is also colder water than anywhere else. A few wandering albatross have been flying in front of the ship. Tomorrow afternoon we should be landing at Antarctica and the team is pretty excited. Robert Swan told us that one of the high spots in this expedition will be the food when we are on ship. He was not kidding. The food has been a highlight thus far. I guess they are trying to build some body fat beforewe hit Antarctica.

I finished a book titled A voyage for Madmen. It is a non-fictional storyabout nine men who entered a race to see who could circumnavigate the globe without stopping. The individuals who entered this race were prepared tospend a year on the open seas before going home. Only one of them wouldmake it back. Eric Rawling a fellow HP collegue gave me the book to read.I'm going to quote the authors description of the Drake Passage."Here, Southern Ocean winds and waters and funneled through a relativleynarrow gap, Drake's [Passage], the 600-mile-wide sea passage between CapHorn and the Antarctic peninsula. The sea bottom shoals off the horn, raising the already enormous waves, and williwaws of hurricane-force windsscream down off the Andean glaciers; wind, towering waves, and ferocious currents collide, turning Cape Horn waters into a maelstrom."Tomorrow will be exciting because we receive our Zodiac boat training. These are basically reinforced rubber rafts with an engine on the back. These are the boats that will be taking us to shore.

Departure Day

Because I spent the entire evening trying to catch up on our Antarctic blog,I was very tired for most of the day. Hopefully you the readers found iteducational. I should mention that we have a rule called Bronco 5. This means when a meeting is called you arrive 5 minutes early. If not, the team will leave you. This expedition is about being a team not an individual.

Today, the morning started early with a 6:30 wake-up (I did not finish the blog until 5:30). I could have slept a little longer, but I have been pushing myself because I do not want to miss anything related to this experience. As I mentioned, my expedition partner and were all packed and had placed our gearbags in the holding area the night before. Therefore, our morning was extremely will managed. Because we were well prepared, we assisted others carrying their bags to the holding area and then loaded the entire expedition gear into the bus which would take it down to the ship. We had two briefing periods after breakfast. The first was with Jumper (yesthat is his name). He is an ex-member of the British Navy. He conducted the Drake's Passage expectation, safety and Dynamic Risk Assessment. He was passionately animated about crossing the passage and being safe. He covered what would happen if someone fell overboard (die). The water is dark, extremely cold and the waves are large and it would be difficult to spot atiny head in that situation. He also covered Dynamic Risk Assessment as aresponse during times of high risk or danger. This means you: 1. Take careof yourself 2. Take care of your team 3. Take care of the task. Avoid changing the order because you then put yourself or others at risk. A member of the expedition made a comment that he didn't need to be animatedand in our face about the whole thing. I stated that it was exactly what was needed to be done so the entire team has no doubt about the expectationand importance of our response. A video was played showing last year's crossing and the waves were huge. From what I understand a number of people became sea sick. David Thorn who is or was with Shell oil spoke to us about the warming affect taking place. He will be presenting other material as we continue over the next couple of weeks. The weather was good, so we were given some free time to go off and exploreor go into town to purchase souvenirs or items for the expedition. We didn't need to worry about our gear since it had been loaded and taken to the ship, so a bunch of us packed into a cab and headed for town. It is amazing how people from such diverse backgrounds and countries can quicklybecome friends. We have come together for an event which will be life changing and so the opportunity is there to forget false pretense and express true identities. Our group did the typical souvenir purchases, ate lunch and headed to the ship.

Our meeting was set for 2:15 pm and with the Bronco 5 rule in placeit meant we needed to be at the assigned meeting place at 2:10 pm. After meeting the expedition team, we went through customs and walked to the ship. The name of our ship is the Akademick Ioffe, a Russian scientific vessel. The weather changed on us. The wind became very strong coming offthe channel and the temperature dropped. We were corralled for groupphotos. You could literally feel the excitement building with the team. Robert Swan has done a great job of making this very personal for each team member. He is constantly walking around asking people how they feel. "Areyou excited? What do you think? What are you feeling?" This takes a tremendous amount of time when I know he has a hundred other things on his mind. He wants this to be a life changing event.

After boarding, we handed over our passports until the end of the expedition. We then were given our room assignments. Sean and I unloadedour gear and bags so the room could be organized and we could enjoy the crossing more. We did not want to be stepping over a messy room for the next few days.We then had another briefing which reviewed ship safety and the process for abandoning ship. It is a maritime requiring all ships to have a drill within two hours after leaving port. I think we did pretty well in our response. We were also allowed to sit inside the life raft which is enclosed. A necessity if anything were to happen in these waters. Afterwards, we were told to return and prepare our room for crossing the passage. We had to take things off our desk and make sure all doors were shut and locked. Dinner was fantastic tonight. I had seafood salad and sliced beef overpotatoes and mushrooms. As a pilot boat took us through the Beagle Channel, Robert had his first leadership briefing with the team tonight. He covered his complete story of walking to the north and south poles and why he is passionate in preserving Antarctica. During his presentation he mentioned that he grew up in a family of seven "much like the one Drew is raising." I'm not sure if he enjoyed being part of a large family, so I intend to ask him. After the briefing a number of us went out on deck to get some fresh air and cool down. It is going on 1:00 am and it is pitch black outside. We are now in Drake's Passage. I'm typing this in my bed and you can feel the entire ship first pitch forward and back and then roll side to side. I can hear cabinet doors from other rooms open and then shut. It is very soothing for me and I want to fall asleep. We should be finding out soon if anyone comes up sick.

Ushuaia, Argentina -Tiera Del Fuego

It is 4:30 in the morning here in Ushuaia, Argentina and this is the second time that I'm writing this blog. We have to be at team breakfast at 7:00 am, so I need to hustle and get this completed. I would like to get some sleep, but I wanted to ensure I was caught up with my blog chronological order before I get on the ship tomorrow.....here I go again.

I am now in Ushuaia, Argentina which is the southern most port on tip of South America. It is an absolutely stunning city. As you look out over the harbor from the picture above, the country of Argentina is on the left and the country of Chile on the right. The mountains seem to jettison from the water. On all sides you are surrounded with mountains that remind me of the Sawtooths in Idaho. Some of the expedition members from Europe have mentioned that Ushuaia has a Swiss Chalet feel.

Tomorrow, our expedition boards a Russian scientific vessel and will head south out of this harbor and into Drake's Passage (see Drake's Passage posting). As you look out at the harbor, behind you a high jagged mountain and glacier tower above the city of Ushuaia. The picture above was taken from my hotel room during the tail end of a rain storm. The rain has dramatically cooled the temperature and provided a new layer of snow to the mountain peaks. The wind also provides a wind child that doesn't keep me warm in my Mountain Hardware Winderstopper jacket unless I have a thermal and shirt underneath. The change in the weather ironically will probably be better preparation for Antarctica.

March 14th - We met Robert Swan and the expedition leaders today for a short briefing. He was late for the meeting because he rode his mountain bike back from the airport. Now that might not seem like much, but if you look at the pictures, the airport is down by the harbor (next to the water) and the hotel is quite a bit up the mountain. On top of that, Robert is 54 years old...and by the looks of it, tough as nails. He is a very strong and commanding speaker and he challenged us to take time to consider what this adventure is going to do for us and how it will change our lives. The expedition leaders then outlined what we would be doing before boarding the ship and heading to Antarctica. One of those tasks was a mountain glacier climb. The leaders gave us 15 minutes for a kit check (gear inspection). If we did not pass, they would provide enough time for you to go into the city and purchase those needed items before departure. My expedition partner and I both passed....nice!

After inspection some of us went into town for dinner. We found a nice Argentine BBQ house and of course ordered a nice thick steak.

Domingo in the white shirt is from Spain and acted as our interpreter. Ted (the young lad across the table from Domingo) is from England. He is a cricket player and in extremely good shape. Jannis is the balding chap. He is from Germany and ironically enough spent is junior year in high school on a foreign exchange program in Utah. When I mentioned that I was from Idaho, he hit me on the shoulder and said, "Idaho, no way, I have been to Idaho. We proceeded to spend the next 45 minutes sharing stores. The rest of the evening was spend discussing the differences between cricket and baseball with Ted.

March 15th - We were up at first light to start our mountain glacier climb. It was cold and windy, but our small team did very well. It was very slick and snowy due to the storm that went through the previous two days. The climb ended up taking half the day.

Well tomorrow is a huge day. My partner and I have our gear packed and we are ready for a quick check out. Then we will spend a few hours in town getting some souvenirs.

Expedition Preparation - Technical Gear

The last posting I will enter before heading out tomorrow is the preparation which took place for the technical gear I would be taking on this expedition. I would like to thank Jim Hansen who has acted as my technical lead and Ann Finne who helped get the TouchSmart systems for the schools. Putting all this together has taken quite a bit of time and effort and I appreciate everyone's assistance.

Here is the list of products for the expedition:

1. Hewlett Packard's TouchSmart all in one computer system. This is what the students at Rocky Mountain, Heritage Middle and Paramount Elementary schools are using to monitor the expedition. Provides a fabulous interactive touch screen experience for the students. When we did a demo for some of the school leaders, they loved it.





2. An HP media smart server. I wanted to be able to download my video and camera shots remotely, from anywhere. If anything catastrophic took place with my cameras, my photo and video files would be safely stored at home.




3. My HP tablet. We will be wearing gloves most of the time we are in Antarctica, so I wanted to be able to see how convenient it is to a tablet in the cold temperatures.



4. HP mobile digital picture frame. I'm able to carry hundreds of my favorite photos with me at all times. Non-obtrusive and easy to carry (members of the expedition have loved it).






5. A surprise HP product that I will mention at another time






6. Something that was a surprise addition at the last moment. Jason McAnear on my team told me about "The Flip." A small video camera that was easy to upload and edit on the computer.


7. My Nikon D90 SLR camera

I asked a couple members of my team to do a quick demo to post on this blog, but I'm still experiencing video upload issues.