Drake Passage

[kjbacon]

I’ve been reading about the tragic accident that Viking Polaris just had in Drake Passage. My thoughts and prayers are with them.

 

We are on the Splendor cruise next year that includes Drake Passage. I knew it was known to be rough but had no idea! Would those of you that have sailed this please share your experiences? Thank you.

[HotRoot]

We crossed the Drake Lake.  It was as smooth as a lake.  Coming back we had high seas.  They recommended those with mobility problems to stay in their cabin and have room service.  We had no problems navigating the halls.  The elevators were closed.  I assume every voyage is different.

[mrlevin]

Sailed Drake Passage on an expedition ship much smaller than Splendor with no issues.  In fact, some sail boats sail across the Drake Passage.  Last summer we were on Navigator in North Atlantic when window in Compass Rose was blown out by a wave; caused minor water damage; we had left the spot around ten minutes prior.  You pays your money and takes your chances.

[1982CruzStart]

We will be going through the Drake Passage on Feb 8, 2023 onboard Voyager and i am hoping for 1 of those lucky days where it is smooth sailing.  Quite a few years ago we boarded a ship in Chile that had just gone through the Drake Passage and it had been like glass but on an earlier voyage the waves had been so high it blew out a window in the top deck lounge. We saw the evidence of it as we embarked the ship and saw the boarded up window. 

 

It is very sad that someone lost their life on the Viking Polaris sailing. Something i don't think you expect to be a possibility when you board a cruise ship but freak things can happen.

[fudge]

We sailed the Drake passage a few years ago, its called the great lakes or the great shakes, boy did we get the great shakes!  We confined ourselves to our suite for 24 hrs, the port hole shut tightly we had no idea what time of day it was, really rough. The return journey was not too bad, good luck!

[cwn]

We sailed to Antarctica in 2007 on a 100 passenger expedition ship and had the Darke shake going down. For 18 hours we  made an arc of 60% side to side. We had water above our porthole on the top deck  5. The lower two decks had dead lights on the portholes…. Boarded up. And waves up to the bridge. We could go to the bridge if we had enough nerve! The beds were bolted to the floor, one in our cabin came loose. It was a wild ride. Captain changed course to get us in the lea of Elphant Is to get some relief from the sea and so we could eat a regular meal. But coming back we had a glassy lake.

Went back on the Regent Mariner in 2011 and had the Drake Lake both ways!

That time we had snow,.woke up to the decks covered with the white stuff.

Sailing those water is an adventure! 
Another ship had a problem a few years after our last trip. 

[kjbacon]

We encountered quite a storm between Iceland and Greenland over the summer. It was intense and the ship sustained some broken glass but the worst of it was only about 6 hours. Two full days of that intensity sounds intimidating.

[SWFLAOK]

10 hours ago, mrlevin said:

Sailed Drake Passage on an expedition ship much smaller than Splendor with no issues.  In fact, some sail boats sail across the Drake Passage.  Last summer we were on Navigator in North Atlantic when window in Compass Rose was blown out by a wave; caused minor water damage; we had left the spot around ten minutes prior.  You pays your money and takes your chances.

We were on  Splendor from mid September through the beginning of October a few months ago on Southampton to Southampton to Barcelona cruises.

We had a lot of big seas, from Atlantic storms, and missed a port here and there on both legs. The windows boarded up in Compass Rose for quite a few days. They closed the curtains. Since it was dark at dinner time, it wasn't noticeable. At breakfast, however, it was very strange, but it was much better eating down low on the ship than going up to deck 11.

I'm very prone to sea sickness, and was able to control it with meclizine (Bonine) knowing that the seas would be high ahead of time. The Captain's reports on sea states were very accurate.

I"m sure we will encounter bad weather again on the cruises we have booked in the future, but I'm avoiding the Drake Passage.

[basket bob the sailor]

Testing ...

 

 

[basket bob the sailor]

Well, that was easy! 😀

[RachelG]

We had no issues with the Drake Passage either way.  Pretty calm.  Nothing in comparison to seas between Canada and Greenland.  There, the food literally flew off the buffet at lunch, and we were the only ones at dinner except for one other couple.

[DavidTheWonderer]

From Wikipedia: "The Drake Passage is considered one of the most treacherous voyages for ships to make."
Personally, I would trust Regent to keep me safe if I were going  to transit this passage.  But "your mileage may vary'.

[kjbacon]

We are going to find out, that’s for sure!! I’d agree with the above poster, David, and have a great deal of confidence in Regent. I did do some searching and I think it will be closer to one Drake day, not two, as we aren’t going south to Antartica. And one day sounds about half as intimidating as two days.

Edited December 3, 2022 by kjbacon

[Lonedaddy]

Rouge waves can happen anywhere 

 

good 5 minute clip on rogue waves

https://res.cloudinary.com/dtpgi0zck/video/upload/q_auto/vc_vp9/v1/videos/Rogue Waves.webm?_s=vp-1.9.4

[as3369]

12 hours ago, Lonedaddy said:

Rouge waves can happen anywhere 

 

good 5 minute clip on rogue waves

https://res.cloudinary.com/dtpgi0zck/video/upload/q_auto/vc_vp9/v1/videos/Rogue Waves.webm?_s=vp-1.9.4

Thank you for sharing the video.  Fascinating stuff!

[LouChamp]

Aloha. We sailed over Christmas New Year 2008 2009 and it was rough but no more rough than the Bay of Biscay and transatlantic. We were fortunate because my parents sailed a year later and it was so rough the shops on board were messed up. Liquor bottles flew thru the shop windows.  As with anything it depends on the moment and is certified unpredictable.

[JMARINER]

With modern satellite imagery, they can see storms many days in advance. If they think there is any danger, they will not go. 

 

J

[kjbacon]

Yes, always luck of the draw. Our transatlantic this summer was unbelievably calm except for one day when a storm packing hurricane force winds caught up to us between Iceland and Greenland.

[loriva]

On 12/2/2022 at 9:55 AM, kjbacon said:

I’ve been reading about the tragic accident that Viking Polaris just had in Drake Passage. My thoughts and prayers are with them.

 

We are on the Splendor cruise next year that includes Drake Passage. I knew it was known to be rough but had no idea! Would those of you that have sailed this please share your experiences? Thank you.

 

It is definitely the luck of the draw, Karen.  We crossed with Quark (on a leased Russian icebreaker) in 2000.  One way it was fine, just a few normal waves.  On the return it was rocking and rolling--we saw waves crashing over the bow of the ship.  The crew closed all exterior access to passengers and everyone generally laid low in their cabins.  (We had a video, but not sure we have anything we can use to play it anymore or grab some screen shots for you.)

 

The good news is that Antarctic is worth the effort to get there!  Enjoy your trip!!

[kjbacon]

On 12/7/2022 at 8:43 AM, loriva said:

 

It is definitely the luck of the draw, Karen.  We crossed with Quark (on a leased Russian icebreaker) in 2000.  One way it was fine, just a few normal waves.  On the return it was rocking and rolling--we saw waves crashing over the bow of the ship.  The crew closed all exterior access to passengers and everyone generally laid low in their cabins.  (We had a video, but not sure we have anything we can use to play it anymore or grab some screen shots for you.)

 

The good news is that Antarctic is worth the effort to get there!  Enjoy your trip!!

That’s our thought at this point, Lori, and fortunately we know that Regent has lots of wine 🍷 odds obviously are that it will not be as severe as what the Viking Polaris encountered.

[commodore2010]

Its just the luck of the draw.....We crossed Jan 2022 with Atlas Ocean. 12 day that crossed the Antartic Circle.  Smallish expedition ship. Great ship and crew by the way.   

Anyways going was fine.

 

Coming back we had to wait behind King George Island for a day while a large storm went thru the strait.  We had 35ft+ coming back. The bow was diving into the waves as they broke over the top of the ship.  I have video of the waves going over the observation lounge. I quite enjoyed it although I almost rolled out of bed a couple times.

 

If you do not want to cross the Drake, I believe Silversea does a flight from Ushuaia or Punta Arenas to King George and you embark there.