Feb. 12:  Hanging around the South Shetland Islands

Our original itinerary had us heading into Drake Passage today on our way back to Ushuaia, but there are two hurricanes in the Passage, with 100 mph winds and 35-foot waves.  Instead, we spent the morning looking for possible landing sites in the South Shetlands, but weather and sea conditions have deteriorated to the point that landings are inadvisable. 

Map showing 2 hurricanes in the Drake Passage

As a result, we’ve been marking time in and around the islands until conditions in the Passage improve enough to allow for safe travels.  It’s not exactly hardship duty; the low, gray skies, glacier-clad islands, and green, foam-flecked seas make for somber but striking scenery.

One thought on “Feb. 12:  Hanging around the South Shetland Islands

  1. That looks scary! Your writing sounds so calm ha, I only ever seen a hurricane from far away, one passed over Scotland once and it still effected other areas of the UK, there was a strange reddish tinge to everything and when I looked in the far away direction of Scotland the sky looked almost black in daytime. No one’s experienced a proper hurricane here so it’s very unusual and scary…

    We experience left over storms, when a hurricane comes our way, it’s not a hurricane anymore once it reaches us. I always wondered what being in a hurricane would be like but I am glad I never have found out 😅

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