Overnight, we finally made it into Drake Passage. Winds are about 40 knots and seas are about 10 feet. We are crossing seas at an angle of 30 degrees or so but the ship's ride is ok.
Everyone is getting used to the motion. As Dennis, the Chief Scientist, says "It will be a down day". We should adjust to the ship motion in a day or so.
Today was the first of the science seminars explaining the science for the cruise. I gave the first one on Ross Sea physical oceanography. It was pretty well attended and it seemed to go over well.
Someone put in a waystation on the navigation display to the place where we start sampling in the Ross Sea. The distance is a little less than 2400 nm (nautical miles). We are moving at about 8 kt (knots or nautical miles per hour). It will be a few days before we get to the first sample location.
Other than the seminar, I have not done much today. I spent some time this morning on the bridge of the ship watching the waves and the birds. It is interesting how the birds (mainly albatros and smaller birds whose names I don't remember) can skim the waves and go up and down with little effort. The rest of the time I have been reading and listening to music.
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