2023 Antarctica - December 2022

Getting Read for A Polar Adventure

As our 2021 polar expedition to the Russian High Arctic region was cancelled, we needed to find a way to use our travel credit. Moreover, travel to Russia in the current political and judicial environment is probably not in the cards for those seeking a relatively safe polar adventure - at least for us.

Instead, we’re returning to Antarctica in early 2023, with Quark Expeditions. We’ve traveled with Quark for three previous polar trips (East Greenland, Svalbard and Antarctica). In fact our cancelled 2021 Russian High Arctic expedition was also with Quark.

This 2023 itinerary replicates our 2015 Antarctica expedition. The trip will fly over Drake Passage and start the expedition from King George Island. Although our 2015 trip entered into the Antarctic Circle, the ship had to quickly return to King George Island so that a crew member could be airlifted for emergency surgery in Chile. For the remainder of the trip we stayed north of Lemaire Channel.

Avoiding Drake Passage means that we miss the two-day transit between Ushuaia and Antarctica and a return two-day Drake transit. However, there is a risk that poor visibility or bad weather could delay our flight leaving Punta Arenas and/or our return flight from King George Island to Punta Arenas. In 2015, poor weather delayed our return flight for several days. There wasn't much to do on board during these days as the fog was so heavy that the zodiac trips were either suspended or offered little viewing possibilities. 

Quark's Ocean Adventurer

We've traveled on two previous expeditions on this ship. On both trips, the ship was named the Sea Adventurer. A major ship refurbishment in 2017 included cabin updates, common area renovation and new engines. The ship also had a minor rename after the updates. The now Ocean Adventurer has a capacity of 128 guests and 87 crew members. The en suite cabins are nicely furnished and more functional (vs luxurious) and the dining and gathering areas comfortable. We enjoy this ship as it provides an intimacy not available with larger ships hosting over 200 guests. 

In respect to more technical details, the Ocean Adventurer's length is 331 feet, with a top speed of 12 knots in open water and has an ice class rating of 1A. This rating generally means that it can travel through ice that is up to almost 1 meter (about 39 inches) in thickness.

Packing for Antarctica 2023

Given that we have four polar expeditions under our belts, we have pretty much all the clothing, photography equipment and trip gear that we should need. Packing is easier as Quark provides each guest with a polar coat to wear and keep and the use of rubber boots during expedition hiking and zodiac cruises.

We'll review our previous polar packing list and update as needed. So far, I've only picked up packages of new silica gel desiccant for moisture absorption from Amazon. These are handy for keeping condensation away from camera equipment and binoculars that are brought from the outside cold temperatures into a warm ship cabin. Frankly, this might be our last polar trip and, if so, we have quite a bit of polar clothing to recycle.  

Our primary challenge now is to remain healthy and avoid COVID, RSV and the seasonal flu. We prefer not to view Antarctica from just the window in our Ocean Adventurer cabin.