When it comes to cruising in Antarctica, expedition guides are at the heart of everything. They lead zodiac cruises and landings, share their polar expertise with guests during onboard lectures and wildlife encounters, and do all of this while ensuring that everything runs smoothly and safely.
Expedition guides are highly trained, but there’s one thing even they don’t have control over: Antarctica’s weather. So, how do they make plans when Mother Nature often has her own ideas? In March, I sailed on the Sylvia Earle expedition cruise ship on a voyage to Antarctica and South Georgia, and spoke to Expedition Leader Elena Wimberger and Assistant Expedition Leader Mark Brophy, to learn how they work with the weather – and why going with the flow is at the heart of every Antarctic adventure.
What does a day in Antarctica look like from an Expedition Leader’s perspective?
Elena: I usually wake up about half an hour before the passengers’ wake-up call and head up to the bridge to chat with the Chief Mate on watch and start looking at the weather. We always check the forecasts the day before, but sometimes it’s not until we arrive at a location that we can see if it’s operable with swell, wind or ice. If the weather looks good, after breakfast myself and the expedition team will be in the mudroom, jumping into zodiacs and heading to shore to scout the landing.
Some days we take passengers to shore for a hike or to see wildlife, like a penguin colony, other days we spend time outside going on a zodiac cruise to see what we find. From an Expedition Leader’s perspective, I’m always thinking about safety and logistics: how to maximise our time outside and getting 100 passengers and 20 expedition guides off the ship to experience Antarctica.
When I come back onboard, I’ll look at the weather again to check that the forecast hasn’t deteriorated in the area we’re planning to visit that afternoon. A big part of my job is knowing the area and being able to pivot to another plan if wind, swell, or ice get in the way of Plan A.
Mark: You can plan as much as you want, but nothing is in the bag until you’re there and your boots are on the ground.
Elena: We always have a Plan A, B and C. We’re really fortunate with the advanced level of weather forecast nowadays. The relatively accurate predictions of low-pressure systems coming through the Southern Ocean, and how they will affect the wind, swell, or precipitation in a given area give us a lot more flexibility, and a better idea of what to expect when we arrive at a location. Generally, if the wind forecast is over 30 knots, we’ll operate somewhere else.
Mark: Different locations have different aspects to them. For example, a nice deep bay or a cove gives more protection than a small low-lying island. Whenever we’re in an area, we look for what has the most protection for zodiacs, or if we need to approach it from another side. We’re always thinking in many dimensions.
How many days in advance can you plan the itinerary on an Antarctic cruise?
Elena: We don’t know the weather forecast until three or four days ahead of time. If we transit from Ushuaia down to the Antarctic Peninsula, we know we’ll have about two days at sea to cross the Drake Passage, but beyond that we just have a general overview
Mark: We have general intentions of how we want a trip to go – a couple of days in this spot and a couple of days there, so we get a well-balanced diet. But there are no set ports of call. We’ll always flex with the weather.
How does the expedition team and the captain work together?
Elena: We work really closely with the captain and the bridge team. We check in with him every morning to talk through the plans for the day. Weather updates come in every 4–6 hours, so if there’s a bad system coming through and we need to change plans, or when there’s a new update, we’ll be in his office to look at the forecasts and assess whether our Plan A is still ‘go’ or if we’re going to move to plan B or C. We’re also up on the bridge with him whenever we approach a new landing site to see what the waves and swell are doing.
Mark: Ship’s captains are absolutely integral to an expedition cruise. As guides, we understand winds and waves for our operations, but they understand how that affects the ship as a whole.
This is especially important at the beginning of a trip. They’ll look at big transits like the Drake Passage and say ‘If we do this and leave here we’ll have a rough crossing, but if we go this other way, we’ll have a really nice crossing.’ These are things that only the captain has great insight to. They know the ship so well, so it’s important that we work together and have a great relationship for a smooth trip.
Is this flexibility why expedition cruises are different to more traditional styles of cruising?
Mark: With expedition cruises, we don’t have set itineraries. This is actually the most fun part: we’re in an area where nature rules, and in a tiny ship within a large ocean. It’s not about places we have to go to, but being with people who want to come along for an adventure. For guides, it’s absolutely the best part of what we do.
Antarctica is one of the last places where nature really calls the shots. We’re going to wild, remote areas and we have to flex with the weather. You never know what you’re going to get – but often when plan A doesn’t work out, the next plan ends up being even more exciting.
Elena: Flexibility is always the name of the game. Of course, we all have our favorite places that we want to show passengers, like certain gentoo or chinstrap penguin colonies, or an especially fabulous view of a glacier. But if the options are being at your favourite spot but not being able to get off the ship because of the weather, or being at a different area on the Peninsula in a bubble of good weather and being able to explore in zodiacs and on land, then we’ll choose the better weather and the ability to safely operate and get off the ship every time. That’s what we are here for: the ‘expedition’ part of expedition cruising.
And even within that, there are so many new places that we want to explore – we’re just waiting for the right weather window and the right group of passengers to take and see a new place. That’s another part of what makes expedition cruising so exciting and different to traditional cruising – getting to explore uncharted waters. With the right ship and captain, we have the skill and technology to map these using technology called an OLEX system, where we can make new tracks for the ship. This gives us the opportunity to truly explore places that people have never been before.
Mark: It’s why we keep coming back. There are places in Antarctica I’ve been to only once in my life that I want to go to every time, but then the weather doesn’t line up and you’re pushed into exploring new places, which might become your new favorites.
How do you help passengers understand how flexible expedition cruising is, and manage expectations about what to expect?
Elena: I think it’s important from the beginning for us all to understand that we’re travelling together on an expedition to some of the most wild and remote places on our planet and that means that Mother Nature calls the shots.
At the start of each voyage, we talk about what that means. We talk about the uncertainty that comes with travelling to a place as powerful as Antarctica, where weather and nature still have the power to humble us and change our plans. We highlight that all of us from the passengers, to the expedition team and crew, are on this adventure together, and ask that as teammates we all adopt an expedition mindset, which includes flexibility and patience as we move from Plan A to B to C, knowing that we are doing our best to have the most magical voyage possible, safely. And that Plan D could very well turn out to be even better than Plan A.
We’re very transparent with how we make decisions, each evening in our nightly briefing we talk about the plans for the next day and show the weather forecasts. It’s brilliant that our weather forecasting system, Windy, is available to everyone, so guests can really be part of the expedition and stay up-to-date with the wind and swell so things don’t come as a surprise.
Mark: One thing we learned from Greg [Mortimer, the founder of Aurora Expeditions] that stays true to the heart of this business is that we’re not dragging people along – we’re walking with them together. The more information and resources we share with guests, the more they become an integral part of the expedition. It’s truly the best feeling to have the guests walk beside us, everyone as one big team.
Are guests surprised at how much planning goes into these day-to-day operations?
Mark: I think people would be very surprised at how much planning goes in! We use a whiteboard because nothing is set in stone. Plans change every day, multiple times a day, right until the very end of the trip.
People might think it’s not possible to flow like that with so many constant changes. They might think it’s chaos, but actually it’s like a beautiful dance that turns out to be an amazing show.
Is that what makes expedition cruising so exciting – embracing the unpredictable nature of Antarctica?
Elena: Absolutely. And while the weather adds to the unpredictability, there’s also the sheer amount of wildlife. If we have 30 nautical miles to go to our next operation, but on the way we find a group of 20 humpback whales feeding, we might stop to enjoy them from the ship and delay arrival to the next site. It’s another part of the magic of being down here – getting to enjoy every opportunity that presents itself.
Mark: The best thing you can do to prepare for Antarctica is to embrace the fact that you’re going on an adventure at the bottom of the earth where you have no control over anything. You’re following in the footsteps of Shackleton and Nordenskjöld and have to be open to what happens. That’s the beauty of these cruises – the chance to surrender to the flow and let nature provide. So relax and enjoy!
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