After spending nearly two weeks in Antarctica, where he saw whales, sea lions, penguins, glaciers and icebergs and took a true icy polar plunge in freezing water, Dr. Lee B. Smith and his two traveling buddies had one question on their minds: “When can we come back?”
Because everything went so smoothly and Smith had no expectations, however, he wonders if all the elements that lined up to make the vacation a great trip would coincide again.
“There are so many variables: The crew, passengers, weather, food, waves that could really rock the boat,” said Smith, Monongalia County Health Department’s executive director and county health officer. “We happened to be fortunate. It was the best of all things.”
A world traveler, Charleston native Smith has visited exotic locales that include Borneo, Zanzibar, the Great Wall of China, Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania, the Galapagos Islands, Kruger Park in South Africa, Victoria Falls in Zambia and Maccha Picchu in Peru. He also is a blue water sailor who logged 3,000 nautical miles in just one trip.
“I have sailed most everywhere except the Baltic,” he said. “Traveling is its own reward, but sailing is my true passion.”
Smith, who extensively photographs his journeys, had long wanted to go to Antarctica, the only continent he hadn’t visited. He began preparing in “no-shave” November 2018 by growing a beard. He plotted his course with longtime friend Ira Queen and Queen’s half brother Dave Locke. The short Antarctic traveling season runs from November to March.
Leaving Nov. 9 for the 17-day trip, Smith flew from Pittsburgh to Miami and then to Buenos Aires, Argentina, five days before they were to board the 140-passenger boat “Ushuaia” that would take them to Antarctica.
The trio wanted to make sure their luggage had time to catch up to them so they would have it for the trip. It also gave them the opportunity to take a side trip to see the majestic Iguazú Falls, north of Buenos Aires.
Iguazú Falls is the largest waterfall system in the world, featuring 275 drops, or falls. The longest drop is 269 feet — about 200 feet higher than Blackwater Falls and 100 feet higher than Niagara Falls.
Then, flying from Buenos Aires south to Ushuaia — the southernmost city in the world and the departure point for Antarctica — Smith and his friends also visited Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego, bordered by the Martial Mountains.
“It’s an interesting contrast,” Smith said. “There is a huge mountain range, and the Andes start there and go up the Chilean side.”
A 185-foot-long, 40-foot-wide motor yacht, built in 1985 for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and eventually sold to an Antarctic outfitter, AdventureSmith would be the next leg.
“The first thing you have to do is have a safety drill and put on your life jacket in your room to ensure that everybody has a life jacket and that your flasher works,” Smith said.
While life jackets are essential, Smith notes that someone who plunges into this icy expanse has only about five minutes before fatal hypothermia is a strong possibility. Luckily, merely losing your lunch is a much more likely scenario in the often choppy, wavy waters that some call “Drake Lake” or “Drake Shake,” depending on the weather.
In addition to the potentially rough seas, passengers were also dealing with the prospect of 700 miles of open ocean.
“There is no land to break up the wind or weather,” Smith said. “The waves just build up to big sizes and speed around the planet. It’s a short trip to circumnavigate the Earth.
“But we had good boating conditions. We didn’t have violent weather.”
About 90 passengers were taken care of by 40 crew members, including several kitchen staff who served “three square meals” a day as well as a pastry chef who provided desserts.
“Expedition leaders told us how lucky we were,” Smith said. “They said that sometimes the sea is so rough, they can’t open the kitchen and serve dinner.”
Smith met fellow travelers from all over the world who helped make the voyage more interesting.
“There also was an open bridge and you could go up and talk to the skipper and navigational crew and look at maps and see where you are,” he added.
Daily orca sightings were common, as well as seals swimming away to avoid being caught by the whales.
“There were always orcas in the water,” Smith said.
Days were long — the sun set at 10:30 at night and it remained twilight for about six hours until sunrise at 4:30 a.m.
“It was perpetually light, and therefore we were not regaled with that Aurora Australis,” aka, the Southern Lights.
On arrival, passengers had the opportunity to take two daily excursions on rafts to land. To keep warm, Smith generally wore three pairs of socks, boots, long underwear, ski pants, a variety of outerwear, plus a hat, sunglasses and two pairs of gloves as well as sunscreen.
Unlike Mount Everest, however, which is infamous for items climbers leave behind — including oxygen tanks — visitors to Antarctica must undergo a careful vacuuming procedure before stepping foot on land to keep it pristine. Ship workers even suctioned lint out of pockets before allowing tourists to leave the boat.
“I think it sends a nice message that there is zero tolerance for pollution,” Smith said. “They don’t want a trace of human impact. If someone makes a snow angel, they’re going to knock it down before they leave.”
On the excursions, Dr. Smith saw plenty of Adélie, Chinstrap and Gentoo penguins, but none of the Emperor variety made famous by the documentary “March of the Penguins” because his outfitter did not travel to the parts of Antarctica where they live.
Smith’s travel scrapbook features plenty of photos of penguins, including in the background of his customary photo of him and Queen hoisting a Flying WV flag on an icy beach; as well as another one that contrasts the size of a penguin and a sea lion, which can be 6 to 8 feet long.
“Sea lions are impressive,” Smith said. “They are so big.”
The final excursion on the trip was to Deception Island, on the South Shetland Islands archipelago. It’s a caldera, or large cauldron-like hollow formed by an active volcano. On a map it appears as a circle with a small opening, called Neptune Bellows. These waters are some of the calmest in the Antarctic region.
“It’s very protected there,” Smith said. “There are a lot of bases there with Argentinians and Brits living there during the summer.” Antarctica only has two seasons, winter and summer, the latter of which runs from October to February.
This is where the polar plunge took place. The water wasn’t as brutally cold as one might think, with waters at a reasonable 32 degrees. After taking a dip and returning to the beach of volcanic black sand, it was a bit of an ordeal to clean off and get dressed again, however.
