JDiver

You can never predict, other than it will be unpredictable. On our leg to South Georgia, we had moderate swell, and from there to the Bransfield Strait / King George Island, we had perhaps ten knots of wind and ten feet of swell at one point, a very tolerable gentle roll and easy sleep. A very easy crossing - but the ship following immediately had a nasty crossing. The Southern Sea surrounds Antarctica and goes literally around the world, with unimpeded sweels pushed by very strong winds.

On our trip back to Ushuaia, it was so smooth the Captain announced we would cruise on one engine and it might feel and sound different than normal voyaging. We arrived off Cape Horn in a two foot swell, very early, and cruised around sightseeing, because the appointment with the pilot into Beagle Channel was not until after midnight and could not be pushed up.

In between we had our most challenging time from a rapid retreat down the marshes and a hellish clamber up the Ioffe's ladder due to a sudden and powerful case of "williwaws" (katabatic winds) hitting us as we crossed the Salisbury Plain in South Georgia. In a matter of minutes, the winds hit 50 MPH or more, the seas got very bumpy for Zodiacs...