A quick tour of the lower decks of the ship!

For an overview of the Akademik Sergey Vavilov including deck plans and specs, see my earlier post here.
On the last day at sea, we had the opportunity to take a tour of the entire ship. It seemed strange that we didn’t do the tour on one of the first days at sea, but I guess the staff was just waiting for us to all become experts on the SV! Also in hindsight, I can’t imagine touring the ships interior while crossing the Drake Passage – I’m fairly certain several of us would have left with broken bones. (Side note: one person on board did fracture his ankle or foot towards the end of our trip when going down the stairs to the media room during a rough patch at sea.) Anyway, since I am a complete and total nerd, I really enjoyed the tour of the ship. It’s pretty amazing what takes place several decks down to keep the ship moving. The engineering below the main decks was incredible. My favorite mechanism to learn about was the ballast water stabilization system. I’m giving what is probably the worst explanation of this system but in short, throughout the day thousands of gallons of water are pumped back and forth in the hull to help maneuver and stabilize the ship. Our ship also had external stabilizers. If you’re more interested, Wikipedia of course has a pretty succinct article on ship stability. (I also read that Rolls Royce had a leading role in developing at-rest stabilizing systems for ships- random but interesting fact.)

Descending into the lower decks!

Vicky looking stylish during our tour!

Derek showing us the emergency steering wheel.  The wheel is located on the main deck and is there in case the electrical steering mechanisms fail.  

The emergency steering 'secret cabinet'...

On our way down to the engine room.  I have no idea what any of this 'stuff' is!

The mechanism behind the ship's rudder/steering system.

Calm, cool & collected for now...

Vicky communicates and emergency to the captain….

But all I see is a fashion emergency- the kayak dry suits MUST be redesigned.

Part of the hydraulic system referenced above.

One of the two engines that power the ship.

Closeup of the engine

Another angle of the engines.

This was on top of the engine - I'm not entirely sure of the purpose but it looked cool!

We also had a chance to visit the control room where the engineers and those reporting to the captain explained the old but incredibly reliable computer systems.

I'm just making sure we're on course...

Vicky found a stowaway on board!

Climbing the ladder in the mudroom because…why not!

Vicky makes this look way better than I do!

More from Goudier Island & Port Lockroy

Day 5 of the trip took us to Goudier Island and historic Port Lockroy.  The former British station is now a museum that I believe shut down for winter about a week before we arrived.  That morning's kayak excursion was amazing.  The sky was clear, the sun was out, we kayaked through brash ice for the first time and witnessed an amazing feat of nature when a Leopard Seal caught and killed a penguin within feet of our kayaks. (I'll write a separate post on what we witnessed that morning including the GoPro footage.)

As we launched the kayaks, the sun was trying to come through the clouds and everything appeared to have a hazy glow.  Within a half hour the skies cleared to a bright blue and the sun illuminated everything around us.

Our surprise welcoming committee of Gentoo Penguins

Gentoos perched on snow covering some beautiful blue ice.

The Gentoos taking a quick nap.

Port Lockroy Station, a British research base that was turned into a museum. 

A quick clip from the GoPro:

Kayaking next to glaciers and mountains.

A deep blue ice cave.

As we kayaked around the bay we ran into some more penguins and some sea birds.

I think those are skuas flying by the penguins. 

I was amazed at how blue the sky was when we had clear days. 

Our ship in the distance.

Kayaking through what is called "Brash Ice" - it's so much fun to here the crunching as the kayak breaks through the ice.  It's really easy to get stuck on larger pieces of ice though!  Fortunately I didn't need to be rescued by our guides but we all had a couple close calls.