Two nautical charts are spread out on the nautical table. They showed these waters have yet to be surveyed. Undaunted, the captain uses depth soundings to maintain a safe course. He?s never passed through this channel, even though he?s sailed Antarctic waters many, many times before.

The sun sets and our ability to see is reduced. After that, the heavy, thick snow starts to fall. The windows on the bridge are soon covered in flakes, obscuring the floating barriers that fill the channel. Thankfully, the floating barriers appear clearly on the radar. We can see large spots of orange, indicating icebergs, on the screen. A giant orange clump waits imposingly ahead. Three kilometers separate us from the berg.

At one kilometer, the silence breaks with a whispered command from the captain. With a flick of the wheel, the helmsman angles the ship away from danger. We glimpse a tabular iceberg through the shroud of fog and snow. This is a unique form of iceberg that can only be seen in the southern ocean. It is amazing in its immensity. The sides rise a hundred feet straight up to the huge flat top.

Antarctica has amazed me again. We'd boarded the polar class cruise vessel with the intention of reaching the Antarctic Circle. Having passed many unsettled and unoccupied areas of the planet, we are nearly there. Antarctica was first seen in 1820. It took another 79 years before someone wintered over there. A deadly search for the south pole was begun soon after that, and then scientists came to the continent. Coming to Antarctica used to be something only rich people could do. For about the same cost of visiting a Caribbean island, you can see Antarctica.

Some people say that Antarctica looks a bit like a manta ray with a curving tail. The very most northern tip of Antarctica is still 500 ocean miles from South America. This area of water is known as Drakes Passage and sports some of the worst seas on the planet. Getting through these waters, which have also been called 'the slobbering jaws of hell' is the real price to pay to see Antarctica. We followed the advice of one passenger, who suggested we make sure everything was stowed and that the porthole latches of our cabins were secure before we went to bed.

Our ship left the Argentine port city of Ushuaia and passed through the Beagle Channel. Later we reached open ocean. The ship traveled on for two more days in extremely unsettled waters. The winds reached near gale-force and were always blowing. Splash from waves crashing on the ship?s bow passed above my fourth-deck window. Seeing swells of fifteen to forty feet in size did nothing to quell our seasickness.

After two days sail from South America, we got to the Southern Ocean. A coastal archipelago was a welcome sight that first morning. The water was calmer. High mountains were topped in wispy clouds. Dark, spiky ridges cut through the glacier?s smooth surface. The ice goes right into the water in huge frozen slabs. They are crackled and bumpy, not smooth like the glaciers. It looks like a huge mountain range has been plopped into the middle of the ocean.

One passenger relates our trip to this place to the labor of childbirth. When looking at statistics, you?ll see Antarctica is the windiest, coldest, driest and highest continent on average. Death Valley and Antarctica get the same amount of precipitation per year. But, Antarctica stores seventy percent of the fresh water reserves for the planet. No animals stay all year long on Antarctica and there is no indigenous human population. No one even owns the land.

Due to the rigorous weather and poor conditions, sailing routes, as well as shore landings are dictated by the weather. Though we've been counseled by the guides to remain flexible, our original shore landing becomes reality. Those groups to which we've been assigned meet on deck. After the call for my group, I climb into an inflatable boat with nine other people. We only have one more quarter mile of water to cross before we reach the land. Then, with one small step, I am one of the few who have physically touched Antarctica.