Big wave hits Hotchkiss ship while in Antarctic

LAKEVILLE — Students and faculty from The Hotchkiss School are shaken (quite a bit, in fact) but unharmed after a massive storm blew their Antarctica expedition off course over the weekend. This is the school’s third trip to the South Pole, sponsored by alumnus Forrest Mars Jr., class of 1949. Previous trips were in 2003 and 2009. There are 107 students and faculty on board, including Head of School Malcolm McKenzie; John Virden, who is associate head of school and dean of students; and six Hotchkiss students who live in Salisbury. The 90 students are from the classes of 2013, 2014 and 2015; the students were selected in a lottery last spring. The group left for its three-week voyage on Dec. 29 and has been at sea on the ship Silver Sea Explorer.Reports began to appear on Facebook over the weekend that the ship hit weather so extreme that it blew out a window on the ship and forced a change in plans. A report on the school’s website said “high waves and strong winds in the Southern Ocean buffeted the ship on Saturday, Jan. 12; a large wave broke onto the ship and shattered a window in the bridge. No one from Hotchkiss was involved or hurt; crew members were treated for lacerations from broken glass. “The decision was made to return to Ushaia, Argentina, for expeditions to Tierra del Fuego and not continue to the Antarctic Peninsula.”In an email from the ship to The Lakeville Journal, McKenzie reported that, “We are all well. Right now we are making good progress back to Ushaia. Seas are flatter and all is under control. It has been an extraordinary experience.”The school has several blogs from the trip on its website. The first post from a school official about the storm came from Virden, who reported that “at around 5 p.m. a large wave smashed into the ship, sending a surge of water into the bridge, smashing one of the big windows, injuring four members of the crew and taking out the electronic suite on the bridge. “A few scary rolls later, and we were again on the move, as the crew tried to assess damage and to clean up the water that surged through the bridge and into the ship.”Student Ben MacShane blogged about what the gusts felt like on the ship.“Imagine being on the highway, well above the speed limit and standing on the roof of your car; not easy,” he wrote. “A hurricane force wind is 72mph, so yes the Hotchkiss Antarctica Expedition was in a hurricane at times this morning. The waves were small, however; being in a protected cove provided some blocking of wind and didn’t give the waves time to build before they reached us. “The wind was so fierce that it literally picked up water out of the ocean and continually threw it in a fine mist. Sometimes that mist would increase in intensity and frothing foam made the water more white then blue! This gave the entire landscape a white filter.”Showing admirable sang- froid, MacShane ended his post saying, “The storm was exhilarating, the sounds and sights of hurricane force gusts on a ship are not often experienced.”Everyone is safeMcKenzie sent an email to members of the school community noting that, “As is often the case in such circumstances, there can be a tendency to exaggerate conditions. “Although I do not wish to downplay the seriousness of what happened, let me say quite clearly that the ship is totally sound, that everyone on board is safe, and that there have been no injuries to any in the Hotchkiss group. There is absolutely no reason for alarm nor for undue concern.”He did confirm that a large wave hit the ship and that “The water was of such power that it broke one of the window panels on the bridge of the ship. The force of that water in the confines of the bridge, combined with shattered glass, injured the captain and three other crew members. They have all been treated by the ship’s doctor and are in good spirits. Their injuries are mainly lacerations from the broken glass.… “We have now made a turning and are on our way back to Ushuaia. This will take us about four days. We are traveling against wind, waves and current, and so it will take us longer to get back than on our journey setting out. We have just under 1,000 nautical miles to go and we are making good time. The ship is well under way, the stabilizers are working again, and we are all fine.“Obviously, we are all disappointed that we will not be completing the second half of our journey as planned. Nobody is more disappointed than Mr. Mars himself. However, we did have an extraordinary time on South Georgia Island, and we are all enraptured by what we saw and did there.…“At this stage, we plan to return on the flights that were booked months ago. If that remains the case, we shall enjoy a long weekend in Ushaia. There is a great deal to do and to see on the tip of Tierra del Fuego.”