What a ride we had today on the way towards Antarctica and Elephant Island. Except for breakfast, one of us never left the room until dinnertime. The brave one of us did take a walk on the "closed" promenade deck, and came back to report the deck was dry and not slippery. He failed to mention that the swells were up to 15 feet and the ship was pitching significantly. Needless to say, few if any people were out there along with him. One good thing, we did survive the night without smashing our fingers in the bathroom door.
So it was a good time to continue with research on the Falkland Islands, especially with all of the excellent brochures and maps we had picked up in town. The Brits really did a good job promoting their overseas territory and their treasures of flora and fauna. And sorting through photos was a day-long job.
Just as well because the seas were really acting up as the day advanced. During his noon talk, Captain Rens said it wasn't the 25 knot winds that were problematic, but the swells causing the pitching were the culprit. The temperature had dropped to 41 degrees with a significant windchill factor. There was no rain, but the humidity was still 90%. Tomorrow we should expect 35 to 40 knot winds and temperatures in the 30's. It was already 39 degrees at 7pm this evening. We still had 265 nautical miles to go to reach Elephant Island.
Most all of today's activities were held inside the ship or at the Lido pool. Sit & knit, water coloring, and craft workshop were all done while sitting down. Several speakers are onboard with lectures all day. Vonda Cummings spoke on hidden wonders of life in Antarctica waters while Dr Jim Jacobs talked about South America salt-making. Ill fated expeditions was the subject for expert Iain Miller and the shore ex team spoke about the future ports of Ushuaia, Punta Arenas, Puerto Montt, and San Antonio. Now we should be able to find all of these talks on our room TV. Perfect.
So tonight was dubbed "dressy". We sort of went mostly dressy, but kept on our sturdy tennis shoes due to the constant motion of the ocean. Once you are seated at your table, who knows or cares what kind of shoes you are wearing? Safety comes first. We happened to notice a couple of decorations by the Ocean Bar with white and black balloons and feathers. We wondered what we missed by not reading the Daily newsletter. The theme was a night of music with the various bands playing in each venue from 6pm through 11:15pm. "Special " guests were at each venue. Not sure who they would be, but we suspected the Captain and his fellow officers were present. We happened to spot some of them hosting tables in the dining room.
Dinner had a fancy menu with the usual suspects. One of us ordered the small Caesar salad and one bowl of hot and tasty tomato soup. Another appetizer of tuna chunks was different followed by mains of curly noodles (fusilly) with eggplant and a red sauce, and one serving of the surf and turf ( filet mignon and a crusted crab cake). Only one of us had dessert which was an apple streusel. Good, but really sweet.
With all of the music-related activity happening, there was still a show in the World Stage with a comedian/magician by the name of Doc Dixon promising 100% FUN.
Bill & Mary Ann
No Pictures
