Saturday, January 18, 2014
We continue to be completely amazed with the incredible luck we've had so far with the weather during this cruise. Early this morning we crossed the Antarctic Convergence (Polar Front Zone). This is where the water temperature suddenly drops several degrees even though we aren't in the Antarctic Circle yet. That will happen later tonight as we are sleeping. We are about 600 miles from South America and 150 miles from the first land in Antarctica. We should awaken in the morning with icebergs, whales, elephant seals, and penguins within sight, if the weather holds for us. The forecast is for the possibility of snow and fog. That would be a big change from what we've been having so far. Today was a most beautiful day with temperatures around 32 F of 0 C, very calm seas, and the most incredible deep royal blue with a tint of turquoise ocean surrounding us for as far as the eyes can see.
The dreaded Drake Passage crossing has been anything but, however, we will have to do it again next week as we head for our next destination. That was supposed to be Puerto Madryn, Argentina, but we've been informed that a change in itinerary has occurred and we will now have the incredible opportunity to land at Port Stanley, Falkland Islands, also known as The Malvinas. These islands are part of the British Commonwealth, and all 3,000 residents are British. However, Argentina still claims them as their own and even invaded in 1982 fighting a bloody war with England over them. Argentina lost the war and the islands still remain British, though strongly disputed to this day. We'll have much to say later next week about the adventure in store for us while visiting there.
We've very much enjoyed the intellectual and informative lectures that have been presented by Dr. Michael Wilcox (our History expert), Dave Bresnahan (our Antarctic expert), Guy Guthridge (our political expert), and Christopher Wilson (our expert on Antarctic animal life. He is the nephew of one of Robert Scott's fellow explorers who all perished in a tragic episode of early Antarctic exploration history. There are usually 2-3 lecture offerings every day that we are at sea.
So, dinner time arrived again, right on schedule. Appetizers for us were mushroom and gouda encrusted baguettes, then fresh vegetable salad for Marla and hot and spicy shrimp veggie soup for me. Marla's entree was a very generous grilled Sirloin strip steak with roasted potatoes, and mine was Chicken Masala with steamed vegetables. Marla enjoyed Mango sorbet, and I successfully evaded dessert again!!!!
Many of you may have seen on the blog the entry this morning from daughter Juli and husband Brannick, the announcement of the birth of their beautiful little girl Friday evening. Savannah's arrival has been eagerly anticipated by many, but none as much as Grandma Marla. I think she can now finally exhale, relax, and thoroughly enjoy the remaining two weeks of our cruise adventure. Love and congratulations to them and the whole family. We are absolutely thrilled, and even shared the news and blog pictures with many of our new found friends here on the cruise ship. We are both doing well and having a great time. Tomorrow we look forward to more exciting things to experience and share with all of you.
Love to all,
Tom and Marla
We continue to be completely amazed with the incredible luck we've had so far with the weather during this cruise. Early this morning we crossed the Antarctic Convergence (Polar Front Zone). This is where the water temperature suddenly drops several degrees even though we aren't in the Antarctic Circle yet. That will happen later tonight as we are sleeping. We are about 600 miles from South America and 150 miles from the first land in Antarctica. We should awaken in the morning with icebergs, whales, elephant seals, and penguins within sight, if the weather holds for us. The forecast is for the possibility of snow and fog. That would be a big change from what we've been having so far. Today was a most beautiful day with temperatures around 32 F of 0 C, very calm seas, and the most incredible deep royal blue with a tint of turquoise ocean surrounding us for as far as the eyes can see.
The dreaded Drake Passage crossing has been anything but, however, we will have to do it again next week as we head for our next destination. That was supposed to be Puerto Madryn, Argentina, but we've been informed that a change in itinerary has occurred and we will now have the incredible opportunity to land at Port Stanley, Falkland Islands, also known as The Malvinas. These islands are part of the British Commonwealth, and all 3,000 residents are British. However, Argentina still claims them as their own and even invaded in 1982 fighting a bloody war with England over them. Argentina lost the war and the islands still remain British, though strongly disputed to this day. We'll have much to say later next week about the adventure in store for us while visiting there.
We've very much enjoyed the intellectual and informative lectures that have been presented by Dr. Michael Wilcox (our History expert), Dave Bresnahan (our Antarctic expert), Guy Guthridge (our political expert), and Christopher Wilson (our expert on Antarctic animal life. He is the nephew of one of Robert Scott's fellow explorers who all perished in a tragic episode of early Antarctic exploration history. There are usually 2-3 lecture offerings every day that we are at sea.
So, dinner time arrived again, right on schedule. Appetizers for us were mushroom and gouda encrusted baguettes, then fresh vegetable salad for Marla and hot and spicy shrimp veggie soup for me. Marla's entree was a very generous grilled Sirloin strip steak with roasted potatoes, and mine was Chicken Masala with steamed vegetables. Marla enjoyed Mango sorbet, and I successfully evaded dessert again!!!!
Many of you may have seen on the blog the entry this morning from daughter Juli and husband Brannick, the announcement of the birth of their beautiful little girl Friday evening. Savannah's arrival has been eagerly anticipated by many, but none as much as Grandma Marla. I think she can now finally exhale, relax, and thoroughly enjoy the remaining two weeks of our cruise adventure. Love and congratulations to them and the whole family. We are absolutely thrilled, and even shared the news and blog pictures with many of our new found friends here on the cruise ship. We are both doing well and having a great time. Tomorrow we look forward to more exciting things to experience and share with all of you.
Love to all,
Tom and Marla
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