Friday, March 2, 2012

9 - Heading North Across The Drake Passage


Full day at sea today. The seas were moderate, not the placid calm on our way south, but not too wild. It was enough to slosh all of the water out of the hot tub though. We watched a film, a favorite of the Expedition Crew, about the 1929 Peking crossing around Cape Horn. The film was narrated by Irving Johnson, who had been the photographer on the voyage. Johnson was the Captain that would years later sail his clipper, the Yankee, around the world with Jan's cousins aboard, along with other teens getting a first-hand education about the world. The Yankee returned to port in Mystic, Connecticut after the year and a half voyage, and Jan went to meet the Yankee and met Captain Johnson. Again, small world!

Danny, one of the cracker-jack expedition team, gave a presentation in the afternoon about the work he and another of the team do at a base in Rothera, here in Antarctica. The winters get very long in Antarctica, and the bases have been holding an annual Antarctica Film Festival to keep the morale up. They have 3 days to make the film after they are given 5 elements that must be included in the 5 minute submitted films. This year's 5 elements were:

A silly hat
A toilet roll
A temperamental continental chef
The sound of a drink being opened
The line, 'Do you want to buy a dog?'

Herewith the submission from the Rothera Base
That's Danny asking the probing question about the dog.
Funny... take a look!



During one of our landings, this Leopard Seal had had a penguin for lunch and then thought it would board the Corinthian II. I guess it heard we had great desserts on board.



Our group photo. That's me behind the lady holding the flag. And our guide, the ever-exuberant Carlos... so proud of his gaggle of Red Breasted Homo Sapiens.



Some maps of the areas we explored and landed on...





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