Days 21, 22 and 23: Drake's Passage

Days 21 and 22:  Drake’s Passage

Weather: For 3 or 4 hours on the 21^st, the sun comes out and there are blue skies; still very cold outside, then back to the usual overcast and chill

Quote of The Day:  So, what did you think of this trip? Let us tell you how you felt….

Donated to the kayak team

THB is wearing the patch and taking seasickness meds. The only time THB feels okay is when he’s lying down and thus THB has been lying down a lot in the last 24 hours. Up long enough on Day 21 to have pancakes with yogurt and fruit, then back to lie down some more, followed by lunch on the deck (hoodie sweater up, jacket hood up, and a blanket on the lap…THB still freezing). THB opts out of dinner, dining on crackers in the room. THB goes to the nightly recap and comes away extremely angry. It’s the rah-rah nature of the staff trying desperately to will the cruisers into bonhomie.

Book Review: Give Me Your Hand, Megan Abbott (novel): more a character study of two young women than a thriller (dead bodies in the lab) whose lives are intertwined through high school and their careers. Good companion book: Lab Girls (non-fiction). Recommended

 

First sighting of S. Americaa

Day 23: Ushuaia

Weather: chilly and breezy, THB does not go outside

Quote of The Day:  Your flight has been de-listed

Ushuaia

Basically, the HebSky  reached Ushuaia early today, hung around until a pilot came aboard at 3pm to escort us to the dock in Ushuaia. We spent the day packing, returning kayak gear, hanging out, and deciding whether to take the pre-paid early shuttle to the airport.

Attend the last lecture on geology and Bob actually shows, at the tail end of his lecture, the melting away of the polar ice caps. Then he makes some ingenuous remark about the reason for the melting away such that it is ambiguous to believe it is caused by the carbon dioxide we’ve been spewing into the air for the last 200 years. THB yells out it is not ambiguous at all, it’s science, there’s proof.  Bob says he agrees with THB and he is not allowed to “take a position” because it of politics. So, even the scientist on board are not allowed to speak their mind for fear of offending one (or more) of the cruisers. What bullshit…another great example of how a vocal minority can shut down even the people who study and promote the world we live in today.

Beagle straits?

Book Reviews: THB had read these two books well before the cruise. The Worst Journey in the World, Antarctica 1910-1913, by Apsley Cherry-Garrard (read twice) and a biography of Apsley by Sara Wheeler, Cherry. Even if you not planning to go to Antarctica, these are terrific books.

Picture from day 1 on the ship

Not a rock on a rock