a rockin' and a rollin'....

Wowzers! What a night! We are definitely headed toward the Drake Passage with the ship now experiencing high waves and lots of rough seas (3-4 meter swells). Amazingly Ronnie slept through the night but I slept very little. I don’t feel unsafe really, as I know we are in a modern, seaworthy vessel with an experienced captain and crew. However, I won’t say it’s pleasant to be on choppy seas and feel this much motion onboard. I fully expected to see the barf bags out when we went to breakfast this morning but perhaps it hasn’t gotten to that point yet.

I won’t be one bit surprised if the plan to go to Port Stanley gets aborted. There is no large port there and we would have to tender in and I can’t imagine riding in a small tender in these waters! We have an excursion to see the gentoo penguins there but I won’t be one bit surprised or disappointed if our route needs to be changed. 

 

now bypassing the Falkland Islands, heading toward the Drake Passage

LATER....

The above was written early this morning. We learned a few hours later that the captain had indeed changed our route. The stop at Port Stanley got nixed and now we're headed straight for Ushuaia. Ushuaia is the southernmost city in the world, thus earning its nickname "The End of the World".  

This means we'll have an extra day at sea. Ronnie has been a bit under the weather today, so I'm actually happy to have an additional sea day. And thankfully, we don't have an excursion in Ushuaia. The other time we visited, he hiked in the snow and I took the hop on/hop off bus around the city. If he's feeling up to par we'll probably do the same. 

In the meantime, we will rest, read, nap and/or watch a movie or the Olympics. Today he attended 2 onboard lectures - "The 1982 Falk Islands War" and "Art Tricks & The Color Wheel". I only attended the second. He continues to do his Bible reading/study, do a little art, practice his ukulele and work on his Spanish each day. However, he did not exercise today which is a "symptom" in itself. I admire how disciplined he is in so many areas. 

This picture was inspired by our time in Buenos Aires and is called la corrida de sortija, which is a traditional game of the gauchos. Two or more gauchos race their horses with the goal of being the first to put a pin through a hanging metal ring. 

 

Ronnie - 2026 (color pencils)

 

I'm very happy to report that we are now sailing in much calmer waters now. Hopefully tonight will be more restful than last. However, we are still headed toward Cape Horn and will have to sail through the Drake Passage which has a well known reputation for difficult sailing. Hopefully it won't be a repeat of last night - or worse!