Forget About the Falklands

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The gleam of the morning sky had been brightening our room for several hours already. We were rolling just slightly in the gentle swells of Bransfield Bay, positioned for entering Admiralty Bay at about eight in the morning. Rock cliffs could be seen from our portside window, draped with snow, and close enough to suspect that we might be early. A few bergie bits floated by, but nothing to compare to the ice pack the day before. I decided to skip the gym today, and save the morning for some scenic viewing, and Sharon decided to skip mass for the same reason. We went to the Lido, and for the first time I had the “American Style” breakfast, fried eggs over medium, with potatoes and pork sausage. Sharon had French Toast and turkey bacon which comes out super crisp on the Veendam. The captain announced that we were entering Admiralty Bay. Several outcroppings of buildings were visible on St. George’s Island where multiple nationalities had established camps in the shelter of the bay and free from any encroaching ice. A number of supply ships and research vessels languished in the calm waters, just offshore. In front of us was the Polish station, nearby a Russian and Chilean station. The day we had the folks from Palmer Station on board, one of our guest lecturers for the Exploration Team had commented that it was too bad that so few of them were doing any actual research or scientific study. It makes you wonder why nations would send their people to such a place and not take full advantage of the opportunity. We are now in the Antarctic summer. During its winter, Antarctica doubles in size due to the additional ice pack that freezes extending the reach of the continent. We have the ability here on St. George’s Island to see the two types of flora, and there are only two types, that is able to survive here in Antarctica; although, I wouldn’t go so far as to say thrive here. One type is hair grass, and our guest lecturer Chris Wilson here to comment on life in Antarctica assured us that if we were on the shore we would be able to see this grass. The other flora is a type of fungus, much smaller, but we would be able to find it as well. It was one of the “Mt. Etna” moments, where we had visited Sicily with pretty extreme fog and all the tour guide could do was point in the direction of the formation, feature or view he was describing, and say “Trust me, it is there!” The captain maneuvered another one of those 180-degree rotations so both sides could get a view of the station. Chris then got all excited having spotted an elephant seal on the beach. He gave some directions, but it was impossible to see what he was seeing through the camera. I used the binoculars, and was surprised that I actually spotted the massive reddish brown slug-like creature lounging on the beach near the water. I gave Sharon directions and she took some pictures, and then I took a couple, and when we check later, we did indeed capture the beast on film.



The captain then came over the PA with another of his famous good-news, bad-news announcements. These Dutch officers seem to have a penchant for looking at the glass both half-full and half-empty. First, the good news: The phones in the aft of the ship are now working again… mostly. Earlier in the cruise a water pipe burst in a communications closet had caused the aft of the ship to lose 911 calling, which seemed to escalate to a general inability to use the phones in the room. Calling the front desk became the workaround for some, but there were still a few with no service at all. Most, if not all, of the issues appear to be resolved. More good news, the weather is nice here for our final hour in Antarctica, and our forecast for cruising out into the Atlantic sees seas between 8 to 15 feet. Now the bad news: We won’t be going to the Falklands. The weather has worsened there, with winds of 40 MPH. A Princess cruise ship is scheduled to be there at the same time as us, so our mooring spot would be farther out, making tendering even more precarious. So the main office in Seattle has decided not to try and go to the Falklands. This had the added consequence that we would also not be going near Elephant Island, which played a pivotal role in Shackleton and his journey to survive the pack ice that engulfed his ship. For the final bit of good news: With the bad weather in the Falklands, it appears that we’ll have perfect weather at Puerto Madryn where Sharon and I plan to see elephant seals.



As we headed back into Bransfield Bay we took many pictures from the Lower Promenade deck. It was pretty chilly on deck with the wind briskly giving us rosy cheeks, so we took turns popping into and out of our cabin. I happened to be on deck when Chris announced the sighting of some orcas on the portside, and I took quite a few pictures of the ocean before timing it perfectly and capture what appears to be a mother and young orca on the surface. I also saw a fin whale at the same time people on the starboard side had a chance to see a sei whale. The two are very similar, but Chris later determined that the one on the port side was definitely a fin whale. After the whale sightings, I popped back in the cabin and had the novel idea to see if per chance we had ESPN signal and maybe the Australian Open would be on. When not only was it on, but one of my favorite players was in a five-set struggle, I sat down to watch for a bit. Of course at this time Sharon pops in the room and says “I can’t believe you’re in Antarctica and you’re sitting here watching tennis.” A short time later she stops by with her friend Ruth, offering her a chance to come in and sit for a bit, but she declined. Sharon then had a bit of a Freudian slip and said that she planned to go back out and do some more male watching. I think she’s taking this whole Magellanic penguin second partner summer fling thing a bit too close to the heart but she recovered by saying they were looking for a man for Ruth. As we moved out into the Atlantic, a trail of tableau ice bergs could be seen near the horizon, shooting out into the Atlantic in a straight line angled away from us. These beacons marked the path of Ice Berg Alley, originating from Antarctica Sound.



There was nothing on today’s Lunch Menu in the Rotterdam Dining Room that either of us just had to try, so we decided to go to the Lido, where Sharon had spotted a roast turkey being prepared for serving earlier. It wasn’t quite 11:30 AM yet, so we went to the casino. Sharon’s sticking mostly to video poker on this trip. She started poorly, not getting anything that looked remotely promising; although, she does seem to get straights more often than not when needing just one of two possible cards. Sharon complained, I just can’t seem to hit my four-of-a-kind. A lady near us exclaimed in excitement as her machine began to sound ding-ding-ding. When after a minute here machine was still going ding-ding-ding I walked around to see what she had won, and she’s giggling pointing at this clock-like orb atop the machine with numbers around the rim. The number at the top was 25,000. The light pointer had stopped at her number in the six o’clock position, and it said 10,000. A lady walking by gasped, “Did you win $10,000?” The lady shook her head, “No, 10,000 pennies.” That machine did a ding for every one of those pennies! I returned to Sharon just in time to see her get four eights, putting her back in the black. She played a few more spins, and when she was even, she cashed out and we went to lunch.



They cut of the turkey breast and sliced a few small pieces for Sharon. The man behind me said he was there to get turkey for his wife. He said she likes the wings, and wondered if she expected him to get her the wing? Just as he said that, the server cut off the wing, then flicked it with his knife into the trash. I asked for dark meat. With one decisive chop of the knife the thigh was separated from the leg. He briefly contemplated cutting some dark meat from the thigh for me, then plopped the whole thigh onto the plate, and with mashed potatoes and gravy, I couldn’t ask for anything more. These weren’t exactly the portions that I’d grown accustomed to in the Rotterdam, but I loved every bit of that turkey, and Sharon hers as well!



We went up to The Mix on the Upper Promenade for Team Trivia. We found four other players, only because all of the other teams had six, and we started out very well. We got five out of the first six answers right, partly because I knew what James Bond’s favorite number is at roulette, and partly because I knew what franchise fast food change had the most outlets in the world as of 2002. If you thought the favorite number was double-zero, or that McDonald’s was the answer to the other, you’d be wrong. Seventeen and Subway earned us two points. Sharon let us down on the “Catholic Question”, there always seems to be one or two of those; although, it didn’t sound like a Catholic question. Who was the first woman to appear on the cover of TIME magazine? No, it wasn’t Mother Theresa, but good guess. Our answer, Eleanor Roosevelt wasn’t right either, nor Shirley Temple or Queen Elizabeth II. The Virgin Mary! And guess in which city is the El Dan Hotel, which since 2001, has offered its guests bullet proof vests and hardhats. I know, you’ll have to think about that one for a bit.



I thought I’d try my luck at blackjack. And while I’ve seen strange things, I almost had to laugh, and the dealer and pit boss thought it was pretty funny too. I started with a seventeen, against a nine. The dealer turned over an eight, and it was a push. Then I got another seventeen, but I didn’t fare as well this time. Then I got another seventeen… same result. I got six hard seventeen’s in a row, losing five of them. I finally got a soft 17, made twenty, and I thought the string was broken… but dealer made twenty-one. I got a soft-fifteen (ace-four) and doubled down against dealer’s six-card. I was given a two for, you guessed it, 17! I lost. Before the dust had cleared I had wound up with 17 on eight out of the first ten hands. I then hit a short burst of really good hands for me, I recouped my losses and was ahead, and I started getting 17’s again. After the second one, I decided to take my $70 gain and count my blessings.



We sat with Ruth in the back of the Showroom on the Promenade Deck to watch the lecture by Dr. David Wilson on the life of Sir Ernest Shackleton. He came from a large family with many sisters and one brother. His father was a doctor, but not wealthy enough or well enough connected to secure his son an officer position in His Majesty’s Royal Navy, when he announced that he wanted to go to sea. He did get an apprenticeship on a vessel sailing to the southern tip of South America. And after two years, the captain did sign his papers, completing his apprenticeship. Shackleton had what some call the gift of gab. And in an interview for an expedition to Antarctica he convinced the captain of offering him the position which was He third in command, a hefty promotion, and he felt confident that he would make his fortune on this trip. Before leaving, he did request the hand in marriage of a young woman that he fancied, on the condition that he acquires the means to take care of her properly. It was on this trip that he met the lecturer’s great uncle, who was a physician, and sometimes had questions about Shackleton’s physical fitness for this expedition. But in the end he concluded that Shackleton’s enthusiasm and personal drive would prevail in the end. The two of them and Captain Scott set out to explore the interior, and see if the ocean on the other side of Antarctica could be seen from a high vantage point, in part to determine if they were on a continent, or simply a large island. The ordeal was nearly too much for Shackleton, and he was incapacitated for some of the trip. At times, his companions weren’t sure if he’d make it through the night. But this seemed to just give him more resolve. During this journey, all of their dogs died. Wilson learned that the medical thinking of the time on how to treat frostbite was wrong. When using snow to treat Shackleton’s frostbitten ear, it behaved like sandpaper making it a bloody mess. Upon their return, Scott decided to send Shackleton home to recuperate, over his strenuous objections. As it turns out, this may have been the best thing for Shackleton because he returned to a world craved for stories of Antarctica, and he had been there, he was one of the men on the expedition and the fact that he had been ill didn’t matter. If he’d come home a year later when Scott did, all of the interviews and attention would have been showered on him. He was offered a Secretary position at the university, and his status was sufficient for him to get married. As it turns out, his wife had her own trust, and he would never need to be concerned about making money to take care of her, as Scott was often concerned with taking care of his wife. After spending some time in England, being involved a number of failed ventures that for one reason or another never came to fruition, he conceived an expedition to reach the South Pole. He acquired support for this expedition and funding, but did so without ever consulting Scott who was doing his own exploration from his camp at McMurdo Bay. Some believe, because of this, Scott and Shackleton had a falling out, but Wilson brokered a sort of peace by Shackleton agreeing not to begin his transverse journey from Scott’s camp at McMurdo. However, the pack ice was particularly severe this year, and Shackleton was unable to get to his starting point in Antarctica Sound, so he went back on his word and set off from a spot near Scott’s camp in McMurdo Bay. His expedition did get within 100 miles of his goal, before he turned back, in order to reach McMurdo in time to meet up with his sailing ship; otherwise he and his party would be forced to wait until the following year to be rescued. He barely made it back to McMurdo, but arrived two days after his ship had left. He immediately set a signal fire by setting two of the out buildings of Scott’s camp on fire, and the ship returned to pick up the men.



Shackleton returned to England and was in many circles a hero. Scott of course was furious, and Wilson withheld judgment until he could talk to Shackleton and assess the full story as to why Shackleton had gone back on the agreement that Wilson had brokered between Scott and Shackleton. After that meeting he pretty much wanted to have nothing more to do with Shackleton, because he was more interested in personal glory than advancing science and increasing knowledge of the frozen South. Scott did manage another expedition, and Wilson joined him on this journey. His publicly stated goal was to reach the South Pole, but he was more interested in advancing scientific study of the region, and he took with him a photographer and naturalists. Wilson was a world-class wildlife illustrator who championed depicting life in the wild, versus the Victorian method of studying dead or stuffed animals and drawing images from these. Unbeknownst to Scott, Amundsen of Norway landed in the Antarctica in order to reach the South Pole first. He changed his plans or reaching the North Pole after someone else beat him there. Scott was aware that Amundsen was in a race for the pole when his men spotted his camp near their own. Scott refused to drop what he was doing and join in the race, and continued his scientific study and research, and left it to God to have Amundsen fall into a crevice if He wanted Scott to win. Of course He didn’t intervene and Amundsen reached the South Pole about 57 days before Scott’s party did. Unfortunately, the weather was far worse than anticipated on Scott’s return, and ultimately all the men in his party succumbed to the elements. Scott was the last to day, and wrote many letters documenting their ordeal, along with his diaries, including a letter to Scott’s widow that praised her husband for his dedication and faith.



Shackleton raised interest and funding for a third expedition as the Transverse Antarctica Expedition, to cross the continent from one end to the other. This is the ill-fated expedition documented in “Endurance”, the name of their ship. His plan called for his team to start crossing from one side of Antarctica, while another team was setting up resupply depots to support them in getting to the far coast. Unfortunately, his ship got trapped in the pack ice. The story tell of tremendous single-purpose of mind in getting his men to Elephant Island, and from there, led a smaller party in a small boat across turbulent seas to the Shetland Islands… arriving there on the wrong side of the island and managing to cross the snow covered mountains, and ultimate raising the cry for support to save his men on Elephant Island. He felt tremendous guild for the demise of three men in his support team that had setup the resupply depots. Shackleton ultimately arranged a fourth expedition to Antarctica, but he died of a heart attack before reaching the frozen content.



During the second lecture David Bresnahan discussed the Antarctica Treaty. Any nation can sign the treaty, and David urged those in the audience who might be from countries not party to the treaty, that they could urge their countrymen r do so. The science being done in Antarctica is open to all. David noted that the researchers doing the work have exclusive access to the data, while they are compiling, reviewing and developing their ideas and theories, but ultimately all data and research are available to those countries that are party to the treaty. And all facilities in Antarctica, including cruise ships, can be subject to inspections, subject to the discretion of the international inspectors. During the morning in Admiralty Bay, one of the ships that we had seen was an inspection ship. David noted that the research in Antarctica is for peaceful purposes, and some things are expressly forbidden, such as development of weapons, disposal of nuclear waste. He noted that the US had had a nuclear power plant at the station in Murdo, and although not banned, it had been removed.



We went to the $70,000 Jackpot Bingo in the Wajang Theater. It was Sharon’s turn to buy the cards. Neither of us punched any numbers for the first three calls of a simple bingo. Someone was standing after just three numbers were called, and they obviously needed a “G” so everyone was hoping to hear anything but a “G”. We never got close, and someone else one the bingo. It doesn’t always pay to be the first to stand. That’s a feeling Sharon and I haven’t had to worry about on this cruise, and I think Sharon is wondering if she’ll ever get another bingo. Because of the very fast first game we played the hard-N for the second game: All of the “B’s”, all of the “O’s” and one “I” and one “G” to complete the “N” with the free space. We did not do well on the quick-fire “Small Plus Sign” game, though I do think Sharon got to stand just as someone else called “BINGO”. And we didn’t get very close on the blackout game, which this bingo caller calls “coverall”. It’s been a couple of cruises now since we’ve had a caller that used such bingo terms as “sexy legs” or “the grandfather of bingo” to call numbers like “11” or “75”. The DJ that runs the game likes to tell “stinky jokes” during the halfway point of the blackout game. “What do you call a fish that has no eyes?” Answer: “FSHHH”.



For dinner I had the Seafood Pastry. I again chose the French onion soup from the daily menu and ordered my prime rib medium rare. Some people thought the meat was a bit tough, and I guess you’d have to count me in that camp; although Sharon seemed to enjoy hers. It’s feast or famine for Sharon in the Rotterdam, often not offering something she can eat on the specials of the day menu, but tonight they had two of her favorites: Prime Rib and Rack of Lamb. She seemed to enjoy her “medium” prime rib prepared just as she likes it… a little pink is okay, but absolutely no blood red color. I had the white cake with almond cream filling and Sharon chose the normal “chocolate offering”, this time chocolate cake with blueberry whipped cream. The cakes were quite good.



We went to see Viviana, and enthusiastic native borne Chilean artist. In addition to be world renowned playing the flute in such prestigious venues as Carnegie Hall, she is also an accomplished photographer, dancer and lyricist. There was some discussion as to whether flutist should be pronounced “FLUTE-IST” or “FLOUT-IST”; with half the audience supporting the former and half the latter. She laughed and said that they are both correct… and you know what the difference is? Salary! She played some lively tunes on her 8 karat gold flute, doing some amazing tongue work to make her single flute sound like two distinct flutes playing in rapid (very rapid) harmony together. She said she had a collection of over 100 flutes from around the world, and shared the unique sounds of some of them with us. One long wood flute had no holes for fingering to change the pitch, and she demonstrated the ability to harmoniously carry a tune using many different notes. A Native American wooden flute gave a distinctively haunting sound. She was backed up by the HAL-Cats and they seemed to be enjoying themselves, as was the audience.



After the show I returned to the blackjack table. Again, I found I was the only person playing any table games. I was happy to see that the unlimited tide of 17’s I’d had earlier today seemed to have been stemmed. We played about twenty hands and things weren’t going particularly well, but not too alarmingly bad either. But something didn’t feel right to me so I placed a minimum bet… and lost that hand even though I had 20. I continued with restraint and lost the next hand. It wasn’t long before the shoe was done, and I still hadn’t won a hand. I found myself down about $75 and I still hadn’t won a hand. Things continued to go poorly once dealing resumed, and then an amazing thing happened. I won a hand! I estimate that I must have lost 13 hands in a row (plus or minus 1 hand). I won the next hand as well, so I started my parlay, betting $6 on the next had. Not only was I winning, but I was winning easily with never needing to risk busting myself. Indeed, the dealer suddenly caught the bust-bug and was doing so three out of four hands. When I made my $25 bet, I got a blackjack. I won the next three hands as well, but the dealer started having decent up-cards, and twice here I needed to hit stiff hands drawing 20 and 21 to win. When it was over, I had won 11 hands in a row, and decided to quite with a $90 profit for the table.

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Photos

Sea Elephant
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