Biting Cold

The weather is becoming increasingly cold as we head farther south. With lows in the 30s on land, being out at sea with 30 knot winds make it seem like the low teens. We try to warm the inside of the ship, but it’s hard to do when it’s dipped in an ice bath around us. To the right is a picture of me when I was boat officer as we brought the small boat alongside the ship. I thought it might be good for you to see what it actually looks like. I'm the one wearing the white (boat officers always wear the white) and soaking wet.
We’re nearing the straits of Magellan as we go farther south, which is a true test of mettle for our watchstanders on the ship. Named after Ferdinand Magellan for his treacherous 1520 voyage through the straits, it is the natural strait that connects the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. It’s about 1000 miles north of Antarctica, and creates the border pairing the southernmost point of the South American mainland and Tiera del Fuego, the southern archipelago of the continent.
Going “around the horn” or around Tiera del Fuego, would be treacherous. Seas reach over 50 feet regularly, and our ship would surely capsize. Even outside of the straits, we must proceed up the inland waterways for about 1000 miles through the islands that dot the western side of Chile to avoid the awful waves the would split our ship in two. The islands help to shield the violent seas in this part of the globe. Since we’ll have a special detail stood up for the straits and inland waterways, I’ll be on for 5 hours and off for 5—for three days. It will be a busy time, as the currents and winds are incredibly strong in these straits, which could cause the ship to run aground at any point if we fail to maintain our focus every minute of our transit.
We’ll transit part of the straits (only about 8 hours) before stopping at the Southernmost city in Chili, Punta Arenas, for some liberty and time off. For Chili, it’s their highest holiday of the year, Navy Day (similar to our 4th of July). It commemorates a losing battle by the Chileans, so I’m not sure why they have it as a huge holiday, but I guess it was a moral victory or something… Go figure. We booked a hotel at a resort down there, so I am looking forward to relaxing for a couple of days and taking my mind off of work.
I probably won’t be able to update my blog while going through the straits. Internet will probably be down the whole time (the geography isn’t conducive to it) and I just won’t have the time. My off time will be devoted to sleeping and eating, and that’s about it. Despite the cold, we’ve tried to bundle up and go outside to throw the baseball around to help keep our sanity, as well as bundle up while indoors to watch a movie or two as well. Next post, I’ll try to put up some pictures of the transit, which I’m sure will have some beautiful landscapes to take in.