Day 18- At Sea, Drake Passage

Friday 21st November - At Sea, Drake PassageTime: 12:00Latitude: 57° 24.2' SLongitude: 65° 57.1' WWind: Force 8 NorthSea Conditions: Very Rough (wave height 4 – 6m)Pressure: 998 mbTemperature: 7ºCOur final day at sea began with a 07:30 wake-up call. The swell was still rolling us and force 7winds made for a chilly time on deck. We were above the 60° line of latitude and so out of thepolitical area of Antarctica, steaming every closer towards our destination of Ushuaia.We joined Gary at 09:30 in the observation lounge for a history of the native American inhabitantsof Tierra del Fuego. Gary steered us through a turbulent past, from their first contact withEuropeans to their final demise fromdisease and murder, in his lecture Beagle,Buttons & Believers. John Harrisoncontinued with the morning’s education,presenting his lecture Cape Horn Ships.The history of those magnificent shipsand their incredible crews is close toJohn’s heart; his great grandfather was anable seaman on a square rigger thatroutinely battled its way around thetreacherous Cape Horn.After lunch we settled our bills andbegan to pack, an operation that was nothelped by the movement of the ship.These swells however reduced as we25moved into the protection of Cape Horn and the adjacent islands, and then the mainland. TheCaptain’s Farewell Party at 18:00 was followed by the voyage slideshow, painstakingly puttogether by Chris with picture contributions from all staff. Chef Bryan and his team put togetheranother fine meal and we toasted our own farewells to new friends and of course a very specialplace."Virtually every visitor to the ice returns to "civilisation" converted into a passionate, life-longSouth Polar Ambassador. The enriched lives of these privileged few will never again be the samefor they have truly experienced paradise on earth. That such a wondrous, unspoiled place stillexists on this beleaguered planet, is one of the real miracles of the 20th century. The indescribablesplendour of the magnificent final frontier and its remarkable wildlife must be forever regarded asan irreplaceable international treasure that justly deserves to be protected indefinitely for futuregenerations."(Frank Todd, 1988)