Happy New Year’s Eve and Happy New Year! Two days rife with the potential for extreme seas and weather are ahead of us. Everyone on board was a little anxious to see what luck, or not, we would have.

The Drake Passage is famous for shipwrecks, more than an estimated 800 of them, actually, resulting in at least 20,000 deaths. Pre-Panama Canal (1914), trade ships had no choice but to sail around the tip of South America which meant taking their chances in the stormy seas and icy conditions while rounding Cape Horn through the Drake Passage. Today’s ships and technology have brought the risk way down which is not to say the crossing is risk free. Two years ago one passenger died and eight others were injured after a breaking wave hit our sister ship, Viking Polaris, shattering eight state room windows and causing major damage.

So what’s up with this area? The Pacific, Atlantic, and Southern oceans converge here creating a zone of climatic transition where cool, humid conditions clash with dry, frigid conditions. Add to that the lack of any landmass to create resistance. Pile on the possibility of high winds, strong currents, and rogue waves. If the cards are all stacked against ya, everything can combine to make for an exhilarating 48 hours.

Needless to say, we have been hoping for bathtub-calm seas and blinding sun. Just in case, we came fully prepared for rough water with ginger tea, ginger gum, ginger chews, and a stash of Dramamine and anti-nausea pills. The weather gods were smiling on us Big Time. Sun all day yesterday and calm seas!!!! Today, our last at sea, is overcast with light drizzle and calm seas.

Once it looked like we would not be nauseated nonstop, we leaned into these last two days. After we finally got out of bed each morning we had a few administrative details to attend to. Boots had to be turned in so they could be inspected and cleaned for the next cruisers. The waterproof pants were also on loan, so we gave them back too. (The rain over-jacket and puffy liner are ours to take home.) There were surveys to fill out, packing to do, and our final bill to be settled. The days were easily filled with a galley tour, lectures, documentaries, a New Year’s Eve show, tour of the bridge, an 8:00 AM stop in front of Cape Horn, a polar plunge (with ice brought from Antarctica) for those braver and heartier than I, a recap of the cruise, a hands on plankton demonstration, and three meals a day.

We arrived in Ushuaia at 5:30 this afternoon to a welcoming 68 degrees. Summer is definitely settling in down here. Although we were free to stroll around town we chose instead to have dinner with the two couples that joined us for my birthday dinner. We shared a complimentary bottle of champagne and toasted our wonderful trip before enjoying our last multi-course meal. Then back to our rooms to throw the last few things in our suitcases before putting them in the hall at 10:00.

We were not sure what to expect when we signed up to see our last continent, but it has definitely turned us into lay ambassadors for the health and welfare of this fragile eco system.

Hold on, here’s another one:
A penguin pops into a pub and strolls up to the bar.
Penguin: Have you seen my brother?
Bartender: What does he look like?

… That’s Not Fair …

The Drake Passage is named after an English seaman even though
a Flemish expedition traversed the passage first (1616).

… Cape Horn …

Cape Horn is a narrow piece of land located on the southeast side of Hornos Island
in the Tierra del Fuego archipelago in southern Chile.
It is famous for marking where the Atlantic meets the Pacific.
There is a lighthouse there and a monument to all those lost at sea in the area.
The only residents are those manning the small Chilean Naval station.