The strike is over and our provisions will be loaded by noon. It was decided – without a vote by the passengers – to wait for the folks who were marooned at the BA airport to catch up. Some would arrive around lunchtime, the rest around five. We had already lost the day, so it didn’t much matter except that we were out $1500 worth of cruise. Rather than hang out aboard they arranged a catamaran tour of the area, a three-hour tour just like the infamous one that resulted in Gilligan’s Island. We watched our sister ship, ioffe, and the Ushuaia, the ship we had originally considered, sail away, hoping our turn would soon come
It snowed last night and the mountains look wonderful. Connie left her porthole open and the foot of her bed is a bit damp. Unfortunately the wind has picked up and it is bloody cold. But everyone is on board and we finally got under way, 24-hours late. We had barely cleared the harbor when they had a lifeboat drill. These drills are taken a bit more seriously after the fiasco in Italy last year. There is no fooling around in these waters and you have to appear on deck dressed warmly with your life vest securely fastened.
We have gotten to know some of the crew and passengers already. Noah, the naturalist, looks like he just graduated high school but he has already authored a book on penguins and is working on another. Dr. Mike looks just like our friend Jim and Aaron is more than just another expedition concierge; he is one of the owners of One Ocean. Katie is a diminutive Scotts lass, whose voice is brings a smile to my face. Rob and David are professional photographers who are trying to teach the finer points of digital photography to people who can barely turn on their cameras.
Our fellow passengers are an interesting mix. More than half are from Perth, a few from the UK a stand-offish group from Israel and blessedly few from the US. We even have a couple of professional photographers with BBC credentials. Mark Carwardine specializes in whales and his current Sherpa, Peter Bassett has filmed with the famous David Attenborough. Tough competition!
