Days 5-8: An Adventure at Sea

Days 5 to 8:  Onboard the ms Veendam

We spent the first two days at sea sailing from Montevideo to the Falkland Islands. We did get out on deck in a spot sheltered from the wind our first day out, and actually got a little bit of a sunburn, but that was the last of the sun we’d see for a while. The weather gradually worsened, as the winds shifted to the SW. Despite our concerns about seasickness, particularly for Lloyd, who suffers in small boats, we both did fine with the weather. We did grab the  handrail regularly, though, particularly at first.

This Google image gives a sense of how far south we were.
You can see the estuary between Argentina and Uruguay,
the Falkland islands, and the northern tip of Antarctica.
We ended up in Santiago, Chile, on the west coast,
about even with the estuary.

We enjoyed our first 'formal dinner' on Wednesday evening, the first full day after leaving Montevideo. Our group got together for a cocktail party in the lounge on the top level of the ship, the Crowsnest. It was fun to get dressed up, enjoy a glass of champagne, and of course, the meal was perfect.

Fred and Noreen, from Florida

Carole, from Oklahoma, and Gerrie, from Illinois

Jeannie, from Oregon, and Sara, from Illinois

Lyndon and Karen, from California

Julia and Betsy, from California

Revell Carr, naval historian, from New Mexico, and Patricia, from California

Mary Ruth and Bill, from South Carolina
Bill looks great in his tux!

George and Carolyn, from Oregon

Jme and Lois, from Texas

Jim, from Ohio

Our tour leader, Teresa, from Chile, with Ruth, from Texas

Mary, from California

Lloyd and Jme, fellow revolutionaries

Fred and Lloyd demonstrate the tango!

(Missing from this photo collection are Betty and Donald Timberlake, sister and brother from Tennesee and Maine, respectively. I hope that I will find photos of them as I go through later shots.)

After dinner we went to see a stage show of Broadway hits with the female singers in beautiful gowns by Bob Mackie. I found the dry ice 'smoke' that they insisted on using every night bothered my allergies, so we only went to four shows but they were very good. Brett Cave was our favorite, 'ever, ever, ever"!

from the TV ship's tracker

The Captain appeared onstage before the stage show and gave us the bad news that we would be unlikely to be able to disembark at the Falklands. Unfortunately, this turned out to be the case, as by the third morning at sea, we found ourselves in a strong gale, high seas and high swells. The skies were overcast and the temperature had fallen to 8C/46F.

My memory of the Captain’s announcements is poor, but according to our close friends at Wikipedia, where I found the Beaufort scale, a strong gale has winds of 75–88 km/h  (47–54 mph), wave height of 7-10m (23-32 ft), and ‘High waves whose crests sometimes roll over. Dense foam is blown along wind direction. Large amounts of airborne spray may begin to reduce visibility.’ That’s a pretty good description. We were having an adventure!

The Captain did describe the effects of stabilizers in controlling the rolling motion of the ship. This is a link that explains it, if you are interested. http://www.ehow.com/how-does_5382939_cruise-ship-stabilizers-work.html

I guess Holland America practices 'reusing' paper.

This photo of a what I think is a black-billed albatross gives a sense of the sea.

We were, of course, very disappointed not to be able to disembark at the Falklands. The ship has to anchor out in the bay and passengers then take long tender rides to the dock.  The waves were just  too high to allow the tenders to be safely boarded and get us onto land. Disappointing, as this was to be our only chance to see the penguins. The main place to see them, at a later stop called Punta Arenas, no longer had penguins now, as there was a bad storm there the week before and they all left! Silly birds.

One of the 'towel critters' that greeted us each evening

The Captain sent us a letter of apology and arranged for a compimentary glass of champange at dinner that evening.

Our four days at sea became a time to really appreciate the value of Road Scholar tours, and our tour companions. Instead of reading or wandering, or losing money at the casino, we enjoyed two lectures each day, each 90 minutes long. Our resident scholar, Revell Carr, a marine historian, shared information and stories about early attempts at circumnavigation, southern explorations, whaling, and all things naval. Revell has written a couple of books and has one more in the works. He made his sessions very interesting and entertaining. We particularly loved the detail about the life of these early mariners and the troubles in which they often found themselves. Revell’s sense of humor and his sensitivity were much appreciated.

We also appreciated Revell's attempts to share photos and information about 'the things that were there, even though we didn't see them". Thanks to Revell for this photo. 

Magellanic Penquins