Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
We arose early and continued seasoning our new kitchen tool. After having coffee, we visited the garden. We worked a little bit before getting ready for the Elks.
On the way to the Elks, we dropped off Scout at his beauty parlor. The baby is getting more beautiful every time! But after the visit, he is pooped out for an entire day. Probably over-stimulated by all the other doggies!
We had a great visit at the Elks!
We headed home about 1:30 pm.
On the way home, we called our tax man and delayed our appointment so we would not have to worry about getting ready by next Tuesday.
We piddled around the house the rest of the day, preparing for the rainstorms allegedly on the way. You’d think we were preparing for a hurricane the way we stocked up on snacks! I even tried to build a pillow fort “in case” we got flooded out. Who knew that taping the pillows to the wall with duct tape was a bad idea? At least if the rain didn’t come, I had a pretty sweet fort for my afternoon nap.
We continued watching Resident Alien until we both went ot sleep!
We are getting ready for tomorrow!!
Danger Will Robinson Day Nine Cape Horn
Today is THE DAY. The most “dangerous” part of the ocean to sail through. Maggie and I were prepared (well, Maggie was and I helped her)… we were expecting high winds, cold temps. and windy waves. Got the Dramamine, Advil, Green Apples and water ready. We went to bed early the previous evening, and watched a really good movie called My Friend The Penguin (based on a true story). It was a great way to end the evening as nerves were jittery due to the upcoming passage.
I woke up at 5:45 a.m. (Maggie stayed asleep) and I made my up to the Crow’s Nest to listen to the cruise director provide commentary and grab a cup of coffee. Sitting there staring out the window into the darkness, I could see a light flashing but didn’t know what it was. We were told that was the Lighthouse from Cape Horn and in a few minutes we would be passing the island (I’ll have to look up the name later) – that marks the point in the Drake passage at which the ship would turn to go to Antartica (2.5 days sailing time from where we currently were). As soon as he said that, I grabbed my stuff and made a beeline back to our cabin and woke up Maggie so she wouldn’t miss it. It was bitterly cold outside with the wind. Both of us were bundled up and could only stay out on the balcony for 20-30 seconds at a time. As dawn broke on the horizon, the Cape Horn Lighthouse came in to view and I was so happy it was right in front of our balcony (although a few miles away). The ship stayed there for about 30 minutes then turned for the other half of the ship to get their view.
Maggie took amazing photos and video. She was also relieved to know by looking at the waves of the ocean and see the weather that all her preparations for a rocky, wavy, stormy ride was all in vain as it was a beautiful morning lit by the sun rather than dark gray rainy clouds, and calm waves. We had more weather issues getting there than we did experiencing it. I will say, the ship was rocking a bit, there were smaller waves but it was nothing like what Maggie feared and what I was hoping for…. not 40 ft. waves, but maybe 15 ft. (that would have been fun!). I did note that both of us had headaches all day, not sure if that was all the activity in the Tierra Del Feugo excursion the day before or if it was part of the rocking of the ship. No pain medication helped it, so we watched the Drake lake pass us by from the spa where we indulged in headache reliving hydra pool therapy. We had dinner in the dining room, tonight they were serving up some Gorden Ramsey style New York Strip steak with garlic & butter (Bob makes them better! When we return to our cabins, there were certificates on both of our beds signed by the captain, congratulating us for rounding cape horn and becoming members of the Moss Back, which is a Maritime tradition, for bragging rights I suppose, Woo-Hoo!
Love to all,
Robin
