Monday, March 19, 2018

March 14 - Straights of Magellan


This morning we travelled through the Straights of Megellan into the Pacific Ocean.   

This body of water was discovered by the Spanish sponsored explorer Fernando Megellan in 1520.  This was important as it gave the European traders a calmer route to the Pacific Ocean instead of going south of Cape Horn into some of the wildest waters in the world.

The straight is a fairly wide body of water that was created when there was a seismic shift in the Teutonic plates. The southern coast of the straight is populated with many islands carved out by glaciers, while the northern shore is mainland South America.



As we entered the Pacific Ocean, it was if someone had turned on the wave machine in an aqua park.  In the straight the waves were probably less than a meter, but in the Pacific the waves are four to five meters in height.  The winds have made the temperature very uncomfortable.




It is very difficult to walk with the rolling of the boat. You are continually off balance and it puts a lot of stress on your leg joints trying to stay stable.  In the Oceanview Café trays, dishes and assorted condiments have been crashing to the floor.  Our room is creaking and moaning with each large wave.  It is so dangerous that they have closed the walkways on decks four and five.

In the early afternoon there was a juggling act.  The juggler’s name was Aaron Bonk. As you can imagine it was particularly hard to perform with the violent movement of the boat.  He managed to complete the show without any major mishaps.

Later in the afternoon with met up with the retired Orthodontist and his wife who are from California.  We tried our hand at general trivia with only moderate success.

The evening show was with another Broadway singer named Jordon Bennet.  His music was standard and his voice was OK, but he had a self depreciating sense of humour that kept the show moving along.

For supper both Marg and myself had Argentinean steaks.  We didn’t try to cut them with a spoon, but they were tender and juicy.

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