Why this Time of Year

(Or….. “Round the Horn in December”)

                        In case you were wondering why we are going on a Cruise over Christmas instead of being home with family and friends, I will ‘splain to you our story…….

                        It was a dark and stormy night……

                        Oops! Wrong story!

                        (But….. there is an evil part of me that secretly longs for this scenario)

The real story is that since we will be sailing around the most southern part of South America, Cape Horn, we (the ship) are best suited for accomplishing this in milder weather. This is where our timing fits in as we need to remember that the Seasons are reversed in the Southern Hemisphere. Summer starts on Dec21 (when our Winter starts up in the North) that also means that we will get to experience two Longest Days of the Year in one calendar year!

As the days up here are getting shorter and shorter, we exit and head south towards the Equator (where there is not as much difference between hours of sunlight anyway) and keep sailing southward where the days will get longer and longer the further South we sail!

Get It?

That is why this particular Voyage has to occur during these months of the year. A better example would be trying to take an Alaskan Cruise during the Winter. They are only available during the summer months for the same reason.

                        Luckily for us some bouts with inclement weather should be lessened significantly during this time period. But the proximity to the convergence of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and its relative closeness to Antarctica makes for interesting weather and sea pattern, to say the least.

                        I say luckily because most people would not be looking forward to being included in of one of those internet videos entitled “Huge Waves Encountered by Cruise Ships.”

                        If you noticed in that last statement I said most people.

                        I, for one, would not mind a bit of tossing and turning amidst an angry sea. I need to say that very quietly as the other half of this expedition is not looking forward to any sort of wavy action even though “The Patch” has proven to be a significant deterrent to “Chumming” as it were.

                        I cannot remember a cruise where I did not encounter another passenger’s regaling their story of “the time we need to string ropes across the dining room for passengers to hold on to in order to get across.”

                                                Yes, that was a true comment that I heard. Meanwhile, we were steaming along on the proverbial millpond, with nary a wavelet in sight! I even have my own Home-Made Handy-Dandy Inclin-O-Meter and Rolling Guage which merely consists of a weighted string and an upside-down semicircle scribed on a piece of paper (think upside down compass) with degrees noted on the arc.

                        I’ve never had the occasion to put it to use ☹

                        Yes, I know…… Be careful what you wish for!

                        And I have had some “inclement” weather on the water, but only in smaller boats. And yes, I will also admit that I have a healthy respect (and admiration) for a good blow-up. I wish no one to get hurt, no damage to the ship, etc. but c’mon(!) just ripples? Can’t we get a little motion going, something to write home about? Those stupid “Stabilizers” work way too good! Magellan was quoted as saying, “Stabilizers? We don’t need no stinkin’ stabilizers!”

                        Maybe I should book a voyage with him.

                        If you are so inclined and have an extra three (3) minutes…..

Google: Irving Johnson Cape Horn Storm

                        For all of you “mature” folks that can remember when National Geographic had an occasional TV Special (or you actually subscribed to the Magazine) you may remember Captain Johnson and his boat the Brigantine Yankee. Captain Johnson had spent his life at sea and when he was a youngn’ he sailed around Cape Horn on the Peking, a four-masted, steel hulled, barque (or bark, these look similar to a Clipper Ship.) He was also an avid movie maker and his filming of going ‘round the Horn’ and filming it from a masthead during a big storm is one of the most famous clips of filmmaking of its kind.

                                    If you do “Google” the above, scroll down to hopefully the first item:

 Movie Night “Around Cape Horn” narrated by Irving Johnson

 and just push the little “time slider” at the bottom of the video all the way up to the 40:00 (40 minute) part and watch for a few minutes.

                                    Hmmm….maybe I should have been on his voyage!