Lars-Eric was in communication with the British Antarctic Survey people on Stonington Island this morning, and apparently the island is currently iced in. They have two ships that are stuck there now, unable to get through the ice to leave. These ships, while smaller than the Marco Polo, are equipped for ice travel, and they aren't moving. So, we will have to skip Stonington Island and Adelaide Island and go directly to the Ross Sea.
I'm disappointed by this, since it seemed promising yesterday that we would be able to make it to Stonington to see the base there (and the dogs, which Sir Vivian discussed yesterday at length!), but this is what traveling in the Antarctic is like: you never know what will happen, and you have to be flexible.
We did cross the Antarctic circle this morning at 5:00am, and we'll be sliding southward as quickly as possible to reduce the length of our trip to the Ross Sea.
We're sailing through the Bellingshousen Sea now, and the waves are around 4 to 5 feet: very calm.
I bought one of Marie Buchler's Antarctic Tour Guide books for the 1993-94 season today, and she signed it for me. We talked briefly about how the cruise was wonderful because of all the knowledgable (and famous) people on board, and she also mentioned that she'd found many of the passengers on board to be interesting people in their own rights. Marie will be lecturing this afternoon on Krill, since we won't be landing anywhere after all.
As I read, I listened to two men composing a new song on the piano in the room. One was a younger man (30s, probably), who I've seen around: tall, with dark medium-length hair (long in front, short in back), deep blue eyes, and a fairly thin build. I've seen him around the ship earlier, looking very much like the consumate explorer, wearing a jacket a couple sizes too big (a lot like an old fashioned bomber jacket, but made of light-colored suede, I think). Yesterday evening I spotted him in Le Bar teaching some of the others how to play what looked like a piece of the deck railing by blowing through it like a trumpet or a tuba. Very Nordic-sounding. He seemed to be the one who came up with the melody.
The other man was partly bald, with a short brown-gray beard. He was fleshing out the chords and playing the piano, trying different variations on the theme based on tempo and style.
The piece was a lullaby waltz, in fast 3/4 time or maybe 3/2. The younger man was trying to give a feeling of security, love, maybe romance. It was interesting watching them work. The younger man said at the end of the session that he wanted to kep the papers they were working on because it was the beginning, and he wanted to look back on it in a few weeks when they were finished.
I gathered that the two were working together for some time, because they discussed cutting tapes that they'd had made in at least two previous concerts and listening to them separately to pick out the parts they liked.
So, we all were dressed up in our best clothes. Some of the men wore tuxedos. I wore my best suit and felt quite in keeping with the style for the evening. Of course, the women had a lot more latitude in what they wore... Some of the women wore some truly outrageous outfits. I saw one elderly woman with a kimono-like, very colorful robe with sleeves adorned with colored feathers hanging on short strings. She was definitely not oriental. Another younger woman wore a black leather outfit with a collar around her neck, complete with a large ring for a leash. Many of the women wore sequined dresses. Of course, Grandma wore a sedate dress and skirt: very conservative. I have to say that I through the others were a little bit ridiculous in their styles, although it was definitely interesting. Chalk it up to midwestern naiivity, I guess...
At dinner, the senior officers joined us in the dining room. We were honored by the Chief Officer of the Marco Polo, Lennart Ehrgard, a young man from Sweden. He's been all over the world on many different types of ships, but this was the largest passenger ship he's ever served on. He told us about the experience of crewing on a 15-man huge automobile carrier going through the Panama canal. He said that he really didn't enjoy working on board a ten-plus deck ship filled with cars, staring at him with those headlights... He seemed to be a nice person, full of interesting stories and a good sense of humor. We really have been lucky with the people who've sat with us at dinner.
Lennart also spoke with us about the skill of the Captain in turning around in the Lemaire Channel. He said that it was quite amazing that we had done it, and that it was done so smoothly. He wasn't personally involved in the manuever, since he's primarily responsible for the safety of the ship and the crew, but he said that he watched it while it was going on, and that he had pantomimed to the captain afterward that it was a great job. (Pointing at the captain, then making driving motions (like holding a steering wheel) with his hands, then a thumbs up.) He seems to have a great deal of admiration for the Captain.
Also at dinner this evening, it was Ethan's birthday. Actually, his 32nd birthday is tomorrow, but we celebrated it this evening anyway. The restaurant gave him a cake, we sang "Happy Birthday", and then some people at an adjacent table (who he met earlier on the cruise, I believe) sent him a bottle of Chardonay, which he shared with us at the table. By the end of dinner, I'd had the champaigne from the Captain's cocktail party, at least two glasses on wine with dinner, and Ethan's chardonay, not to mention a cup of strong tea. I practically had to race back to the cabin through a groggy head (with the ship still rolling in the Bellingshousen Sea). But after a quick trip to the bathroom and a couple of Tums, I'm feeling perfectly normal now.
Dana stopped by our table again after dinner, and stayed to talk with us for half an hour or so. She's such a character! Again, we really have been fortunate.
There's nothing out there at all. Just water, occasional whitecaps, the sky, and the horizon. everything's flat. The water and winds are very calm, hardly any rolling at all on the ship. (Just enough to make walking a little more difficult than on land, I guess.)
It's still overcast, so there are clouds to watch, but that's not very interesting, I guess. Much more interesting are the conversations around the lounge and the piano player.
Grandma's back in the cabin getting ready for bed, but she'll probably be writing in her own journal for some time now, and reading about tomorrow's events in the daily program.