When the alarm went off at 06:30, set to be ready for an early departure to a penguin colony in our next scheduled port of Punta Arenas, I looked out of my window into the still dark night, and noticed that we were plowing at speed through the the sea, instead of being quietly docked at Punta Arenas as planned.
We were either late arriving at or REALLY early departing from Punta Arenas. Nothing to do but switch on the TV monitor in the cabin and see what the latest navigational information says.
We were 20 miles past our destination - first clue, that our port of call has been abandoned.
Heading south at 190 degrees, winds from the northwest at 35-40 knots, steaming at 14 knots, barometer had fallen to 975 (from somewhere over a 1000 last night) - this does not bode well for any little visits to Ushuaya or Cape Horn. With a fall in pressure like that - really bad weather would be coming up soon, and BAD weather down here is VERY BAD. We definitely had skipped past Punta Arenas, and were already 20 miles past it.
And an hour later, the Captain made one of his very rare early morning announcement:
Due to weather Punta Arena has been cancelled, prevailing winds are too strong to dock and expected to get worse, and port is closed anyway. With rapidly deteriorating weather conditions, neither Ushuaya nor Cape Horn, our next scheduled port and scenic cruising, are safely approachable. The dangerous weather system is large and will cover the area for days to come. He will chose the most protected waters to carry on, and is in contact with Head office to arrange alternate ports of call. Shore excursions ill be refunded, and on board activities increased 'to keep us entertained'.
By about 8:30 winds had increased, the ship lowered its speed to just above 6 knots and started a slow turn about, from going south to going north, new course 335 degrees, still holding 7.2 knots. I checked out the upper decks, doors have safety ribbons across: For your own safety, please do not pass through this door...and our dear fellow passengers still amble around outside despite the restriction. The sun has made a very short spectacular appearance after sunrise at 8:15 and was quickly swallowed up by ominous dark clouds.
Hmm, so we are heading up north again, not surprising, as we had been approaching a 'bend in the road', meaning Magellan Strait makes a sharp turn to the north west, which would expose the ship to several hundred miles of fetch of hurricane force winds, not that safe either, even if the waves would not reach 40-45 feet as predicted for 'the outside'. Currents in the Strait are treacherous and strong, a ship like the Veendam is not exactly nimble to battle easily against overwhelming natural forces.
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| Defying Captain's orders.... |
Stay tuned - who knows what is being discussed at 'the higher levels'...beat into hurricane force winds and get into the Pacific or???? Right now - for the nautically minded - we are hanging out at
53"32.43 S
070"46.60 W
Not quite El fin del Mundo, the End of the World, but pretty close to it. Looks like we are doing donuts, as there is another course change right now, until everyone has figured out where to go next.
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| Through a glass darkly - early morning glimpse of sun under a threatening sky |
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| Watchers in the Crow's Nest |
