10. No Ordinary Seaman Is On The Bridge

No Ordinary Seaman 

Is On The Bridge

setting the sextant

Doing a cruise is quite a commitment, especially one for as long as 20 days and as far away from home as South America. We are no strangers to travelling far and wide, but as mentioned in an earlier post, we do not consider ourselves part of the cruising crowd, preferring instead, less costly travel on terra firma and the freedom of choice that it has.

see the Bridge with wraparound windows
 that extend over the side of the ship

Why did we choose to do this cruise? Mostly, it was to celebrate 50 years together. South America has always been a curiosity; but a cruise? This was yet another type of exploration. And if one is prepared to break the budget, then I highly recommend this with your life partner.

Incidentally, the following photos were taken with a 

smartphone because I thought that for reasons of security, 

photographs would not be permitted on the bridge. I misinformed myself.

The old seaman in me has always wanted to sail around Cape Horn. Ever since scribing the first few pages of No Ordinary Seaman - A Memoir, a more pressing desire has been to get back on the bridge of a ship. Since publication, I was determined that this be a cruise ship. Guess what? It happened!

View of Puerto Arenas from the bridge

I took a few of my books on the cruise in the hopes of gifting the captain with an autographed copy as an incentive to be invited to the bridge. The first thing I did before we even got to our stateroom, was introduce myself to the concierge as a nautical author who will be doing some writing while on board, and might there be a chance for a tour of the bridge?

"No, not very likely. The Captain is big on security and does not generally do tours."

What a disappointment. But not to be deterred, I had to find a way. I sold two books to some newfound friends with the hopes that they would spread the word so I could sell even more books.  I talked up a young ship's officer about a fascinating memoir written by an old seaman, I shamelessly spread small rumours about there being a nautical writer on the ship, and so on.

Much to our surprise, a letter of invitation by the captain was delivered to our cabin on Dec 27 for a private tour the next day at 4 pm.

This would be while we were at the dock in Punta Arenas, Chile.

The chart below shows the landform of Tierra del Fuego with the Argentine Sea on the right, and the Antarctic Sea at the bottom. The thin black vertical line represents the Argentine-Chile border.

The lower squiggly band of blue is the Beagle Channel through which we sailed from east to west. Ushuaia is situated about halfway along the channel. It is the little black dot with three small magenta circles below it. 

Punta Arenas is in the Strait of Magellan where we are berthed, top left of the screen.

the ship's helm

What a surprise to see the ship's helm. The wheel (for steering with the rudder) used to be mounted on the binnacle which included the wet compass. You know, the dial with the compass points—N, E, W, S— and its graduations embossed in fluorescent paint on a disc that floats around in a glass-domed ball in a pool of alcohol.

Look at the tiny wheel that steers this huge ship. Toggles and real small airplane-like yokes are mini wheels, also used to steer the ship. Levers that operate the bow and stern thrusters are middle left with red and green stripes.

the main console

The engine speed levers are middle left too, I think. I'll stop here. I did not want to ask a lot of questions and risk tarnishing my reputation as a seasoned helmsman. (Huh!) We are looking at some very sophisticated technology here. I had the impression that if you are good with video games, you would take to these controls very well.

Officer Fergus working with charts

The bridge is expansive with the best view on board. Who would not want to work in this bright and spacious environment?

Yes, there was Christmas spirit on the bridge too.

map storage

"Do you have a flag for every coastal nation?" I asked the Chief Officer.

"No, only for those countries where we may be sailing to. 

Sorry, Mr. Karlsen, no Norwegian flag because we do not sail in those waters. But we have a Canadian flag."

I gave him two thumbs up for that.

Based on the principle that there is no such thing as a silly question, I asked if there was a sextant on the bridge. After scratching his head the first officer went to a mahogany cubby and pulled out a beautiful lacquered box containing a shiny, never-before-used sextant.

the old Ordinary Seaman
pretending to use the sextant

Now, for readers who do not know what a sextant is, and few will, a sextant is a tool for celestial navigation that is/was used to measure the angle between the horizon and a visible object or two objects at sea. It was invented in the mid-1700s and was used for a couple of centuries. I believe all ship officers today will have learned how to use a sextant, but clearly, the instrument has become obsolete. In the unlikely event of a complete power failure & electronic meltdown, pull out the sextant.

At the end of the wonderful tour given to us by the very professional, respectful, and friendly chief officer from Croatia, I autographed a copy of No Ordinary Seaman: A Memoir and left it behind as a gift for Captain S., also a Croatian. We did not meet. He was a no-show. His loss. I'd have regaled him with old sea stories and invited him to our table.

...ooo0ooo...

next blog post is: Puerto Montt

www.noordinaryseaman.com for more photography and writing 

8. Puerto Arenas, Chile

Puerto Arenas

Punta Arenas is advertised in the sign below as the Gateway to Antarctica. I guess it is that, though unlike the town of Ushuaia, this really is a city, as the photos below will show. The differences between Chile and Argentina, where we were yesterday, are not immediately apparent to a first time visitor or the average tourist.

Overlooking the Strait of Magellan, Punta Arenas is the southernmost city on earth (Oceania Cruises "Currents")

The language is still Spanish, the locals look the same, the currency is still pesos, but this is the Pacific Coast not the Atlantic. As we move north we get a flavour of Chile. We like what we see.

for the southernmost city
in the world this is still planet Earth

Our ship arrived in a rain shower, a cool 12C. We walked around to explore the city, hence the photos of the urban landscape

wonderful old buildings that are well-maintained, the city feels vibrant - busy and alive

Speaking of currency, one thing that did jump out at us was the exchange rate. One US dollar gave us about 38 pesos in Argentina, but in Chile we got 665 pesos. Centavos? forgedaboudit ...

I call this photograph
One Man. Guess why? Hah!

As a traveller, one is always doing mental math on the fly: you want to buy something and the cost is important to you, especially if there is a third currency in your head, e.g., the Canadian dollar. For an ADD-innumerate kind of guy this is a tricky business, but my partner is sharper with numbers, so that's good. 

Um, it's also confusing that these pesos use the $ sign. To travel is to learn so many trivial little things like a dollar does not always mean a dollar.

this was
 in Argentina

Plate + drink + dessert for  $280!

(at today's exch. rate, that's just over $7.26 US or $9.63 CDN - a smoking' deal anywhere!!)

Jo assumes statue pose
when she sees the fuzz

Policemen/Carabineros  on the beat, just like any other city.

This is the statue of Ferdinand the Magellan, Portuguese explorer who many of us learned about in school.

The woman in the colourful parka is rubbing the brass toes. Why?

lots of people been rubbing these toes
(picture is out of focus 'cause the foot moved)

Legend has it that if you rub the toes, you will return to the city. Or is it, he will return to the city? Who will come back? Magellan? I don't think so. He was not Jesus, after all.
Then again, a legend is a legend.

Hmm ... This baffles me. Maybe Jo will come back here. Without me.

top arrow not pointing to
Cristobal and Colon, Panama

Just down the street was the intersection of  Magallenes and  Avenue Cristobal Colon. Translation: the M word is Spanish for the explorer's last name, which appears everywhere around these parts; Cristóbal Colón is Spanish for Christopher Columbus. 

Here is a trivia gem: readers who have done the Panama Canal may remember (but probably don't) the two small cities at the  southeastern point of Limon Bay. On your starboard side (for landlubbers that is on your right as you face the pointy part of the ship - the bow), as your ship enters the Atlantic Ocean, are the cities of Cristóbal and Colón. I don't think cruise ships stop there much. I hope not.

quite a juicy story in Ch 15,
and Chs 7, 8, 29, 30, 33 ...

If you have not yet read the amazing memoir, No Ordinary Seaman, you are very likely to remain  uninformed about such important historic and geographic information as described above. More detail about the subject can be found in Chapter  15: CLUB 61 IN CRISTOBAL

weaving around street lamp?

And I thought we were really far from home. For non-Canadian readers, this is one of our banks. A wee surprise. 

This poster promotes a local New Years Eve bash that would probably have been a spectacular way to blow out the old year and bring in the new. Only $12,000 for a couple.

...ooo0ooo...

next blog post is: Chilean Fjords

www.noordinaryseaman.com for more photography and writing