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 

7. Ushuaia, Argentina

Ushuaia

Ushuaia is sometimes called "The End of the World".

Ah, it's not so bad. Actually, it's pretty cool, I mean, a very interesting place, to visit.

Port of Ushuaia at the base of the Andes, the southern tip of the archipelago of Tierra del Fuego

The map display is a large scale view of our route. Ushuaia is the small dot at the tip of the continent. Just north of Cape Horn, it is the southernmost town in the world, about 60,000 residents. We are still in Argentina here. Ushuaia is on the western border with Chile. 

For centuries this was an important supply  and service port for whaling fleets. There was a large penal colony here in the early 1900s (more on this below). Today it is a major port of departure for voyages to Antarctica, for scientists and tourists.

National Geographic's Orion 
for modern day Antarctica-bound explorers

The Orion was at the dock besides us to pick up passengers and provisions for its cruise south. What fun that would be. 
Ah, for the price of a ticket ...

Christmas on the streets of Ushuaia 

Ushuaia is a calm, safe port in the Beagle Channel, way protected from the wild waters of the Strait of Magellan, that passage named after Ferdinand, the first to navigate around Cape Horn, between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Remember in 1520 he was the first to circumnavigate the world?

La Cantina Fueguina for fresh seafood.
Notice the stack of boxes by the door?

Charles Darwin came to Ushuaia through the Beagle Channel, eponym of the British ship that brought him here, probably on his way to the Galapagos Islands, during which time he was reputedly making notes on what was to become "survival of the fittest". (check it out)

Note the varieties brewed

Cape Horn and Beagle beer are not to be missed. Not only does Argentina make great wine, but the beer is also terrific, thanks to the German immigrants, we were told. 

Strategically located at the end of the dock for all foreigners entering Ushuaia by sea, is the sign below.

Not sure what is sticking to the sign,
maybe some English toffee gone green?

The casual tourist or the uninformed foreign national  may use the words, Falkland Islands, in a casual conversation with a citizen of Argentina. Be prepared for a quick, perhaps unexpected response; for example, "There is no such place. Perhaps you men the Malvinas!" For a very lively engagement in a bar, bring up the subject, especially if you are British. Be forewarned. Argentinians are very passionate about their claims, and about Thatcher's 10-day butt-kicking in 1982. To use contemporary non-speak, to some locals, that event was just fake news.

Ask an Argentinian seagull if she
has been to the Falkland Islands
and you might get your eyes pecked out 

Ask a Chilean about the Malvinas you will probably get a shrug of the shoulders and some grunting about the Argentinians, who have purportedly claimed some Chilean islands too. There is no love lost between the neighbours on either side of the Andes Mountains. Foreign relations between Argentina and the UK have been on again, off again since 1982. 

   

did not eat the moustache here

the southern Andes above Ushuaia 

We are going to catch a train now for an excursion into Tierra del Fuego National Park. A toy train - El Tren del Fin del Mundo - well, small gauge anyway, meanders alongside the Rio Pipo at zero grade. The tracks for this, now tourist train, were laid by prisoners in the first decade of the 20th Century. The purpose was to transport the murderers, thieves, recidivist n'er-do-wells, from the prison on the edge of town, into the river valley to harvest the forest.  

Her throat or my camera
- what was more valuable?

At the estación we were accosted by a couple of big jailbirds who unhanded us after fleecing me for 10 bucks for the photo (not over- priced actually).

I felt I was in the land of Lilliput (Swift), the trains were so small, as were the engineers.

In the  ancient, but well- kept coaches we rubbed shoulders - literally with the other Brobdignagians, many of whom spoke our northern language.

Engineer Zubieta's Engine

the controls

All aboard!

Lots of well-worn brass and patina, and smoke and whistles

Engineer Porta's machine

Back at the ship now and one last shot with my telephoto lens. 








This  towering Matterhorn-like peak makes me thirsty just thinking about the gruelling climb to the top.

It's December 27. At 5 pm and we sail away. The sun will not set tonight until 10:15. Temperature is about 52F/12C. The Patagonia Amber Lager sure goes down well.

...ooo0ooo...

next blog post is: Punta Arenas, Chile

www.noordinaryseaman.com for more photography and writing