At Sea - Tropic of Cancer
Since leaving Ushuaia, Argentina over a month ago, we have sailed through quite a swath of the Atlantic Ocean. We have crossed several time zones, sailed through almost 83 degrees of latitude and covered 7860 nautical miles (9045 statute miles or roughly 14,400 kilometers) from South America to the Canary Islands. That distance is over one third of the earth's circumference! We have ventured south of the Antarctic Convergence and experienced both tropical regions. We cruised across the Equator, sailed through the Doldrums and the Horse Latitudes, and we've gone ashore in temperatures from below freezing (in South Georgia) to searing heat (on Ascension Island). We have encountered flat calm seas, and Beaufort force 8 seas and wind conditions. We have spotted thousands of seabirds, walked among hundreds of thousands of king penguins, sat beside wandering and yellow-nosed albatross, and we've watched green sea turtles come ashore and lay their eggs. We have identified hundreds of marine mammals, seen some magical sunsets and we even saw the green flash a few times. We have swum with sharks and kayaked with manta rays. We've waved to the numerous bow-riding dolphins and we've even scared a few flying fish out of our path. Volcanoes and glaciers have been backdrops for our photographs, and our friendships and memories are many.
All of this activity took place in just over a month, and according to the bridge officers, we have come alongside a pier only twice (Port Stanley, Falkland Islands and Praia, Cape Verde Islands), stopped the main engines only three other times, and we've spotted only a few other ships! How cool is that!?
From Ushuaia, Argentina to Las Palmas, Canary Islands one thing has become clear. The Atlantic's scope is hard to get a handle on. She has her moods and her rhythms, but she needs our help and our respect. These waters are full of life and they are life-giving. Please remember that we all live downwind and everything eventually ends up downstream. Let's be kind to this earth and to the oceans which bore and sustain us; they certainly deserve it.
Since leaving Ushuaia, Argentina over a month ago, we have sailed through quite a swath of the Atlantic Ocean. We have crossed several time zones, sailed through almost 83 degrees of latitude and covered 7860 nautical miles (9045 statute miles or roughly 14,400 kilometers) from South America to the Canary Islands. That distance is over one third of the earth's circumference! We have ventured south of the Antarctic Convergence and experienced both tropical regions. We cruised across the Equator, sailed through the Doldrums and the Horse Latitudes, and we've gone ashore in temperatures from below freezing (in South Georgia) to searing heat (on Ascension Island). We have encountered flat calm seas, and Beaufort force 8 seas and wind conditions. We have spotted thousands of seabirds, walked among hundreds of thousands of king penguins, sat beside wandering and yellow-nosed albatross, and we've watched green sea turtles come ashore and lay their eggs. We have identified hundreds of marine mammals, seen some magical sunsets and we even saw the green flash a few times. We have swum with sharks and kayaked with manta rays. We've waved to the numerous bow-riding dolphins and we've even scared a few flying fish out of our path. Volcanoes and glaciers have been backdrops for our photographs, and our friendships and memories are many.
All of this activity took place in just over a month, and according to the bridge officers, we have come alongside a pier only twice (Port Stanley, Falkland Islands and Praia, Cape Verde Islands), stopped the main engines only three other times, and we've spotted only a few other ships! How cool is that!?
From Ushuaia, Argentina to Las Palmas, Canary Islands one thing has become clear. The Atlantic's scope is hard to get a handle on. She has her moods and her rhythms, but she needs our help and our respect. These waters are full of life and they are life-giving. Please remember that we all live downwind and everything eventually ends up downstream. Let's be kind to this earth and to the oceans which bore and sustain us; they certainly deserve it.
