At Sea approaching Ascension Island
After leaving St Helena Island in our wake yesterday, it was time to push to the northwest towards our next island stop, Ascension Island. This meant we would enjoy two days at sea in the tropics. St. Helena was the easternmost point in our trip (Ushuaia, where we boarded the National Geographic Explorer, was the westernmost- and southernmost-point) as we make our way ever closer to the equator. There are five lines of latitude with names as well as numbers that interest sailors and those who sail on ships (there is a distinction). The longest in length, actually it is by definition the longest circle on the planet, is the equator (a circle running through the poles would be shorter due to the spin of the earth). The next two define the tropics; the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere and the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern. The final two define the Arctic and the Antarctic, and they are the circles at high latitudes that define the midnight sun during their perspective summers.
The climate was favorable for a deck barbeque this evening and a topic of discussion was these circles of achievement, meaning who has crossed them all by ship. This was discussed as the ship continues to make her away from the Antarctic Circle, which she last crossed in February and away from the Tropic of Capricorn, which she crossed just a few days ago and on towards the Equator, scheduled in just a few days and then farther north. By the time the ship crosses the Arctic Circle (in mid-June sometime) only 4 months will have passed between the crossing of the two high latitude circles, a journey of some 8,000 nautical miles or 9,200 statute miles. It may take just part of a day in an airplane, but you sense little of the environment you travel through on a jet trip. On a ship you experience the changing latitudes, seasons, and environments that exist on our globe and as an individual are forever changed by that experience.
