Monday 6 December 2010

A day in the name of Njord (Njǫrðr)

This morning at hrs 0545 most of us guides from the expedition team went in our small polar circle boats and landed on the island of Magdalena, after a bit wet journey. the weather was not worse than we would eventually dry up in the present wind. After only 15-20 min the wind really picked up and the silt and sand on the island really started to be annoying. the ship drifted a lot and it was decided to abort the landing, which ment that our passengers never got the chance to see the 100 000 magellanic penguins. the journey back to the ship was even more wet than before, but now we could at least get dry clothes.


the rest of the day we have been sailing south through the strait of Magellan, the Gabriel channel with its beautifull scenery - if it was not for low clouds and winds up to 39.4 m/sek which hit us in gusts, making the ship tilt over by several degrees. Njord or Njǫrðr was the god of winds and sea in the Norse mythology. We also entered the beautifull fjord of Sono Augustini with its many glaciers and jagged mountain peaks. At the moment we are sailing towards the Beagle channel, named after the ship HMS Beagle that took Charles Darwin around the world...

tonight there is fashion show, luckily my last, since i have to appear in Amundsens replica of a swim-suit, as if Amundsen brought one on his journeys to the cold and unforgiven ice worlds;0)

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