12/19/2009

Port of Ushuaia

This afternoon, after many hours of travel we arrived in Ushuaia, fondly claimed “the bottom of the world” to board the MV Minerva for our voyage to the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the Antarctic Peninsula.

Upon our arrival Jannie Cloete and Marco Favero, who we would later come to know as our cruise director and expedition leader respectively, greeted us at the bottom of the gangway. Once onboard we were shown to our suites before venturing out to learn the lay of the ship, enjoy some afternoon tea or a fine glass of bubbly and a wonderful spread put on by the hotel department.

Shortly there after, at 1800, we gathered in our muster stations for a safety briefing. Required under maritime law for all passenger vessels, we were taking through the procedures we must follow in the event of an emergency during our voyage. Captain John Moulds addressed us over the intercom system stressing safety first onboard the MV Minerva.

The youngsters onboard joined Kristin Worson and Rich Pagen in the card room for a quick introduction to the young explorers club running onboard during this trip before we all gathered in the Darwin lounge for an introduction to the various staff and expedition team onboard.

Unfortunately, for those of us experiencing this now there are twenty-three others who had their flight canceled do to the high winds which we have been experiencing in Ushuaia. With this, our original departure time of 2100 has been pushed back to 2300.

Not wanting to ruin anyone’s Christmas holidays, the decision was made. After securing flights for all involved the MV Minerva would postpone sailing until tomorrow. All who had booked would be able to join us and with any luck none would be any worse for the ware.

All said and done, we had a wonderful embarkation day onboard and look forward to tomorrow.