Winds, Waves and Weather: 3 Tender Ports: 0
A few minutes ago, Captain Stig announced that local authorities had closed the port of Punta Arenas, Chile, today for small boats, which includes our tender boats. So another day cruising fjords and glaciers.
On December 23rd, we were seeing Devil's Island, French Guiana, out our windows when a similar announcement was made.
And earlier this week, the winds and waves at Stanley in the Falkland Islands forced cancellation of tendering to that port.
For those not knowledgeable about tendering to a port, it is the process of transferring passengers from a larger ship to smaller boats that then convey the passengers to the port. It is done when the berths for the larger ships at that port are full or do not exist. There are some old people on this ship, I think as I look in the mirror, and old people are more prone to falls and injuries when attempting acrobatic maneuvers to go down steps to a floating platform, then transfer to a small boat bouncing in the waves and wind. So, though disappointed not to visit Punta Arenas again, we do understand "why".
Our next port is Valparaiso, Chile, where we dock and finish the second segment of the seventeen comprising the Ultimate World Cruise. Passengers travelling only this segment will debark and new people will board. Los Angeles on February 11th will be the end of the third segment.
Comments
Post a Comment