January 1: Magellan's Toe and New Year's Eve

January 1st, 2011

Punta Arenas was eerily silent last night. I assume that most people had gone home to celebrate with their family and friends.  We found one of the few local hangouts that was open and met up with most of the science crew and ship’s crew to enjoy the last hours of 2010.

It was a pretty special experience because the ship’s crew and the science crew never usually socialize and the science crew are usually so busy that no one has any extra time to spare.  Since a good portion of this group has worked together on the same cruise in years past, everyone quickly relaxed and enjoyed each other’s company, making it easy for the newcomers to feel welcome. 

We walked to the town square that has a statue of Magellan and other oceanic-mythical figures and made sure that everyone rubbed the Magellan's toe, which is supposed to bring good luck for the Drake crossing.  Punta Arenas has an amazing history, since most of the shipping traffic would stop here before the Suez Canal was built. 

After checking in with the statue, we walked to the waterfront and waited for the fireworks. With anticipation building, nothing happened once the New Year rang in. Then one ship started to blow its low rumbling horn and then another and shortly thereafter all of the ships at the dock were blasting their different-toned horns.

One Chilean navy ship kept theirs on for nearly 20 minutes.  At the same time, flares starting flying into the air all around.  It was definitely not what we expected, but it was an amazingly surreal experience after all.  As dead as the streets were before, thousands of people had gathered at the ocean front to celebrate and enjoy the show. 

I was exhausted and went to back to the ship and went to sleep.  We had to make sure and check in at 08:00 so that the ship could leave at 10:00 and not leave anyone behind. We pulled away from the dock and set our anchor to wait for one last person to come in tonight.

 

People read, watched movies, and worked for the rest of the day while the wind blew at 30 knots, rocking the ship ever so slightly. We also had a ship safety and orientation meeting where we have to get familiar with warning sirens, immersion suits, life jackets and the liferafts/boats. 

This brings me to life on a ship. The best way I can describe it to everyone is to imagine your house/jobsite/and life moving away from where it stands and having it rock back and forth wherever you go.  Nothing stands still anymore.  Luckily at this point it is very mild and soft. 

The last of the science crew got on board at 22:30 and customs came onboard to check us out of the country.  Finally, after days of waiting, we started steaming at 2:330 for Antarctica.