Yesterday afternoon we hit rough seas with waves up to 7 meters high (21feet). The waves have caused the boat to list almost 40 degrees to each side. No one was able to sleep last night as we literally were sliding from one end of our bed to the other. The waves were crashing into the ship and reaching as high as our port holes that are about 20 feet above sea level. The closest experience I can compare this to is the pirate boat ride at the amusement park. Perhaps you have seen it or even ridden on it--the one where you sit on a bench and the ship swings back and forth like a pendulum until it eventually swings all the way around. Because of the extreme rocking back and forth, the captain made a decision to adjust our course to reduce the rolling of the ship. Apparently if we roll more than 40 degrees to each side, people are seriously injured and often have to be medically evacuated (there is a helicopter landing pad on the ship). We have just been informed that despite the ship going as fast as we safely can go, we will arrive in Ushuaia approximately 4 hours later than expected on Saturday. That is very bad news for half of the group because they will miss their 9:30am flight to Buenos Aries. The next available flight is 10pm, which means they will miss their Buenos Aries connection to the United States. The Marathon tours staff are trying to rebook flights as best they can but it is time consuming as each flight must be changed over the phone. I do not think I will be affected by the delay as I am with the other half of the tour group scheduled to take the 2:30pm flight from Ushuaia to Buenos Aries. This is a good example of why to buy travel insurance for extreme voyages like this.
No comments:
Post a Comment