Camping on deck
To be honest I was not thrilled to wake up at sea today. A balmy 15 degrees, sun shining, calm seas, albatrosses flying outside my cabin window, in fact all the ingredients for a great cruising day did not lift my spirits. Neither did the non functioning webmail! I had to do some breathing.....
The mood on the boat has shifted. Some are partying hard. Poker, card and board games continue well into the early hours. Breakfast was less well attended today than on even the most sea sick inducing day we had about a week ago. Those attending seem skewed towards the older set.
Jode and I had one blisssful moment this morning when we were chasing the wifi signal between decks, having a coffee from the machine on deck 5 ( always better than the coffee at breakfast). We were alone in the lounge. So peaceful.
Most of the activities on board are aimed squarely at the extroverts amongst us. Now post breakfast as I sit out on the top deck I can hear the exercise music behind me. There are a lot of young people on board and their energy can dominate the spaces. Also the chronically fit and lithe, a few of those on board too, are obviously feeling the effects of confinement on board. There is a certain manic energy to their efforts to find ways to exercise. Others of us are fighting off the sluggishness of eating too much of the food on offer.
The mood at morning meeting was a bit fractious. Questions asked that have already been answered, but are asked again anyhow. We are all wanting to believe that we will be able to disembark in Uruguay, and that the ship is sailing there in good faith, but information online suggests that disembarkation is unlikely. Plans but no certainty.
‘Low agency, low comms’ is how one person described our existence yesterday. Our capacity to act on our own behalf, with control of our lives removed, creates a sense of helplessness. Low comms (communication), at least with the outside world. This lack of control runs counter to how we think we live our lives. Of course COVID has undermined this notion of individual control and self sufficiency for everyone. I wonder what the lasting effects of this might be? A new sense of interdependency and heightened gratitude for what we do have?
Maybe ‘low agency, low comms’ is a permanent state for many of us in the world today, particularly in regard to climate change. A sense of helplessness, in what, despite appearances to the contrary, is a low comms environment characterised by poor information, narrow and targeted worldview reinforcing bubbles, and fake news, all dished up with a large overdose of distraction and vacuous entertainment.
Our lecture this morning is about climate change. I surely hope there are no climate deniers on board! We have discovered that about half the passengers on board are from the US, although the people we tend to mix with are not. Funny that. Even in a group of just over a hundred you can get a skewed idea of the group as a whole.
Last night the lights from the dozens of illegals fishing vessels illuminated the entire starboard horizon. They are further out to sea than us, and this morning we can see the enormous size of them.
The reality of COVID crept closer today. The aunt of one of the Dutch passengers died yesterday. She became infected while in hospital. They suffer along with those at home; the dilemmas of who could visit her in hospital, the decisions as to who can attend the funeral, all experienced at a distance.
I am fascinated by the current reinforcement of national borders, national identity and belonging. Today we had to fill out a spreadsheet to indicate if we wished to return to the country of our nationality. In our case of course we do, but for many there is a mismatch between passport and residency, potentially creating further difficulties.
I didn’t get to finish this last night, for a rather good reason. Oceanwide offer camping in Antartica, but on our trip this was cancelled each night for various reasons. The conditions need to be right obviously for this to be a safe activity. So, last night we had the opportunity to ‘Camp’ on deck. A clear night, low swell and excellent bivouac gear saw 35 of us stargazing in relative comfort. As the dawn sky lightened, one by one we roused and gazed in reverential silence. As the sun broke the surface on starboard, Peale’s dolphins leapt and paced the ship on the port side. Aaaaah.
We cannot speak highly enough of Oceanwide and the crew onboard. They continue to do their best to keep morale high, the lectures continue, and a range of activities are ongoing.
We’ve now showered and breakfast calls. Monday on board. 17 degrees and sunny, proof of our northerly progress up the coast of Argentina.