A Good Idea at the Time…

It all started simple enough in mid-December. A quick trip down to Ushuaia to get some pictures to start our blog for the trip back home. There, at the “el fin de mundo” sign, we met Todd who had driven from Kentucky to Alaska and then south to Tierra del Fuego. He talked about a sailing trip to the Antarctica. Well, one thing led to another, and since we “thought” that the best way to learn Spanish was to move to South America, then the best way to learn to sail must be to “Sail around the Horn”…

Well, three weeks later, in the beginning of January, we found ourselves boarding the 18 metre sailboat Spirit of Sydney with the two owners, ourselves, and five other passengers/crew for a 26 day sailing trip to the Antarctica. We have to admit that this may have been a bit more of Ian’s idea than Andrea’s, as she hates small boats, prefers sailboats that are anchored somewhere in the tropics, is generally leery of “open water”, and gets sea-sick easily. Oh well, come January 4th it was too late to turn back and we were off...

Our group consisted of two expert sailors, two with reasonable experience, two with limited experience, and three of us who have never set foot on a sailboat before. Little did we know then that “we” were the crew and would soon need to learn at least the basics…or end up hitting an iceberg, or worse.