Merry Christmas.
We are now almost to the Strait of La Maire which is at the southern tip of Argentina. Once we pass through the Strait, we will be in Drake Passage. However, we will need to go a few more hours to the south to be south of Cape Horn (which is on a small island south of the continent) and out in the Passage proper.
The weather has been good. We have conditions alternating between sunny and high cloudiness. Temperatures are around 10C (50ish F). The winds are 15 to 20 knots and the seas are low (a few feet). At the moment, we are in the wind shadow of the tip of South America so conditions are not bad.
Tomorrow we expect higher winds and seas. We will wait to see what happens.
Many people on the ship are wearing Santa hats to celebrate the day. Pierre is working hard at his laptop but staying in the spirit of the day.
Chris, who runs the bottom mapping system, is staying festive.
Chris and Julian, who is an IT specialist, confer on some technical point while remaining in the season. Notice the decorations.
Santa Smith (aka Walker Smith, one of the scientists) has arranged a Christmas party this morning in the 3rd deck conference room. Everyone brought gifts and drew lots for the exchange. There were discussions about "trading" and "stealing" which is allowed in some of these parties. It was too complicated so we just exchanged gifts. Someone got a gift of a game "Murder at Mardi Gras". There was a suggestion that we celebrate New Year's Day with a rousing game. We will still be in transit then, so why not.
The pictures below are from the party. They show Walker as Santa, the pile of gifts in front of a picture of a Christmas tree (on the white board), Captain Sebastian and Jennifer with antlers.
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