Christmas at Sea
The sheets were frozen hard, and they cut the naked hand;
The decks were like a slide, where a seaman scarce could stand;
The wind was a nor’wester, blowing squally off the sea;
And cliffs and spouting breakers were the only thing a-lee.
They heard the surf a-roaring before the break of day;
But it was only with the peep of light we saw how ill we lay.
We tumbled every hand on deck instanter, with a shout,
And we gave her the maintops’l, and stood by to go about.
All day we tacked and tacked between the South Head and the North;
All day we hauled the frozen sheets, and got no further forth;
All day as cold as charity, in bitter pain and dread,
For very life and nature we tacked from head to head.
We gave the South a wider berth, for there the tide race roared;
But every tack we made we brought the North Head close aboard:
So’s we saw the cliff and houses, and the breakers running high,
And the coastguard in his garden, with his glass against his eye.
The frost was on the village roofs as white as ocean foam;
The good red fires were burning bright in every ‘longshore home;
The windows sparkled clear, and the chimneys volleyed out;
And I vow we sniffed the victuals as the vessel went about.
The bells upon the church were rung with a mighty jovial cheer;
For it’s just that I should tell you how (of all days in the year)
This day of our adversity was blessed Christmas morn,
And the house above the coastguard’s was the house where I was born.
O well I saw the pleasant room, the pleasant faces there,
My mother’s silver spectacles, my father’s silver hair;
And well I saw the firelight, like a flight of homely elves,
Go dancing round the china-plates that stand upon the shelves.
And well I knew the talk they had, the talk that was of me,
Of the shadow on the household and the son that went to sea;
And O the wicked fool I seemed, in every kind of way,
To be here and hauling frozen ropes on blessed Christmas Day.
They lit the high sea-light, and the dark began to fall.
All hands to loose topgallant sails, I heard the captain call
By the lord, she’ll never stand it, our first mate, Jackson, cried.
It’s the one way or the other, Mr. Jackson, he replied.
She staggered to her bearings, but the sails were new and good.
And the ship smelt up to windward just as though she understood.
As the winter’s day was ending, in the entry of the night,
We cleared the weary headland, and passed below the light.
And they heaved a mighty breath, every soul on board but me,
As they saw her nose again pointing handsome out to sea;
But all that I could think of, in the darkness and the cold,
Was just that I was leaving home and my folks were growing old.
- Robert Louis Stevenson
Official sunrise came VERY early for all on board National Geographic Explorer this morning as the sun ushered Christmas day in at 02:16! At this latitude, and being only four days past the southern summer solstice, the days are indeed quite long, not leaving Santa much time to deliver all of his Christmas gifts here in Antarctica!
The greatest gift for us all was undoubtedly the beauty of our two destinations during the day. First up was Neko Harbour, named for the whale factory ship Neko, which operated here in the 1911-12 and 1923-24 seasons. There are no remains to the old whaling activities, but the gentoo penguins have certainly taken over the site, along with snowy sheathbills, kelp gulls, and brown skuas. Hiking up some 600 feet of elevation gain gave a beautiful overview of the surrounding glaciers and ice-filled waters of the bay itself.
Early afternoon found us in Paradise Bay, an absolutely stunning harbor surrounded in ice-capped mountains and glaciers. Of special interest was the Argentine research station (Almirante) Brown Base, situated on the banks of the bay and currently being overrun by nesting gentoo penguins! Many opted to kayak here amongst the ice, but others chose instead to explore the ice and glaciers via Zodiac.
Many folks wish and hope for a white Christmas but live in areas of the world where it just isn’t a reality. With guests on board from Indonesia, Mexico, Bermuda, and many states such as Hawaii and Florida that just don’t see that much of the white stuff; our day was spent in a winter wonderland, even though summer has just begun!
