Feb 09/2012: Costa Musica (1)

So we have run into another snag. Apparently we have to navigate a fairly  narrow and shallow river to get to the city of Buenos Aires, and only one passenger  ship can go through at a time because we are high ( and could potentially get pushed by the wind etc.)   but if we were a cargo ship then 2 could pass each other as they are not as high. We also need to take on a pilot for the 9 hour transit, and that has not yet happened. it turns out that an Italian passenger vessel, the Costa Musica, left Buenos Aeries ahead of us and is coming down the channel. At the rate it is going, we will not be able to get by as there is only one place where it is wide enough for the two of us to get by, and we won't be there as fast as the Italian ship. We are  asking them to slow down so we can meet them at that spot, but it doesn't seem that they want to. In that case we will have to stay outside the river channel for the 9 hours it takes them to do the transit before we can do the 9 hour transit ourselves. As we are already 2 1/2 hours behind, this puts us even further behind. Right now we  are outside the river, going back and forth, now waiting for the Musica to exit so we can go in. About 80 people are getting off the ship in Buenos Aeries and have to catch planes, which they will now likely miss as a result. There are also about 80 passengers  who will be waiting to board the ship. One shore excursion has already been cancelled and postponed to the next day ( since we are here for 2 days) . We have not yet heard if all the others will be going- probably the short ones, but the longer ones, such as mine which is 8 hours, may no longer be able to go and i don't know if they can be deferred as there is another group doing the same tour the next day, and they cannot accommodate 2 groups at the same time.  What a mess. So here we are, 12.31 am, waiting. We will see how this all turns out later this morning.  Will have tea now, get ready for bed, and update you tomorrow night.

PS- apparently we got out of the Falkland Islands, and in particular Pt. Stanley just in time. There is some sort of dispute going on with Argentina who wants to claim them back from Britain. Especially since they have now found offshore oil in Pt. Stanley. The British  have beefed up the number of  troops and naval forces  on the island, and Prince William ( I think)  has been stationed there as a pilot right now . We were joking that  maybe we would have him bring us back to the ship if the tenders could not get us there! when we left it looked at though there were 3 naval ships in the harbor.

 

Timing is everything.

 

Here are a few photos of penguins, and one to show you where we are right now and how the ship is waiting to enter the river channel. For some reason they inserted themselves half-way in this email. Must be because the computer is tired! It's now 2.49 AM and I am off to bed. Will just send this first.

 

Love you all,

Mom & Dad