A few years ago, I headed down to Antarctica on a boat, for a 2 week adventure to the 7th continent. There was some real trepidation about the 3-day journey across Drake Passage. It was renowned for having some of the worst waters in the world, and our trip would take us far away from civilization and rescue boats.
The second day of our trip, a storm whipped in and brewed up 40+ foot seas. The water was ice-cold and prospects of rescue should anything go wrong weren't high. We all pushed that aside and focused on trying to just manage the day-to-day existence in this foreign and violently turbulent world.
Today I read an article about one of those ships going down. It struck something, and a small, football sized hole capsized the entire ship. All 150 passengers were put into lifeboats, with the good fortune that a nearby ship was able to rescue all of them successfully.
It turns out that the boat that went down was The Explorer owned by Gap Adventures and the very same boat I took to Antarctica. There's something to cause a moment of pause!
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