Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 02/13/2012 - 08:58

Hi Mrs. Herman I am sorry I have not written sooner I was away all weekend with no access to a computer but now that I am back in school I hope to be writing to you daily. At this retreat I had a massive dance party and visited a bunch of my friends who I don't get to see accept at these retreats. I have been reading your journals and that's unfortunate about the Santiago hold up and the baggage loss. it's always a panic when things start to go wrong away from home where you feel like you have so much less control. Although the boat sounds like a lot of fun because of stability due to the large side ballasts. That would make the boat insanely stable but slower if I'm not mistaken. I recently watched a movie the big miracle about three wales trapped in the Arctic and my dad actually helped free them. He didn't get a single part in the movie but a bunch of his lines that he said with the political scene behind getting them out were used in the movie. I was wondering if you seen any interesting wildlife while on the boat. Are there any marine life the water surrounding Punta arenas? Have you seen any wales? I know this is a silly question because of course if you have you would have posted about it but I still felt like asking. Wales are some of the most amazing creatures I heard that with a single swipe of its fin a gray wale can kill an killer wale, "slight irony." Anyway thanks for reading this ramble.

Luke Plowden

Nell Herrmann

Hi Luke,You are a great Polar Ambassador; thanks for writing! It's nice you got to visit with your friends over the weekend!
I know the movie you are talking about, although I haven't seen it? Do I understand you correctly that it's a true story? Was your dad involved? That's amazing!
The boat is very stable, but she rides in a peculiar way; she kind of has a sideways roll. I'm not seasick (thank goodness!) but a couple of other folks are feeling a bit queasy. I'm hoping to avoid that...
I haven't seen any whales yet, but I did see a big pod of dusky sided dolphins this afternoon. I shot about 1,000 pictures and only got one or two good ones. I'll post them in my journal tomorrow!
Keep in touch,
Ms. Herrmann