--- graywolf <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: << The North Atlantic is a dark and stormy sea in the wintertime. >>
The North Atlantic can be a dark and stormy sea any time of year... And it can also be quite pleasant if you're lucky. << Thank you for joining out "Masochists Special" winter cruise." >> First, let's get this straight: if you cross the Atlantic by sea, it's a CROSSING, not a CRUISE. BIG difference. And there is actually a sizeable group of people who routinely cross the North Atlantic in wintertime just for fun. It's unofficially known as the "Winter Crossing Club". You see, every year, the grande dame of the seas, RMS QUEEN ELIZABETH 2 (which was launched 39 years ago today) does one mid-winter crossing, westbound from Southampton to New York. Previously it was a positioning voyage to get to New York before her annual Christmas cruise from New York to the Caribbean; now the Christmas cruise is done by the new QUEEN MARY 2 so it is in early January, after a Christmas cruise from Southampton to the Canaries, and it forms the first leg of the annual World Cruise. A pretty big group of people have made a habit of taking this crossing pretty much every year. Most of them are ship buffs (like me - see my e-mail address) and it has become a major social event of the year for Club members. After hearing about it for years from friends, I finally made my first winter crossing this past January. Paradoxically, the weather was fine! It got into the 50ËF range during the day and we had only one night of moderately rough seas (perhaps 15-20 ft). A lot of people were quite disappointed. However, weather this good is certainly unusual on the North Atlantic in January. As for icebergs; you will not see them on the Atlantic in winter... The ice comes out in the SPRING when things start melting up in Greenland! Note that the TITANIC hit that famous berg in April... Not the middle of winter. << it may just be that there is a market for passengers who want to bring their swiss army knife and laptop battery with them. >> Laptop battery, yes. Swiss Army Knife... I'm not sure. This past January, the eminent maritime historian John Maxtone-Graham tried to bring his sgian dubh aboard, as part of his Scottish Highland formalwear. They wouldn't let him. But then, there's a big difference between a sgian dubh and a Swiss Army Knife... New Doug __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
