Picto Diary - 18 December 2018 - Joseph Conrad
Regent Seven Seas Explorer 18 December 2018
11:AM. At sea, southbound, 50 miles off coast of Namibia. Power walk...well...walk, anywayS (hat tip Fish). 18 knot wake.
It's cold outside... 64 degrees...a welcome walking temperature compared to walking in the equatorial heat of a few days ago. Why? We're sailing against the cold Benguela Current flowing north from Antarctica.
The Benguela Current /bɛŋˈɡweɪlə/ is the broad, northward flowing ocean current that forms the eastern portion of the South Atlantic Ocean gyre. The current extends from roughly Cape Point in the south, to the position of the Angola-Benguela front in the north, at around 16°S. The current is driven by the prevailing south easterly trade winds. Inshore of the Benguela Current proper, the south easterly winds drive coastal upwelling, forming the Benguela Upwelling System. The cold, nutrient rich waters that upwell from around 200–300 m depth in turn fuel high rates of phytoplankton growth, and sustain the productive Benguela ecosystem. — in Namibia.
REGENT SEVEN SEAS EXPLORER 18 December 2018
Onboard lecture.
Andy Jampoler.
JOSEPH CONRAD: "HEART OF DARKNESS."
Orphaned son of Polish freedom activists who died in Russian Tsar Alexander forced exile.
Seaman, first for French merchant marine, and then Britain. Travelled widely around the world, subsidized by his maternal uncle when not on a voyage.
Wrote, in English, his fourth language (Polish, Russian, French), of his adventures.
Emotionally and psychically affected by a trip up the Congo River in 1890. Wrote masterpiece 40k word novella, "Heart of Darkness," capturing his sentiments on his river trip. The book is considered one of the great works of fiction in the English language.
Plot: A soldier is sent by Leopold II to travel up the Congo, to locate and bring back a government representative, Kurtz, gone rogue. Kurtz has formed his own private army made up of Belgian soldier cast offs and tribals. Mood becomes darker and stranger the further upriver the search party goes.
"Heart of Darkness," was unapologetically cloned by Francis Ford Coppola to form the plot line for his film masterpiece, filmed in the Philippines, but set on the Mekong River, in Vietnam, during the Vietnam War: "Apocalypse Now." — in Namibia.
REGENT SEVEN SEAS EXPLORER 18 December 2018
Onboard lecture.
Andy Jampoler.
JOSEPH CONRAD. "HEART OF DARKNESS."
Consensus top ten works of Joseph Conrad. — in Namibia.
Regent Seven Seas Explorer 18 December 2018.
Prime 7 Restaurant
50 miles from Namiba coast.
Sailing southbound.
Sunset. — in Namibia.
Regent Seven Seas Explorer 18 December 2018
Christmas Decorations
Suite 941
I picked up this wood carved, painted Santa at the crafts market in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire. This was the best of the crafts markets we have seen to date.
Nice, unique, add to our collection. Now we can carry on our tradition of decorating our Christmas "space" each year with wood carved Santas.
Addendum:
Good you are down there spewing fumes and discharging grey water, not off the coast of Maine.
Privateer,
Hancock, ME
Creating a lot of jobs though.