El Brujo Glacier

-Christmas with the witch, a sunken ship and a double rainbow 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

We got up early this morning, threw on our clothes and parkas and headed to the front of the ship to watch the approach to El Brujo Glacier (El Brujo means " the witch") which is a tidewater glacier and part of the Patagonian ice sheet.  Our ship is pretty small so our Danish Captain, Bjarne Larsen pulled in reasonably close so that everyone could take a good look. Cold, windy and rainy but worth every second. One of the expedition leaders on board showed us where the snow and ice has receded in the years that he has been leading expeditions. It's quite startling.
As we approached the glacier you could hear first the loud cracking sounds resembling a gun shot and then the sounds of a large piece of the glacier calving and breaking into the ocean.
If you are interested in this subject, I highly recommend a movie that Michael and I watched last year about this serious matter  called "Chasing Ice." It's an award winning film about photographer James Balog and his team on the Extreme Ice Survey as they assemble a multiyear chronicle of the planet's rapidly melting glaciers. You won't regret watching it.
After lunch we saw an amazing sight. It was a wreck of the SS Santa Leonor, a former WW2 troop carrier although it was repurposed after that by the Argentines and Brazilians. We were told that there was a "Momentary error of the Chilean Pilot Ruiz" when making a turn. There were no lives lost, but it is unsettling to cruise by a sunken ship regardless of where you are. 
There was also a double rainbow on the ocean which I took as a good omen for crossing of the Drake Passage. I'll take my victories and my omens where I can get them! Superstitious? When it suits me, heck ya!
Tonight's entertainment in the Grand Salon is Devlin the Matador of Magic. Michael not only says "NO!," he says, "Hell NO!" :-)