The Voyage




Home	News	NHM Diary	Messageboard	Contact me	Recommendations

Carne and carnage

Three weeks after leaving Grimsby we arrived at Montevideo in Uruguay looking like very perculiar. This was because we had all taken part in the "crossing the line" ceremony - a strange naval tradition where people who cross the equator for the first time get covered in gunge, dragged before a mock-court, accused of ridiculous crimes and - in our case - have all our hair cut off by Howie - (this was voluntary!).

The docks at Montevideo were a pretty grim and rough place. There were ships from all over the world including the most horrific looking squid ships covered in winches. But Montevideo boasted the "meat market" a most fantastic place where you could buy delicious bits of cow. At one restaurant we couldn't understand the menu so the waitress helped by pointing out the equivalent parts on her own body; loins, ribs, liver, brains etc, it kind of put me off.

Palm trees in Montevideo

Cold water
The boundary between the Atlantic and the Southern Ocean is called the "Antarctic Convergence". The first sailor who recorded crossing the Convergence was Sir Edmund Halley.

There is a large drop in sea water temperature when you cross the convergence. The waves are higher because the swell goes round and round Antarctica getting higher and higher.

Last updated 12th July 2006