The trip is ending on a tragic note, as one of the older passengers, Joyce Leedy, fell on a flight of stairs during mildly rough seas and has passed away. It’s an awful end to an amazing trip, but there is inherent risk in traveling to places that are so remote, so most people on the boat are taking the news as well as could be expected. Until the accident it had been a relaxed but good day, with those not seasick hanging out on the bridge deck and in the observation lounge. The social hour last night lasted until 2:00 AM, after which I got my best night’s sleep of the trip on the bar couch before getting up to announce breakfast, which I had told Natasha I would do so that she wouldn’t need to wake up. Natasha was of course already there, and after the evening’s festivities my voice was somewhat scratchy, but it provided a bit of levity in the morning hour. The mood on the boat is fairly somber, but hopefully everyone will remember the trip for all of its amazing days rather than its sad conclusion.
"My life amounts to no more than one drop in a limitless ocean. Yet what is any ocean, but a multitude of drops?" — David Mitchell