Opua: a good day to sail for Cape Horn
Opua: a good day to sail for Cape Horn
A serious low is passing south of New Zealand, and in this hemisphere that means west winds circulating counterclockwise north of the center. They should persist for several days. It would be a good time to leave for Cape Horn, but I won’t. I think I’ll probably go the other way next year and save my next voyage around the Horn for my 70s.
Most people in the Northern Hemisphere don’t realize how top heavy this planet is with land. The Southern Hemisphere is mostly ocean.
Cape Horn is 56º South. The next most southern substantial land, other than Antarctica, is this country, which extends to 47ºS. Tasmania goes to 44º, and the mainland of Australia to about 40ºS. Cape Agulhas, the southern most point of Africa is not quite 35ºS, which is about the same latitude that Santa Barbara, California is north. London and Paris are further north of the Equator than all the land, except the very tip of South America, is south of the Equator.
No wonder this is my favorite hemisphere.
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I watched two Agatha Christie movies last week. MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS was made in the early 1980ties and is entertaining. Albert Finney is an excellent Hercule Poirot, supported by an all-star cast in cameo roles.
But WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION, from the mid-1950s is something more. Perhaps an all-time great. Tyrone Power plays a man accused of murdering a rich woman; Charles Laughton plays Charles Laughton, in this instance a famous London barrister who is recovering from a heart attack, but decides to defend Tyrone Power; and Marlene Dietrich is Power’s German war-bride wife.
I am not a particular fan of Ms. Dietrich, but this may be her best performance.
There is a patented Agatha Christie surprise ending, which I won’t reveal.
If you’ve never seen this movie, do.
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The photo is of a mosaic on one of the houses on the hill above Opua. I had noticed it before and climbed the hill this fine morning to get the photo. I went on to the top for the exercise, and on my way down noticed a man, somewhat older than myself working in the yard. I asked and he told me his daughter was the artist.
The object in the center is a representation of the car ferry.
8:00 p.m. Companionway open. Music on while I write. Going to post this and take a glass of Laphroaig and listen on deck beneath a gibbous moon.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007