The Microsoft Yacht

Spotted in Ushuaia!

From Wikipedia:

Octopus is a 414 foot (126 m) megayacht owned by Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft. Delivered in 2003, it was believed to be the biggest such yacht at the time of its construction.^[1] It is currently the world's 11th largest superyacht, the third largest superyacht not owned by a head of state.

Octopus sports two helicopters^[1] on the top deck (one in front and one on the back), and a 63-foot (19 m) tender docked in the transom (one of seven aboard). The yacht also has a pool, located aft on one of her upper decks, and two submarines (one of them operated by remote control for studying the bottom of the ocean). Side hatches at the water line form a dock for jet skis.

On January 31st 2011 one of the hellicopters of the yacht had to perform an emergency landing on the water just after it took off from the yacht whilst sailing in Ushuaia, Argentina. According to an Argentine Coast Guard officer, no casualties were reported and the aircraft had not leaked oil on the sea either.

The crew shooting hoops on the aft deck.

The irony - if you can call it that - is that the Octopus was moored right across from an Argentinian fishing ship just back from a long trip at sea.  On one side - a billionaire´s mega toy - and on the other, working class sailors unloading frozen fish.

Talked to one of the crew a bit at a bar and it turns out Paul wasn´t on the boat, he just flies in and out for a few days.  A lot of their time is spent entertaining ¨guests¨- Paul´s friends who get to cruise to the ends of the earth and fly around on the helicopters.  Now that would be cool.

More from Antarctica

So, personally, I found Antarctica stunning, but in a way that weighs on you.  Maybe these pictures of landscapes get that across a little bit.  Ice, rocks, wind and ocean for days and days. 

Most of these were taken when it was sunny - half the time it was misty with low hanging clouds, which gave the place an unreal vibe.  With a little imagination you could imagine our cruise boat was crossing the Styx.

A skua - probaby the most common bird (other than penguins).  Like a Antarctic version of a crow, it scavenges what it can find.



Dramatic lighting on th icepack, with zodiacs next to the bergs front right.  With summer in full swing, the ice is spars.  A few months ago everything would have been a sheet of ice.  All that´s left are pieces of bigger icebergs which fell off of glaciers.



A few pensioners taking their afternoon stroll.



That big iceberg is about the size of a college football stadium.

Cruising the Antarctic fjords.

Low clouds over the continent.

Morning lighting in one of better shielded bays.  There are sailboat tours to Antarctica too - it takes almost twice as long to cross the Drake Passage, and the boats stick to the more sheltered harbors.



Leaving Tierra del Fuego with squalls in the background.



Moving through the ice - some of which gets carved into these beautiful and grotesque shapes.

Buenos Aires

First impressions - coolier, edgier but messier than Santiago.

Like New York to Chicago.

Dinner at the ¨Phone Box Pub¨

Slogan: ¨DO IT IN THE PHONE BOX¨

Foo Fighters and Lenny Kravitz on the radio...

Took me about 5 minutes to get my Chilean paperwork in shape so I can legally buy a vehicle.

I was mentally preparing myself for a soul crushing day of Latin American bureaucracy, broken Spanish, and rubber stamps, but no, Chile wins again. 

Maybe the helpful folks at the DMV can take a field trip and learn a few tricks.