Email from Smiles...

You've read her comments on my blog after every marathon, here's an exchange we had today:
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Smiles: My classes really feel for you, tons read about you yesterday in the paper. Any chance that other guy ran a bad marathon?

Me: No, he's legit. Just did what he had to do. I appreciate the way they feel for me too, but I'm really just fine. What record I'm going for next? Maybe the longest chain of paper clips. Or maybe I'll start growing my fingernails. I'm sure I'll come up with something at some point, but probably not today.

Let your kids know that sometimes we get disappointed, but it's really about the attitude. I've had an AMAZING journey, inspired hundreds of people, made a positive impact on people I love, and met tons of new friends.

So, Richard got the record. Things like that happen. I'm cool. Well, mostly.:-)

Smiles: I said thanks for the message to my students already, but I actually ended up reading it to them. They thought you were very cool and collected. You truly do inspire, even in these moments where the recent adventure needs to be put in perspective. I don't think I have admired you more than I did during a moment 6th hour when the students were saying things like "Wow, he has a really cool attitude, that is even cooler than all the races". My heart just felt proud to know you.
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Article from "MyNextRace.com"

Word on the Street

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Don Kern Runs 7 Marathons on 7 Continents in 35 Days!

by Nick Arcieri - MyNextRace.com

"Marathon" Don Kern has completed his quest for the Guinness World Record of "Marathon on each continent - Shortest duration to complete (Men)" by running seven marathons on seven continents in 35 days. Don finished the Donga Seoul International Marathon in Seoul, South Korea on March 18, his seventh in 35 days.

However, in a strange twist of fate, Etobicoke, Ontario's own Richard Takata, a fellow marathoner who actually ran in Egypt, Spain, Antarctica, and Argentina along with Don, achieved the same feat in a shorter time span. Richard's attempt was completed in 31 days on March 6 at the Fin del Mundo Marathon in Ushuaia, Argentina. Confirmation from Guinness is pending but for now, it looks as if Richard holds the record.

I spoke to both Don and Richard earlier today via phone and they were both extremely thankful for the fact that they could amaze and inspire so many people while experiencing the culture and beauty of this world. Don harbours no resentment towards Richard, even thanking him for not letting him know of his accomplishment until after Don completed his trek to keep him focused on his goal.

Both men completed their astounding achievements on behalf of their respective charities, Alternatives in Motion, who provide mobility devices to those in need (Don Kern) and Power 2 Cure for cancer research and care at the Princess Margaret Hospital (Richard Takata)

"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat." - Theodore Roosevelt

To read about his adventures including daily updates of his marathons, visit Don Kern's blog.

To learn more about Richard Takata and his fundraising efforts, click here.

Special thanks to both Don Kern and Richard Takata for sharing their experiences with me as the inspiration for writing this article.

Darn it!

Well, I learned this morning that Richard Takata, a fellow traveller to Egypt, Spain, Antarctica, and Argentina had finished his quest to do 7 continents in 31 days, beating my attempt for 35 days at the marathon we ran together in Ushuaia.

Darn it!

Thankfully, he was kind enough not to tell me about his accomplishment and allowed me to complete my quest before I found out. It made the rest of my trip more fun that way. I suppose I'll have to go after another world record now. As I always say, "the adventure continues...."

Congrats Richard--All the best on your future endeavors.
(Read of Richard's quest at www.power2cure.com)

Home!!!

After a VERY LONG day flying home from South Korea, I was met at the airport by a bunch of friends, and, of course, the lovely Francine. My granddaughters were there, signs welcoming me home, and they even made up special shirts for the occasion. After a half-hour or so, we all headed to Schmohz for a beer or two to celebrate. (Back of tshirt design in the picture)

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!!!

(Insert dramatic opening sentence here) OK, probably the most traumatic thing that happened all day was walking into the portajohn and finding that you had to climb up on a platform and squat over the hole in the floor. Pretty strange.

It was a perfect day in Seoul. High 30s to start, somewhere in the 50s when we finished. And everything in between went like clockwork. Our wave left around 8:20 a.m. Paul and Brent and I spent the whole race together, running easy in a very crowded field. Bands (mostly banging drums) played in numerous places along the course. Many times Koreans would see us and practice the few words of English they knew, making us feel welcomed all day long. If we made an effort to go to the side and "high-five" the young girls there, they would scream and giggle in delight.

The kilometers just clicked off, and before we knew it we were half done. About 2:18 on the half-way mat. Paul commented that last we were saying "Darn, this is only half way! This week we're saying, "Hey, we're already half way." We continued a the same pace for the rest of the race, with Brent running in front of us setting the pace, Paul and I working hard to keep up. It started to look like we could do a negative split, finishing under 4:36, so I worked to keep pace and finish continent # 7 in style. 41K, and the final turn to the Olympic Stadium. We turned into the complex and ran into the track and field stadium for a final turn around the track. We had passed hundreds of people in the last 10K, and on the track we were smokin'. Finish time around 4:35 something, looks like negative splits, a positive marathon experience, and...

A NEW WORLD RECORD!

Marathon # 7!!!

It's Sunday morning in Seoul. I woke up with the theme from Rocky playing in my head. Ready to run. We're pinning on our numbers and heading for the subway. It's RACE DAY. If everything goes according to plan, 7 hours from now I'll be a world record holder.

Here's something interesting

On this journey, I ran three marathons in the winter, three marathons in summer so far. The winter ones, in Alabama, Egypt, and Spain, I ran in shorts. The first two summer ones, I wore long pants. I saw snow during summer marathons in Antarctica and Argentina. I watched crops being harvested in the winter in Egypt and saw ripe fruit hanging during the winter in Spain.

What's with this weather? Maybe some of you fifth graders can figure that out????

Weather forecast for tomorrow--low in the 30s, high in the 50s. In Michigan, we call that perfect running weather.

Love to everyone back home. See you all soon.

Closing in on # 7

Nice day today, just goofing off a bit. We slept in, picked up our race packets, did a little shopping, just basically relaxing all day. Well, relaxing on our feet, I suppose--we did do quite a bit of walking. Paul's cousin Matt is over here teaching English, so he joined us in the middle of the night last night. Good having someone for a guide. We found out a couple more friends will be over here too when we picked up our race numbers. All is well. One more day before marathon # 7.

More questions from Mr. Long's Class

Have you visited any other areas of Australia? LaReva
After the marathon, we went down to the Snowy Mountains and climbed Mt. Kosciuszko

What was the terrain like in the blue mountains? Addy
Mountainous. More like the Appalachians than the Rockies. More just like very large hills.

Have you seen a thorny devil or a koala bear? Justin
Not on this trip. Do you mean a Tasmanian Devil? I've seen them before. Pretty awesome. They chomp right through bones. VERY strong jaws.

What is your favorite reptile in Australia? Haley
Don't know.

How long will you be in Australia? James
From Friday to Thursday.

Are you going to find any animals and what time did you finish your last marathon? Autumn
See below for time and animals.

What is the weather like in Australia? How long did you run? Brandon
Nice all the time we were there. The run was 45K (about 28 miles) and it took 6 hours and 45 minutes.

What place did you come in? Do you have a PS2? Jenner
Check the results on the race website for my place. And, what's a PS2?? :-)

Did you see any emus, fat tailed lizards or gum trees? Kris
Lots of gum trees. The only animals I saw were some kangaroos, and a few various birds.

Have you been in any sandstorms? Allen
No.

Did you take pictures of Australia? Nicole
Yes. I'll post some when I get home.

What is your favorite place in Australia? Mystique
Don't know, but I really liked Tasmania when I was there a few years ago.

Have you seen an alligator? Doug
Nope

Did you like Australia? Is it hot? Sophie
Just warm, not too hot. Australia is always nice though. The people are all friendly

Have you seen the Great Barrier Reef? Haley M. & Brandi
Nope.

How old are you and how does it feel to finish a marathon? Cole
I'm 50. Finishing a marathon is pretty amazing. This one was especially good, because it was really hard.

What did you eat after your marathon? Billy
After the marathon we had some pretty nice steak sandwiches at the restaurant at Jenolan Caves

Have you seen a koala or a kangaroo? Dayton, Tinelle, Hunter, Jake, Julie, Devon, Mandy, Danielle & Torri
A few kangaroos. No Koalas on this trip.

Arrived in Korea

Not a lot to report from yesterday except spending about 11 hours on a plane. Arrived safely in Seoul and Incheon Airport, and took the bus to the hotel. Had a couple beers and went to bed. Maybe something will happen today. :-)

Back to Sydney

Tuesday and Wednesday were pretty easy goof off days. We worked our way back to Marcus' house and Tuesday night had lots of meat on the barbie and a few beers. We drove to the back of his property and watched the sunset and the kangaroos run. Then up to Canberra for the night.

Wednesday the big mission was to head to Kangaroo Valley on a mission. Brent had specific instructions to buy a rocking kangaroo for one of his grandchildren, and to not come home without it. Mission successful. A nice little town in the middle of Australia. We worked our way back to Sydney, and just hung out on the beach for a while.

Thursday morning--we're at the airport, checked in for our trip to Seoul and MARATHON #7

Mt. Kosciuszko

Time for another thing on the life list, climbing Mt. Kosciuszko, the highest mountain in Australia. We spent most of yesterday driving, stopping for a couple hours at an old friend's place on the way. Marcus is a guy we met on a trip to the North Pole in 2003, and he just bought a small ranch south of Canberra. We had a couple beers, toured his new Alpha Dog Ranch on 4-wheelers, saw a bunch of kangaroos, and had a nice supper. This morning, we drove down to Threadbo to knock of a mountain. At about noon, we jumped on the chairlift to the lodge partway up the mountain, where we'd hike 6.2Km to the summit. It was a beautiful end-of-summer day here in Australia, full sun shine, and a great hike. We spent about 1.5 hours hiking up on a well-constructed walkway, and at 2:00 p.m. we arrived at the summit.

Like every mountain hike, this one was full of beautiful scenery and a sense of accomplishment that only comes from being completely on top of the world. Especially great because I was with two of my best friends.

OK, it isn't very exciting of a climb, but then it isn't a really tall mountain. Just the tallest in Australia, and my second continental high point. We got a room for the night when we got down and are just hanging out, basking in our accomplishments. Tomorrow night we're hanging out with Marcus again on our way back toward Sydney. One week from tonight I'll be home.

Six Foot Track Marathon

I expected this one to be tough, possibly the toughest one of the seven, since it was 45K of serious trails and a seven hour cutoff after only 2 days of rest.

(details from the last couple days of travel omitted, but Friday Brent and Paul were there at the airport in Sydney on time and ready to roll.)

We spent the night at Jenolan Caves House, about 4 hours out of Sydney. Early a.m. Saturday, we boarded the bus back to Katomba for the start of the race. At the trailhead, we stopped and talked to race director Kevin Tiller, and got ready for the start of the race. Damper (bread containing fruit, drizzled with honey) and tea or coffee was served as we waited. Because of the narrowness of the trail, the race was started in waves. Ours was the third one, designated with blue race numbers. At the end of every wave, running at 7 hours pace, was "The Sweeper," an experienced trail runner with a broom, signifying that you better darn well stay ahead of him or you wouldn't get an official finish.

At 8:20 our wave started. Slowly, down some steep steps on moss-slickened rocks until we reached some even steeper rock steps which kept us going slowly and single file for about the first 20 minutes. Finally it opened up so we could run freely. The three of us stayed together, just having a great time through some beautiful Australian trails. Soon we came to a more open pasture-like area, and through some woods. Suddenly some pinging, sort of like wind chimes, was all around us. It was really a pretty sound, almost surreal. Our best theory at the moment is some kind of tree frogs.

We moved farther into the course and started a long descent on rocky trails. At the very bottom was a stream, first a small crossing, then one that would get everyone's attention, the water all the way up to our waist. A rope strung across the river kept anyone from getting swept away. I sat on the bank and rinsed the gravel out of my shoes and socks, then through an aid station and we began the first of two very long climbs. It was a long slog, followed by a shorter descent, then another VERY long slog up to the 26K mark. 19K to go, as we went through the aid station. We thought we were making good time, but as I got some food and drink, a guy with a blue number and a BROOM in his hand caught me. "I hope you're ahead of schedule," I said. "Actually, I'm about 1 minute behind." CRAP! As he continued on the trail, I waited for a minute for Paul to dump out his shoes, but Paul could see I was getting impatient, as the sweeper pulled away. "Just go!" he said, seeing the concern in my eyes. I took off after the sweeper. As he passed people with blue numbers, he kept warning them that they needed to finish ahead of him or not get a medal.

I got mad. No, I got DETERMINED! I didn't come all this way to screw it up now. My attitude kicked into overdrive. The next aid station was only about 2K away, and that was the last time I saw the sweeper. I pushed on, working the course along with Brent. Paul never did catch up with us.

I didn't realize it, but we still climbed a lot over the rest of the course, but I never backed off. Only a couple more severe up hill climbs, but relatively short. 7K to go, finally, we crossed the road and began a mostly downhill to the finish. Time to spare, but not to goof around. 3K to go, and it was severe downhill, my quads burning with every step. 1K and I could hear the announcer as I approached Jenolan Caves. I heard them announce Brent's finish, as I headed down the final hill. 6:45!!! beating the cutoff by 15 minutes!!! 6 down. 1 to go.

Brent and I waited at the finish. Finally, with minutes to spare, we heard Paul's name announced coming down the final slope to the finish line, beating the sweeper. Our mission was succesful. Priorities: 1. Beer. 2. Shower. Again, our mission was successful.

March 10, 2007

Blog posted by Francine Robinson on behalf of Don:

Don called me shortly before midnight on Friday (which was shortly before 4 p.m. Saturday in Australia).  He had finished the "Six Foot Track Marathon" (actually a 45K) in Sydney about an hour before he called.  I'll let Don fill you in on all the details (he will post in a day or two--the next time he has access to the Internet), but briefly I can tell you it was a very tough course.  There were narrow rocky paths, hills, sandy gravel track, dirt fire-trail roads, rivers to cross, etc.  He finished in 6:45.  Two of his friends joined him for this marathon, Paul Ruesch and Brent Weigner.

So it's six down, one to go!  CONGRATULATIONS DON!!!!  We're all proud of you!!

Fin del Mundo Marathon

Feeling much better now. The last few days on the ship, I came down with a cold, which seemed to hit its climax around Monday. Tuesday I got up for the marathon, but felt like crap. I knew it would be a long day, but hey, I've run marathons feeling worse than this.

We were bussed to the start in Tierra del Fuego National Park. It was BEAUTIFUL! Mountains surrounding us, freshly dusted with snow from the previous night. We took some pictures at the sign at the end of Route 3, a road which stretchs all the way from here to Alaska! National Guard soldiers set up tents for us to hang out in, and made us hot tea before the start.

The first 12K was spent inside the park, the most beautiful part of the course. We went up rolling hills, enjoying mountains and running through the forest. Nature at its finest. After leaving the park, we continued on gravel road for another 6K or so before getting onto pavement. Traffic picked up a little bit, but the mountains in the distance still provided us beautiful vistas as we headed toward Ushuaia. The wind picked up as we left the park and got closer to the water in town. At about 20K, we took a turn toward the airport, where the wind picked up SERIOUSLY! We did an out and back to the airport, on curving roads where the wind was rarely at our back. Most of the time it was either in our faces or blowing us sideways. I met Bruce as he hit the 25K aid station, and he yelled across the road at me, "I've never had water blow out of my glass before." Wind was blowing so hard that several people talked about kicking themselves in the ankles as the wind blew their legs when the picked them up. By the time I reached the end of the airport section, I was wiped out. I knew the next 17K was just going to be a slog to the finish.

I ran back and forth for a while with Tee and Richard. Finally I slowed down enough that they went on ahead. Several other friends passed me as I continued along the course. At 28K, we passed near enough to the finish line to hear the announcers, then turned east until nearly the 35K mark. The surface was paved, but we spent most of the time on the shoulder, which was hard, ungraded dirt/gravel. Finally, the turnaround and head back toward the finish. Only 7K to go. At around 39K, Tony Toledo caught up with me, and I worked to stay close to him, making the last part of the race a little faster than I had been going. We worked our way through the last few blocks on uneven sidewalks and through heavy traffic, finally coming into view of the finish. A final turn and we were headed a block to the finish. We finished, side by side, and for me, marathon #5 was in the books.

I met up with Tee, Irish Joe, Richard, and a couple others and we headed into town for some beer and cheeseburgers. After heading back to the hotel, I crashed for a while, partly savoring the finish, but mostly just getting some much needed recovery. Today, my legs are feeling pretty good, with only two more marathons to go.

Fin del Mundo Marathon

The good news is, I finished. But it wasn't pretty. Extremely high winds, combined with a headcold kicked my butt. Finished in about 5:24 with my good friend Tony Toledo. 5 down, 2 to go!

So, I'm wiped out, ready for bed, and I promise I'll post something more descriptive in the morning.

Love to everyone back home...

Back in Ushuaia

We departed the ship this morning after some sad goodbyes to our crew and a few of us who are headed home today. Many of the people on our ship are staying for the next marathon here in Ushuaia. Tomorrow is the Fin del Mundo Marathon. (End of the World). Right now it's snowing but we have green grass visible. Hopefully it will be a little nicer tomorrow.

Our crossing of the Drake Passage was very easy--I didn't get seasick once on the trip back.

For results and a video clip of the marathon in Antarctica, go to http://www.marathontour.com/antarctica/index.shtml

Questions from Mr. Long's class:

Questions from Mr. Long's class:

If you are in Antartica, how about wearing some shorts, I dare you! Cole
No shorts, but I did jump into the plunge pool on the ship, which was filled with freezing water from the ocean.

What is the temperature there? Is it cold? Haley M.
It´s been mostly in the 30s since we´ve been in Antarctica. Not too cold. At the top of the glacier though during the race the wind was 43 miles per hour!

If you see a seal with spots, please tell us! Billy
I saw lots of leopard seals down here with spots. They like to eat penguins for lunch. Dinner and breakfast too.

Do you like to have new adventures or are you going just to run? Danielle
I love having new adventures. When I get to Australia, I'll be climbing Mt. Kosciuszko after I get done doing the marathon.

How cold was it when you were doing the marathon? Branden
About freezing, with really high winds and snow.

Of all the animals in Antarctica, which do you like the most? Tinelle
Penguins are pretty cool, but I think I like the whales best. We saw humpbacks, minkes, fin whales, and I think some of the people saw an orca.

Do you think you will see penguins or polar bears in Antarctica? Julie
The polar bears are all in the north, not the south. But you probably knew that and were just trying to test me, I bet.

Is it cold there? Dayton
Not for somebody as tough as me. :-)

Hey Don, how are you doing is it cold? Jake
Are you nervous to be running a marathon in Antarctica? Haley S.
It was a blast! Cold and snowy, but lots of fun.

Do you think marathons are hard to run? SophieThey're usually a challenge, and you can't just go out and do one tomorrow, but with a lot of training they are not bad.

Did you see any snakes? Hunter
Nope. No snakes in Antarctica.

Do you think you will see a polar bear? Do not fall in the water! Devan
I did jump on the water after we got done with our kayak race. My drysuit had a little hole at the bottom of the zipper, so I got some VERY COLD water inside it.

What is it like in Argentina? Mystique
Argentina is a very nice country. Buenos Aires is a big city, and it was quite hot there, but it's the middle of summer here, so that's to be expected. Down here in Ushuaia, it's much cooler, since we're so far south. Ushuaia is a little tourist town, and the main port for trips to Antarctica.

Are you going to wear a jacket in the Antarctica marathon? Jenner
Yes, I wore a long sleeve tshirt, a light windshirt, and my rain jacket, and was about right the whole time.

Have you seen any animals that we don't see in Michigan? Nicole
Penguins, seals, whales, some other birds like the Antarctic Tern, Albatross. We even saw some porpoises yesterday on the way back across the Drake Passage.

When you go to Antarctica, will you see a lot of animals? Autumn
(see previous answer)

Do you like penguins? Mandy
Yeah, but they really stink.

Are there brick roads in Argentina? Kris
Probably, but most are just like the roads back home

How is the ship, is it 1st class? Douglas
The is ship is a fairly small research ship, not a big cruise ship. It's very comfortable though, and the feed us very well.

What gave you the idea of running marathons around the world? Brandi
It started when I saw that the last time they held this marathon that they were able to run in Ushuaia as well. So I started researching a little bit to find out how quickly someone could do all seven continents. It just kinda grew from there.

How many people race against you in marathons? Justin
This one had about 140 people doing the full marathon. I think the one in Spain had around 1000. In Egypt it was 80. Marathons come in all sizes!

March 3, 2007

Yesterday afternoon was our last chance to tour in Antarctica, and we did it in zodiacs in a beautiful bay, full of ice, ice bergs, surrounded by glaciers and mountains. The water was flat and calm as we cruised around, finding leopard seals lying about on ice floats. We also found a couple of weddel seals, and even had a fur seal come swimming around us.

This morning was the Iron Penguin Challenge. My old friend, Ben Brown, recruited me for his team, which would consist of us plus Larry and Lari, a father and daughter who are on the trip with us. It was a series of events:
1. Eat a cracker with Vegemite (It's Australian, it's yeast extract, and possible the world's worst tasting substance, but it's really good for you.) and wash it down with bilgewater (really just a mixture of juice that looks brown and disgusting).
2. Go to the bar, and suck on an ice cube until it's totally melted.
3. To the mudroom, put boots on the wrong feet and life jackets on backward, climb to the top deck, make a lap touching all 4 corners of the railing, and back down.
4. Name one species of whale, seal, and penguin that we've seen on the trip.
5. Go to the 5th deck to the plunge pool (filled straight from the ocean with freezing water) and take one lap around to each of the 4 corners.

Then to the sauna to warm up.

Well, we didn't win, but we had lots of fun. Then went up on deck and saw maybe 20 - 30 fin whales off in the distance, blowing and swimming close to the surface. Pretty amazing.

We'll be back in Ushuaia on Monday morning, so I'll be able to post more then. Today is the end of communication from the ship. So, stay tuned until Monday.

March 2, 2007

After an exhausting morning racing kayaks yesterday, we had an easier afternoon, visiting a Chilean base and, get this, MORE PENGUINS.  They (the Chileans) were real happy to see us.  Sixteen of them are stationed here for another couple weeks before going home for the winter.

Last night, we got to go camping.  No fires or marshmallows, however, just a bivvy sack and a sleeping bag and pad on the cold snow.  I slept well for about 4 or 5 hours, but then nature started calling and I had to make my way out of my cold sleeping bag to visit a can that they nicknamed "Mr. Yumyum." By that time, the clouds had cleared and the stars were brilliant.  I laid there for a while, just looking up at the night sky.  I saw a shooting star. There I was, just lying around in Antarctica.  Sometimes I can't get over how cool my life is.

This morning, a lot of ice had moved in around the ship.  Flipper (one of our crew members) had spent a lot of the night towing little icebergs away from the ship with a zodiac.  The captain didn't want icebergs crashing into his ship!

We heard what sounded like thunder and looked up as a small piece of glacier fell off and crashed into the water.  While we were still watching, another HUGE piece fell off, making a loud noise and starting a little tidal wave that came across the bay and nearly flipping one of the  zodiacs as it crashed ashore on our side.

It's our last day for landings today.  We're at Couverville Island, where most people have gone ashore to see even more penguins.  Most of the penguins we've seen have been gentoos.  A few chinstraps and a few adelies, but most have been gentoos.

I won't have my own email until Monday, but I can receive mail at crew600372345@marsatmail.com through Saturday, March 3.  Be sure to cc my regular email account though, just in case.

March 1, 2007

What a morning.  We woke up in Neko Bay surrounded by floating ice and glaciers.  The sunshine reflecting on the glaciers made the blues even more spectacular.  Little schools of penguins swam around us here and there, feeding in the cold Antarctic waters.  Soon we'd find out just how cold they were.

And the good news--the race is ON!  Flat waters, no wind, and at 9:00 we met at the gangway suited up to race.  As we sat on the water before the start, we could look all around us at the majesty of our surroundings.  Cold water, white and blue glaciers, penguins, the two ships at either end of our race course.

Today was more than twice as long as our prior course, going from the Vavilov to the Ioffe and back again.  It was soon clear that Bruce and I were no match for the Vavilov team, but we gave it all we had.  Three of them pulled away from us at the start, including my old friend Anita Allen. We gave a valiant chase, but at the half, two more of them caught up to me. Bruce was just a few yards up and losing a bit of steam as we went, but I kept yelling at him to encourage him and let him know where the other two guys were.  I stayed with them but just couldn't pull back in front. Finally, I think Bruce was able to hold them off to claim 4th place.  I finished in 7th out of 12.

On the way back to the ship, while we were still in our drysuits, we had a chance to jump overboard.  Now, in spite of the drysuits, it was still COLD. Plus, around the end of the zipper my suit leaked just a little bit, so some of the near freezing salt water found its way to my feet, as well as a couple other important parts.  We played in the water for only a couple minutes before getting pulled out.  So, now I've been swimming in the Southern Ocean!  Pretty amazing.  Can't wait to see what happens next.