You wake up in port cabin B of the well appointed French-flagged motor-sailer Austral. You boarded last night in Cape Town. It is 78 feet long and can hold 16 passengers and 6 crew and you and your young photographer Danny Wilder are housed up in one of eight cabins.



You are once again under the employ of New Horizons Magazine, tasked with providing 3000 words on the remote Kerguelen Islands. Rumor has it the Austral will be the last boat to visit the Kerguelens for years. You've got one chance to explore the interior of Le Grande Terre, the Kerguelen's largest island. The notion of testing yourself in one of the harshest and most isolated environments on the planet, as well as advancing scientific understanding of this remote land, is very attractive - and the check from New Horizons magazine seals the deal. The chance to discover new features and fill in blank spots on the map - possibly named after yourself - is irresistable. You will arrive in seven days at Port Courvreux were you can explore as needed and also help prepare the three families there for their departure, the main reason the Austral sails.

Though you and Danny boarded late last night you received a quick introduction and a verbal tour of the vessel. The crew consists of Master Louis Radalle, First Mate Alain Bombard, Engineer Bernard Moltessier, the Cook, Dudley Pope and two sailors, Jim Thorpe and Jean Bart. Other than you and Danny there are only three other Passengers making the journey. A husband and wife geologist and explorer team, Edgar and Andree de la Rue and also an American painter named Donald South.

The Austral is standard and is set up in three levels. The areas of note that Master Radalle made mention of; The lowest level houses the Engine Room and Cargo holds. The mid level contains the salon, the head, eight cabins, four Port and four starboard. The top level has the weather deck, another head, the galley, crew quarters, the masters quarters and of course the bridge.

You take your watch off the end table and see it is slightly after 7am. Each cabin houses two and Danny still sleeps under blankets in the other bunk.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:43, Sat 01 Oct 2016.

  Nick splashed the water from the basin onto his face then looked into the mirror to make sure he had removed the last of the shaving lather. He was 34 years old with light brown hair which he wore swept back, hazel eyes, a robust build, and a tan complexion which came not from breeding but from vigorous outdoor activity. He had grown up under a Teddy Roosevelt presidency and had adopted his childhood hero's philosophy of The Strenuous Life- the fact that tans had recently come into fashion suited him just fine.

  It was his adherence to The Strenuous Life which had him out of bed early to perform his morning calisthenics ritual and which had made him so eager to accept another opportunity for adventure and discovery from New Horizons Magazine. His colleagues at Boston University had warned him that these frequent sabbaticals were not going unnoticed by the faculty and were no doubt slowing his advancement toward tenure, but Nick had been largely indifferent to their caution. "To achieve greatness, one must not be satisfied with a peaceful and comfortable existence," he had told them, paraphrasing Roosevelt. Besides- the journey would provide him a welcome distraction after the recent ugliness of the dissolution of his engagement to Miss Caroline Dupont.

   Returning to his cabin, Nick roused his photographer with a pat on his ankle. "Come on, it's time to dress for breakfast," he tells the youth. Nick then proceeds to dress in his tan suit and cream colored overcoat to protect against the cold of the extreme southern climate. He selects a soft ivy cap of tweed for the less formal atmosphere of a journey by ship and heads to the galley for breakfast with a spring in his step, filled with a bright eyed optimism for the journey ahead. He was hoping to catch some of the other passengers at breakfast and make their acquaintance. He suspected he might have much in common with the husband and wife Geologist explorers, and was interested to learn of the painter's reasons for making the journey.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:04, Mon 03 Oct 2016.

You step out into the hall and close the door to your cabin, just as the door closes you hear Danny finally rouse from under the blankets with a few groans making it obvious he has had better nights sleep.

The door latches and you turn to your right to head forward to the stairs to the upper deck. With your first step a door behind you quickly open and than just as quickly close. It appears someone had passed by your cabin just moments before you entered the hall and said person has gone into their room.

You head to the galley with a confident stride, you had a belly smacking good nights sleep as if you had been at sea for weeks. You find the galley Port Side just across from the Crew Quarters. As you enter to your right is the counter with the kitchen behind it. The cook, Dudley Pope gives you a nod and takes the toothpick from his mouth and steps up to the counter hanging his arms over it.

"Hiya Friend, what say you to some eggs, bacon and toast? Coffee with the fixings and orange juice is just over there." He says lazily pointing at a table a few feet from you.

You cannot help but take note of a couple sitting on the other end of the galley, must be Edgar and Andree de le Rue. He sits with a smirk on his face listening intently to his wife who cheerfully is in the middle of what must be quite the discussion. She holds a piece of toast in one hand that she uses to punctuate several sentences.

"At the end of the 1920s, a dramatic new phase in economic development began when Stalin decided to carry out a program of intensive socialist construction. To some extent, Stalin pressed economic development at this point as a political maneuver to eliminate rivals within the party. Because Bukharin and some other party members would not give up the gradualistic NEP in favor of radical development, Stalin branded them "right-wing deviationists"..."


This message was last edited by the GM at 10:22, Wed 05 Oct 2016.

  Nick collects his breakfast with a smile. It was a hearty portion- he had built up quite an appetite already with his morning exercise routine.

  Moving to the other end of the galley he addresses the couple at the table. "You  must be the husband and wife team of Geologist Explorers. Edgar and Andree De La Rue was it? (pause for aknowledgement) Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Professor Nicholas Banning of Boston University. May I join you?"