[joe-frank-list] 'The cruise'

[russellbell at gmail.com]

	Joe tells of his Antarctic cruise, taken to get away from the
difficulties of his life in LA, on an old cruise ship.  A drunk young
couple, Paul and Nancy, introduce themselves at the bar on the first
night.  They're unhappy with the cruise.  Nancy flirts with Joe.  Paul
offers Joe their key.  Joe keeps his distance.  They set out from
Ushuaia.  (A real Antarctic port used by cruise ships
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ushuaia )
	The crew is Greek, the captain Constantine Kyriakos; Nicos,
the steward, runs everything not nautical.
	Paul, a junk-bond millionaire, tells of his travel adventures,
disparages the other passengers, brags of his torrid sex with Nancy.
	With Paul sick in harsh weather, Nancy talks to Joe alone,
brags about her sexual adventures.  She wants to have sex with the
captain, does that night.
	Nicos falls sick; Nancy and the captain's affair gets more
exotic.
	When the weather clears after a week, it turns out that Paul
and Nicos both have appendicitis.  A retired physician says Paul's
symptoms are dire, need to be operated on before they can get to
shore, but won't do it himself.  Nicos volunteers, relying on his
military service as a medic, using his model ship-building tools.  The
power goes out during the operation.
	They land at Deception Island, site of a US weather station,
the next night.  (I find no evidence of US station on Deception
Island, nor all the stuff that's in Joe's story.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deception_Island), where Paul and Nicos
are treated and Nancy goes off with a navy diver.  The passengers tour
a penguin rookery.
	Nicos dies.  Nancy stays with the diver.  The others return on
another ship.
	20:00: Joe (back home) laments the injustices of life.
	20:50: Joe's cold despite a blazing fire and heavy clothes.
He looks in the mirror, sees snow on himself, signs of illness,
considers operating on himself with kitchen utensils (including fried
onion for his liver.)


https://jfwiki.org/index.php?title=The_Cruise

russell bell