RETURN FROM THE END OF THE WORLD
This is not the way it was supposed to go for the Dutch barque Europa and her crew. They were supposed to be heading west across the South Pacific to revel in the splendors of Easter Island, Tahiti and Tonga as they sailed for Australia. Instead, after spending the southern summer enjoying the marvels of Antarctica, Covid-19 threw a monkey wrench into their plans.
In March 2020 the pandemic had just gone worldwide and the crew of the 184-foot steel-hulled barque was stuck in Ushuaia, Argentina, at the southern tip of South America, quarantined and unable to go ashore, with no end in sight.
Capt. Eric Kesteloo and his crew of 11 women and seven men from 12 countries were faced with a hard reality. They had managed to slip into Ushuaia just hours before the port was closed to get their guest crewmembers to the airport and out of the
