With setting the clocks back another hour last night, it seems like we are waking up way too early in the morning. We are now 13 hours ahead of Pacific Standard Time. What did not help, was the unreal noise created by something in the walls and ceilings of the ship during the entire night. Apparently something had broken in the interior elevators that the crew uses. It sounded like giant pendulums swinging with 1000 pound bowling balls. With the 8 to 12 foot swells hitting the ship all evening, the noise never subsided. Talking to Greg, he said everyone on their side of the ship (opposite our side) went to the Captain and Henk today to see what in the world caused that, and more important….will it be fixed? The explanation was given about the elevator shafts, but no answer to when it would be repaired. The noise continued through most of the day.
Looking out the dining room window this morning, all we saw were heavily overcast skies, and eventually rain. The storm system in this part of the Indian Ocean is massive, so we will be getting some of the fringe rain showers and deep swells. We have sailed in worse conditions, but we do hope it doesn't get any worse. During our wet and rainy walk this morning, we did see some folks stretched out on the teak lounges looking a bit green around the gills. We are so lucky not to be bothered with seasickness.
We had another job to do after breakfast. Once again, we had to return our passports for storage between 9 and 10am on each passenger deck. They are really paying attention to our yellow fever certificates or letters of exemption for those who cannot receive that vaccination. Each time we surrender these documents, we get a passport receipt which we keep to redeem them again.
The rest of the day was a lazy one, except for tedious photo downloading. One of us finished another book, and enjoyed continued games on the Kindle. It was partially updated while in Reunion, but still too slow to complete the job. When free wifi is offered, everyone and their brother uses it. That goes for the guests on the ship, as well as the crew members. Many of our crew were able to get shore leave. There are two things they go for, and that is snacks and free wifi. Pretty much the same thing we do as well.
Ian gave his port talk on Maputo and Durban, while a new speaker, Daniel Silke spoke about the origins of isolation in South Africa. The movie, I Dreamed of Africa, was shown in the World Stage at 1pm. All good activities for a rainy day. Actually, by noontime, the rain let up, and the winds dried the decks. It was still warm and humid, so if we got a little wet, it didn't matter. There were even a few commercial ships passing by today, as well as a couple of flying fish. No birds.
We had been invited to our travel group cocktail party in the Rolling Stone Lounge at 6:30pm. One of us still has a recurring cough due to a recent cold. We chose not to attend and subject those around us with that cough. In our opinion, that lounge is not conductive to mixing within the crowd. No place to stand, we are seated in booths, which are cut off from each other. The Gallery Bar would have been nicer, but another group may have booked that one. For all we know, our group is too large.
It was a Pinnacle dinner for us at 7:30pm. We both ordered the wedge salad, which appears to be coming smaller in size. We could be running low on salad fixings too. It was still plenty and we enjoyed every bite with their buttermilk dressing. One of us had the small filet mignon with a baked potato and sauteed mushrooms. The other entrée was a plate of lamb chops with a baked potato. Everything was cooked perfectly. Crème brulee ended our meal nicely. The restaurant was not crowded this evening, and we did like the unrushed meal service with very nice waiters.
We have three more sea days now until we reach Maputo. Should be interesting if we escape the worst of Cyclone Freddy.
Bill & Mary Ann
No Pictures
