Day two at sea revealed it must have rained during the night, as our veranda was wet. It was even more apparent when we took our morning walk on the promenade deck. The port side was soaked, while starboard was dry. The clouds that were floating over, appeared to be breaking up and we could see some blue sky. It would be a warm day after all. Checking the weather channel on the TV, we saw that the temperature was 81 degrees and the humidity was 78% still rather high as we sail north of the Equator now. The wind speed was 8.7 mph and it looked like the ship was moving along at 18 knots. This should be good enough to get us to San Diego as expected.
At 11am, the Captain did a lecture in the World Stage with the subjects of the navigation of this cruise to this point, Antarctica voyages, and the Ukraine charter where he was the Captain at the time. We sure hope it is televised and we can catch it later.
During his noon talk, Captain Paul mentioned that we were sailing the Doldrums, referring to the flat seas and little swell in the waters on this side of the Equator. The lack of wind also kept the name appropriate. But there was one factor that we learned later on that we are fighting a current coming from the north, which is causing the ship to pitch quite a bit. The rolling has been controlled slightly due to the use of the stabilizers, but we still need to be careful walking. That was a good enough excuse for us to stay at the Seaview Pool chatting with good friends until our assigned time for the Bridge Tour.
At a little before 1pm, we met with our fellow President's Club members on deck eight near the spa. From there, we were going to be led to the navigation deck, however, there was a problem. It seemed that there was an engine that lost power due to a pump leak. The officers went into motion to solve this problem, and the tour was cancelled for one hour. We thought we felt some strange vibrations at the aft pool that were new to us. By the time we went back for the tour, the problem was resolved and the speed picked up to almost 20 knots. Thank goodness for that good news.
We went back to the pool and waited out the hour by drinking ice water and watching the one and only booby that seems to have followed the ship since leaving Nuku Hiva. This bird would swoop over the waves, then disappear for a while. We bet this masked booby was at the bow, sitting on top of the flagpole. At 2pm, we gathered once again to be led to deck seven and the navigation deck. We were all greeted by Sharon, the 3rd Officer, who had piloted the ship out of the bay in Nuku Hiva, as well as bringing up the anchor she had dropped early in the day. Today she was the leader and an excellent officer to explain with great detail everything we were seeing on the bridge. The ship was actually on "auto pilot" as we saw all of the controls set to keep the ship going in the right direction, correcting any deviations that occurred by the second. Every security camera was visible from multiple screens. Communication devices had more than one back-up in case of power failure. Compasses are still used in addition to computerized gauges and satellite connections. One large power board showed every deck and every set of fire doors, which can be closed with a touch of button here. As well as joy sticks to control the direction of the ship, its propellers, and side thrusters, there is also an old- fashioned wheel, although small, that can do the same thing with the steering. As you can imagine, every single thing is documented every minute of the day. We saw the watchman, who keeps his eyes on the horizon, a hard job for sure, and the several officers who have their specialized jobs. Many of them were sitting and working in an office behind the bridge. We asked several questions one of which was what were the "barber" chairs for. Set against the back wall, these chairs are meant for the pilots and their team that board the ship in every port. And for tired officers too we suspect. And by the way, one of the first things we spotted was the masked booby resting on top of the pole in the bow. We were right with our guess. The Captain mentioned that they were not pleased with the mess the bird was making, but the bird would have a ride until it either flies elsewhere, or ends up in San Diego. And we did hear that the Captain wants to give every passenger the chance for this same tour, which will be a nice gesture. It is seldom, if ever, done these days.
We had quite a nice sunset this evening……a very different type to be exact. It began around 5:30pm with a sky full of small clouds, well below those nasty-looking black clouds. The sky lit up and lasted for a long time. It faded as the sun dipped down below the cloudy horizon, but re-appeared 20 minutes later with almost a repeat performance. This one was a keeper.
Dinner was back in the dining room, although the tables were spotty to say the least. We believe that the guests are going to the Pinnacle for a Tamarind pop-up or to the Canaletto for a change. The appetizers were good again with smoked chicken slices and a rutabaga/cauliflower base. Salads were mixed with oranges, asparagus, tomatoes, and lettuce – hold the blue cheese please. Mains were the veal chop with a tasty mushroom gravy. Sides were mashed potatoes, snap peas, and asparagus, which they must have a lot of. We did have this entrée while on the world cruise, but tonight these chops had been cut in half widthwise. Just as well as it was more than we could finish. Saved a little room for sliced pineapple and vanilla ice cream and one snow berry chocolate tart with meringue on top.
Tonight the entertainer was Comedian Sid Davis with a performance titled "Common Sense". The other three choices were entertainers in the Mix, Ocean Bar, and Explorers Lounge. Never a dull moment here.
Tomorrow we have been invited to another event with the Mariner's Lunch. Should be interesting.
Bill & Mary Ann
