First and foremost……Happy Veteran's Day and Remembrance Day
And to honor this special day, there was a commemorative service held in the World Stage at 10:45am followed by a request from the Captain for two minutes of silence. Amen.
We woke up to mostly blue skies and a few scattered clouds for a change. The high of the day would be 79 degrees with 71% humidity. The winds were 12mph which helped cool the breeze off compared to the last two days we spent in the Tuamotus. We enjoyed another nice breakfast where we heard from Violet about two shark attacks that occurred yesterday. One of the ones bitten happened to be Santi who said she was nipped on her toe. Lucky she still has that toe. Violet was lucky to escape unscathed, but that wasn't the case for one of the Effy salesgirls who had a very nasty bite on her calf we heard. We have done our share of snorkel tours where you swim with the black-tip reef sharks or the much larger lemon sharks. Then you realize that you are not in your element, but in the shark's domain. Anything can happen at any given time, no matter how much you are told "they don't bite". The two nurse shark attacks that we heard about yesterday was proof enough for us. Taking the photos from the sliver of beach was just fine and dandy with us.
This morning was also a good time for a haircut, and they were not too busy. Came out nice I may say.
Before we arrive to the last archipelago of the Marquesas, we figured it was a good time to explain a little more about the art of tattooing, as it was and still is part of their ancient culture. Going back in time, tattooing would show the social status of the person as well as their life story. Each and every person in the Marquesas, even the women, sport tattoos of some sort. As in today's culture, it is a way to distinguish yourself from each other. Their bodies were their canvas so to speak.
Then came the missionaries and eventually the practice was banned for over 150 years. In time, these designs became fashionable worldwide and it is not usual to see many people sporting a tattoo or two no matter what age you happen to be. Warning: be careful of the design you chose since they are permanent and can last a lifetime.
There was a lecture at 9am with Dr. William Beeman about Captain David Porter, the War of 1812, and the battle of Nuku Hiva. All of the port talks have already been recorded, so if you needed to catch up on Nuku Hiva, it is there on your TV. There is one tour there, repeated a couple of times during the day and there is still space available. And there is still time to do a behind the scenes tour of the ship's restricted areas for $179 per person. Never thought we would see the day when there were charges to do this. Up to recently, we have seen the behind-the-scenes tour one department at a time for free.
It is not too late to make a visit to the future cruise consultant and book something in the future. No strings attached and you will not lose your deposit if you chose to cancel it. We believe it stays on your account for future use. And Crawford Lyons presented a six-string shredder, which we do not have a clue as to what that is about. Origami folding, watercolors, golf putting and pickle ball games were there for the doing. Beer tasting for $15 sounded better.
We kept busy working on photos for last two ports we just visited. Another book was read, and we had Lido sandwiches in our room around 3pm. All in all, a most pleasant day for relaxing on the veranda with a nice breeze.
The Captain came on with his noon talk and spoke more about Veteran's Day and his appreciation for the support shown by many guests. He said we were already halfway to Nuku Hiva having gone 270 nautical miles since yesterday at a speed of 15 knots. We have an additional 277 nautical miles to go to reach Taiohae, Nuku Hiva tomorrow morning very early. The sail in is not to be missed. This evening, he expected 20mph winds decreasing to 10 to15mph tomorrow. The temperature should be around 79 degrees with partly cloudy skies and a chance of sprinkles. Sounds good to us.
Dinner was Gala tonight with the special Gala menu. Starters were one serving of a seafood cocktail and one bowl of hot chicken noodle soup. The "doctored up" version that Regie brings has been excellent. We had two different salads with fresh lettuce, then the entrees for both of us were the lamb chops. One came with a baked potato and toppings, while one of us had the rice pilaf with sliced zucchini. Gravy on the side thank you. The chops were on the small side, so Regie gave us three instead of two. Dessert was one Lindt chocolate syrup sundae with vanilla ice cream….hold the marshmallows. One of us had some sweet fresh slices of pineapple. So refreshing.
A mentalist was the performer tonight with mind-blowing feats. And our last port will be tomorrow in Nuku Hiva – a place we really like to visit.
Bill & Mary Ann
