That meant that at that point we were equal distance from the north and south poles. Oddly enough, even though this is our fourth day at sea out of Panama, we are not yet on West Coast North America time. We are in the same time zone as Calgary. Hard to believe until you look at a globe and see how far to the east the Panama Canal is.
After lunch today the ship held the official "Crossing the Line Ceremony". The aft salt water pool was the location for this bizarre event. [Did you note my nifty nautical term?]
Some representatives of the crew that have never crossed the equator before were marched up on deck, roped together to be judged by King Neptune. [Poseidon].
Amid much fanfare and costumed foolery, one by one they are dragged from the 'brig' and their 'crimes' are read by the judge. They are then 'sentenced' to be slathered in a gooey messy stuff and then the ships officers determine their fate. Thumbs down and they are committed to the pool, thumbs up and they sit and bake in the sun.
In days gone by they were slathered in spaghetti, tomato sauce, mustard etc. Now they use some environmentally friendly coloured foam that does not foul the ocean when they change the pool water.
That was the major excitement today on the ship. The weather is fantastic, the ocean is gentle with a very mild swell coming at us from the port side so there is a bit of a roll. No birds, just dolphins around.
CHANGE IN SUBJECT: After Tai Chi this morning I had a wee chat with a lady who we first met the day we sailed at lunch. She and her husband were on a world cruise for their first time. Today I asked her how she was getting along. Within minutes she was in tears. She felt that all the luxury bestowed on them and all the time spent on rather meaningless activities was undeserving. She said all her life she had been gainfully employed or working in the home. She always had a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day, and that was lacking here, for her...
I told her that many people on board had the same issue, and she had to get herself in a mindset that "it is OK to do nothing". [Fancy me telling that to somebody!] Her husband keeps saying "isn't this wonderful?" We talked for some time about it and I think the talk did her some good, as well as me.
Four more days to Nuku Hiva, Marquesas, French Polynesia. Looks like a day at the beach there, no organized tours.
Pitcairn Island of Mutiny on the Bounty fame has to be out here somewhere, a mere speck in the ocean. We have a girl at work, Roxanne (maiden name of Bligh) who is a descendant of Captain Bligh. Did you know that Captain Bligh sailed with Captain Cook?
We have friends who were on a ship that hove to off of Pitcairn and 16 of the 23 inhabitants came on board with some crafts. [I think those were the figures Rod gave me.]
Hi Folks. Yes, Pitcairn IS a tiny dot on a big ocean. It takes less than 30 minutes for a cruise ship to circumnavigate the Island. It is like a pointy rock jutting out of the Ocean. There appears to be no flat land with just a small patch of green on a slope, where the homes are. There are not many of these as only 58 people live there. Of these 43 came aboard theStatendam in 05 to sell their craft items, stamps, phone cards, etc.. And.... they sold LOTS of stuff - took in thousands of dollars. One wonders what they spent it on???? It was quite an experience to speak with the locals and to learn about their existence. Ther is no way for an aircraft to land and even a helicopter would be extremely difficult - that's assuming it could fly that far as Pitcairn has to be the remotest place on Earth. It was a fascinating visit, one which makes cruising worthwhile, like going to an Indian village in Panama or a Fishing village near Kota Kinabalu..........
ReplyDeleteEnjoy these moments
Best wishes from
Rod and Lyn