Pitcairn Island...

Whatever the date is, it is hot with calm seas.

The time at sea between Lima Peru and Tahiti is a total of 10 days with one stop, at Easter Island. During those long days at sea it has been very relaxing, bordering on boredom. To compound the matter we have had internet problems so my blogs have not been getting through. This writing thing of mine has now become a way of life. It is always a challenge to "Get the blog done" even at home, but it gives me a sense of purpose. It may be hard to understand but it is what it is.

Fellette seems to have picked up 'The Columbus Cough', so named because it has been around since Christopher Columbus on ships at sea. That means we are a bit restricted to our cabin and deck, which is not too bad actually.

I had the blog written on my laptop, which is easier to do, but I think that I will back off on trying to post the blog until we get ashore in Tahiti. The iPad is easier to pack around in my rucksack than the computer so I am redoing it. I may try and post it, who knows???

Yesterday, a sea day was rather intense with exercise and several lectures. I put on 6000 steps and 48 flights of stairs as we avoid the elevators.

We were up at 5.00 this morning as we set the clocks back again. The islanders boarded around 8.15 and the ship circled the island several times. It is only about 1 1/2 square miles. A Jacqui Christian, great, great, great, great granddaughter of Fletcher Christian, [Marlon Brando or Mel Gibson, depending on your age] gave a talk to about 400 of us in the Lounge shortly after.

The story is interesting. The mutineers went back to Tahiti and picked up their 'women' whom they had been living with for five months plus some Tahitian men and other women and set out looking for a place to hide from the Royal Navy.

They found Pitcairn, not marked on most maps and settled down. Dissent broke out when one of the mutineers 'wife's' died and the widower decided to take one of the Tahitians wives. That was the beginning of the end of it for the mutineers, the Tahitian men shot five of the mutineers in one day, including Fletcher Christian. Eventually the Tahitian women became the force to be reckoned with and it still that way today.

The speaker was educated in New Zealand and is a trained pharmacist, about 40 years old I would say. The population is ageing and the status quo is not sustainable with the present residents. Regarding inbreeding, she did mention that inbreeding was not a problem when they had a larger population because "Passing ships always managed to leave their genes."

Some pics... In no order because it is difficult to compose in order. Me and my hat!, our first glimpse of Pitcairn, Gail at Tai Chi, Pitcairn Buns on deck this morning, the islanders coming onboard, the shopping frenzy on deck as they sold their crafts, Fellette having lunch as Pitcairn fades away as we head to Tahiti. The last shot is one I got from Moe, it shows almost all of the 50 or so islanders coming out to the ship early in the morning with their wares to sell. They postponed their annual celebration of the founding of their colony because everyone was preparing to come on the Amsterdam. They will celebrate it on Sunday instead.

Incommunicado!

I just received a ship-to-shore satellite phone call from Doug (ka-ching $$$). The ship is currently circling Pitcairn Island and will soon be steaming westward to French Polynesia. MUCH to Doug's disappointment, they will have no internet connection until they get closer to Tahiti on the 27th of January. He asked that I post something on his behalf to let his readers know that they are still alive and well.

Stay tuned!

Craig

Along Captain Bligh's route...

Wednesday, January 22. You know the weather as well as I do, blue sky, calm seas.

I am not sure where exactly captain Bligh was when the famous mutiny took place but it had to be within a 100 miles or so of where we are. The mutineers amongst his crew cast him and those loyal to the captain adrift in a small boat and he made the longest journey in an open boat ever, to that date, what is now Indonesia, I believe. The mutineers sailed until they came to an unmarked island, burned the ship and started a new life. We hope to have those descendants of the mutineers on the Amsterdam on Friday between 8:00 and noon. The ship is apparently carrying goods for the Island and those that come aboard are treated to all sorts of creature comforts by the ship, like ice cream for one!

Regardless, it is a big ocean for sure. Life must have been terribly boring for those in sailing boats as they could only make a few knots per hour in this scorching weather. I think the trade winds blow east to west below the equator and in the opposite direction above it. Anyhow, this is 2014 and we have not seen a ship nor even a bird for some time. There was a bit of activity around Easter Island but the horizon is completely empty in all directions for days on end. I believe they have sea lanes and we are likely in one for ships westbound so we may overtake one or two, I suppose.

Fellette has a bit of Laryngitis that seemed to last overnight then disappear in the morning but that is the only excitement happening around here these days. The big excitement is that the Cutlers had a tour of the ship's laundry today. Wow, pretty bad when that is the top story of the day eh?  The laundry employs 18 people and believe it or not they make their own uniforms for the crew. Pretty smart eh. Apparently it is not uncommon for the staff to put some meat on their bones while serving aboard. I believe they have five seamstresses. Also Jim and Gail have some insight into the medical department too. There is room for three in the morgue, thought that you may like to know. 

We had a ship's doctor for a ship's escort on our Easter Island tour yesterday. I thought that he was a medical student but he said no, he was just well preserved. He was Asian, Chinese I believe. Apparently business is good down there, a few broken bones and the usual ailments with elderly people, many of whom have abused their body by being unable to push themselves away from the table.

I took a 10 minute trip around the ship today to get some pictures to give you a snapshot moment in time of life on board at 3:10 PM our time. In the Crow's Nest they serve tea at 3:00. My gosh, you should see the old folks scarfing down cakes and pastries, like kids in a candy store. I did not take a picture of course, I was embarrassed for them. They looked absolutely delicious.

While on the subject of health, I am perplexed. I am amazed at the capacity for alcohol and food by many people. [Not all by any means, but quite a few.] It is a large ship and I suppose they are not always the same people but it is amazing to look at them and see their inability to get around handily and yet tucking away all the goodies, between meals! I am equally amazed at some people who look trim and fit and also tuck it away with gusto. Different body types I suppose. And then some people seem to have passed the point of caring. I love all the stuff they are eating but know the side effects of it, for me.

Speaking of people, the folks on board are generally amazing. All seem to have had an interesting life's journey, well educated and knowledgeable on current affairs. Once again, I speak in generalities. The women amaze me more than the men; many are strongly opinionated, educated and not at all timid or afraid to speak out. I think I prefer a more genteel woman who is not ostentatious but somewhat more, shall we say refined, but of course with knowledge and opinions. I think the word I am looking for is a gentlewoman, same as a gentleman!

Anyhow, around the ship in 10 minutes… the ship looks basically empty I know, but there are about 1000 people aboard and I suspect there are many having a quiet time or shall we say, 'napping' right now. That one group of ladies is a 'Craft Class' that meets each sea day and makes something, sometimes junk, sometimes something useful. Also we have fun with the Panama Hats.

Easter Island...

Satellite Problems, sorry for the delay.

Tuesday, January 21. Same old routine ,blue and about 28C.

We were up at six AM as we sailed by the island in the dark. It looked, long, high, dark and foreboding for sure. We ate a hearty breakfast and were in the boats by 8:30. There was 190 on the  same trip as us, broken down into small groups of about 25, maybe 12 to a small bus. Our guide was a native whose ancestors have been here forever. Today we visited about all that we needed to see, which was more than I ever expected to see.  The quarry, where most if not all of these giants were cut from, some are still there, incomplete, was about the most interesting to me. After a while they all started to look the same, no matter where on the island we went. After a few hours of buzzing around we were driven back to the tender wharf.

I am nor being casual about today's experience, it was wonderful and the weather and sea could not have been better. But as is usual on a half day tour things do get rushed and become a bit of a whirlwind. I could not really see spending much time here unless you were an Easter Island fanatic.

We decided to look for a bit of shade and see if we could locate a cool drink. We were warned about the high prices on the island so we were cautious. The menu was not at all overpriced so we had a long leisurely lunch at the best table in the house right on the corner of an open-air restaurant. It was a fitting way to end the day as we reminisced about other memorable adventure-meals on past trips to foreign lands.

The tour was about what we expected but a bit more civilized than I thought it may be. It is basically a sleepy little south Pacific Island that has these mysterious moa on it. Otherwise it could be Maui in a native town without the modern shops. Things are quite expensive here, both for the natives and the residents. They look more South American than Polynesian and the language is Spanish. American dollars are accepted at a fixed rate of exchange, no hanky lanky with the exchange. 

The people are polite but not as friendly as on some of the Pacific Islands we have been on. I can somehow sense the feeling of why this island failed and has never moved on: There are 4000 horses on the island, without a set home, except somebody owns them, it is sort of like "I have more horses than you do" they run wild, without fences. It is almost like it was years ago when they tried to build a bigger statue than the previous one, of their leaders or upper class members of society. It ruined the island and left it without resources as all the trees were cut down for rollers and statue transporting. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

We did manage to slip into the ocean for a cooling dip around noon but it was only wading as we did not have long to be there and we would have been soaking wet in the bus so we settled for a wade. 

Clocks start to go back again tonight, Easter Island stays on Chile time for convenience. Easter Island is considered Chilean, sort of a protectorate, but they pay no taxes and are basically a welfare state, the natives at least.

At least that is the way I see it!

Pictures are self explanatory I think.

Scraping the bottom of the barrel...

Monday, January 20. Same: blue and calm.

Sorry to talk about sleep again but… how in the heck can I sleep for 9 1/2 hours after basically doing nothing for three days? It must be the motion of the ocean because it certainly is not from overwork.

I did manage to go to the show last night. It was quite nice but regardless of that I somehow consider it a waste of time to sit there when there are things that I could be doing in the cabin, or elsewhere. Fellette said it best; they get entertained and Doug gets educated. The neat thing is that there is no 'one size fits all' regarding leisure time. 

I always have had a problem with leisure time and often wonder why. Sure, I may have the odd nap but after that I need to be doing something constructive, whether that is writing, computer work or self-educating, or reading, to me that is constructive. One cannot 'work' all the time for sure, it has to be in balance. I am still working on it but I think the likelyhood of me being an expert on leisure-time is rather remote.

So much for that…

Well, the captain is hopeful that the weather will allow us to get ashore on Easter Island tomorrow morning. As I mentioned, swells or rough weather can put and end to that in a hurry. The safety of people, both passengers and crew, are foremost of course. In past times they have moored an empty tender to the small dock on the island and the tenders that are acting as shuttles lash to that tender and people walk through to get ashore. Apparently the last trip two tenders were damaged and had to be shipped out for repairs. So this time the captain put on board two floats they he hopes will make for a more safe transfer. We will see tomorrow.

It is getting a bit difficult for me to try to keep an interesting blog going when all we have happening on board is about 1000 people sitting around eating, sleeping, sunbathing, listening to lectures, reading, playing bridge, watching movies and TV and working on computers and iPads, or the like.

How soon we forget life back home. Last night while half asleep the 'news flash' came to me that there was no possibility of me using a tool, shovel, wheelbarrow or the like for another 14 weeks! 

Moe had an early start to the day and decided not to go to the Crow's Nest tonight but went to her table. They are a jolly bunch there and much action at it.

Pics: Fellette's craft project today; a broach, Polynesian dancers on board, endless ocean, Jim and Fellette on the promenade this am, dessert tonight, for some, Fellette, Jim and Gail a before dinner in the Crow's Nest and lastly, "Can you see Easter Island yet?", the view from the Crow's Nest at the bow of the ship.

It's a big ocean this Pacific...

Sunday, January 19. Blue sky and calm seas…

We went to church today, our first since leaving home. It was led by a black female pastor from America. There were about 50 in the lounge when we got there a bit before eight. They had started singing and I thought, "Oh my gosh it sound like a funeral dirge!" Too late, we were committed. The service was to set and without and personality. A soloist had volunteered when in good voice but now had laryngitis. It was terrible, but a good message. So much for church at sea, maybe we will try the Jewish service next time.

There is an important football game on tonight between Seattle and San Francisco, I think, so they cancelled the formal night and it will be tomorrow instead. The next day we arrive in Easter Island and there is no deep-sea pier there so we will get ashore in tenders, or large covered lifeboats. There is also a large 'swell' that has been with us since we left Peru, that swell will determine if we do indeed get onto Easter Island.

Last night we were invited to a Captain's party for the 'suites' as we are called due to our cabin being a suite. We do not really feel comfortable at this type of thing but we went because we missed the last one. It was held in the Officer's Mess which is in the form of an Irish Pub, located one deck below the lowest passenger deck. Solid as a rock down there, almost no motion at and almost at water level. 

The wine and champagne were flowing like water for the 40 or so guests and the humungous oysters on the half shell were almost nauseous to me having just eaten. We endured and were amongst the first to go. While there we struck up a conversation with a middle aged tall striking looking woman. She turned out to be a Newfie, travelling alone. I noticed a small pin on her lapel and it turned out to be the Order of Canada. She got it for philanthropy of all things. Her and her now deceased husband started a business and later decided to offer all the profits for charity after she was well taken care of. Nice. We met again in the lounge this morning and continued our conversation.

Believe it or not, I hurt myself doing Tai Chi yesterday!!! [Is that possible?] While doing one movement, it was beyond my range of motion on my gibbled shoulders and I pushed it too far. Lesson learned. We have a pretty devoted 60 or so attendees at that class, as awkward as we are it appears that nobody is too concerned about how bad we are or what we look like because everybody is in the same boat.

The captain announced yesterday that he has altered course slightly for better satellite reception. Out here we have only one satellite serving this part of the world and we are on the edge of its effective range. We will be coming under another satellite soon but there is not an 'overlap' so it is spotty. He altered course because the funnels were blocking the reception because it is so low on the horizon. Maybe we are zig-zagging?

Fellette and I went for a black and white photo sitting this afternoon. What a gas! We dressed appropriately and took our Panama hats along for laughs. My gosh she must have taken over 200 shots. Lots of laughs and we will see how they turn out after Easter Island. By the way, Easter Island was named that because it was 'discovered' on Easter Sunday 1722 by a Dutch Explorer whose name is forgotten. Too bad he didn't name it after himself and we would all remember his name!

Another restful day...

Saturday, January 19. Sunny and calm.

Somehow the 'good sleeps'  keep coming, however I believe we are 'caught up' from whatever lack of sleep we may have been subjected to in the last few/several weeks/months.

Our Sea Day routine seems to have been established: it is, arise around 6.30, coffee and tea, then some reading by Fellette and some computer work by Doug along with some light exercises on our balcony, then light breakfast in the lounge on this deck. If we have time we take some laps around the deck before Tai Chi. [We are usually overtaken by Jim who is a ball of sweat as he does laps after a 1/2 hour exercise regime. Gail is about the same, she does her yoga before the exercise, then Tai Chi!] Tai Chi lasts for an hour including the 15 minute warm up.

There is often an interesting lecture after Tai Chi and another later still if you are interested. Lunch is usually around 12.00 at the Lido upstairs as a buffet, often with Moe and/or Jim and Gail. At 2.00 there is a lecture or talk on upcoming ports or some other subject. I then usually do the blog or take a quiet time out, or both. Fellette may go to crafts or the jig-saw puzzle or both or take in the lecture. Soon it is time for dressing for dinner at 5.30, and out by 7.00 ish. There is entertainment at 8.15 that goes til 9.00, Fellette, Moe, Jim and Gail usually go, to the entertainment, sometimes together. However I most often go to the cabin and do photos, read or watch some DVDs that I bought with me on interesting subjects. They are a series put out by 'Great Courses'. Good stuff to me but boring as heck to most others. 

Pics: Moe and Fellette at lunch, ginger or a sweet fruit after dinner, Mongolian buffet on deck today, Panama Doug and his sweetie, the library/computer room, near the Purser's Office.

All at sea...

Friday, January 17. Same old good weather.

We are in our first of four Sea Days on the way to Easter Island. Most people I talk to enjoy the days at sea, Port Days are great, but very tiring although generally exciting. 

There is no general 'routine' that you could say regarding what people do on a cruise like this. One thing that it is not is a Party Ship. Although if you wanted to drink and party all the time the ability is certainly here. Some read basically all the time at sea, there is a fanatical bridge group who are very serious on the game, there are interesting lecturers on board; I have been to two today, one on photography and one on Plate Tectonics. I also went to Tai Chi this morning and found out I was not too far behind after being away for a few days. There are many, many other activities that appeal to the wide range of pursuits of people on board. There is a knitting group that meets very sea day, they just sit and knit and chat! Sunbathing is always popular as is eating and napping and there is always somebody doing laps around the ship and the gym is doing a great business as are the exercise groups. 

Right now Fellette is upstairs in the library doing one of four jig-saw puzzles laid out. Earlier this morning Moe and I had a lesson on uploading photos into her iPad and creating albums.

This morning at the breakfast lounge I tried to help a lady who was having trouble with her iPad and sending mail. She has sent over 1 1/2 hours of time trying to send emails without success. There were drafts were 44 emails, some as old as two years, yet her iPad was about two months old and bought new. We deleted her emails in drafts and now she can at least do a draft and it will open for her instead of trying to load 44 emails. I also turned up her sound so she can hear when it has sent.I have not heard if she has connected yet, I fear not.

The internet situation has improved somewhat with the technician on board, he has solved a hardware issue and is working on a software issue that still haunts us, that is dropping the signal. Internet and ships don't mix well, but I feel confident that it will get better although we are heading across this big empty void on this planet known as the Pacific Ocean and the satellite coverage is sparse at best without sharing it with 1000 other non-technical old fogeys who want to connect back home!

The connection may be spotty for a few days yet.

Pics: Some Galapagos laundry coming back to us this morning, dinner last night with Moe and the Cutler's, Fellette and Gail in our cabin last night before dinner and lastly a collection of deep sea fishing boats anchored off of Lima, Peru.

 

Off into the wild blue Pacific...

Thursday, January 16. Calm seas and blue sky.

We can now feel the gentle Pacific Ocean rollers as we head almost due west across the biggest ocean in the world. We have a full five days at sea before we come to Easter Island on Tuesday the 21st.

It certainly is nice to be back 'home' where we are somewhat more in control of our own fate and the pace is less hectic. We spent most of the day just re-settling in and being a bit isolated from people because we had such an intense 'people time' the last few days.

The internet is presenting some problems so the ship requested a technician to fly to Peru to fix it during it's stay in Lima. We sailed several hours ago and he is still on board. I suppose he is going to have an extended vacation because there is no place for him to fly home from until we get to Papeete, French Polynesia 11 days from now!

I may not be able to get through daily so stay tuned, you will certainly know if we sink but you may not hear from me.