Sea Day 2

 

Moonset

What a wild night!

The ship was moving around a lot when we went to bed, and it just escalated from there.  I was able to fall asleep, but Abbey kept being woken up by things banging because they hadn't been secured, like the umbrella hanging in the closet, and the door to the room safe.  When I woke at 5AM, normal time, it was all I could do to brush my teeth, wash, change clothes, etc.  I decided to stay in the room instead of trying to walk down the hall without falling.

By 7:30 or so it had diminished some, enough so that I could leave and go to the Explorer's Lounge.  As it turns out, I just missed what must have been a pretty awesome sunrise, behind us.  

I think Abbey and I have gotten our 'sea legs' pretty much established; we didn't run anyone over or spill anything later on when we went to breakfast.  Not seasick, either.  Good sign:  the crew were putting the tables and chairs back up on the rear deck, so it'll probably be calm enough to use them by lunch time.  We walked a lap on the top deck, leaning way into the wind and pumping with our legs, while the wind plus the ship's speed tried to blow us off the back.  One lap was enough.

Right now we're sitting in a lounge right next to floor-to-ceiling windows looking north, out over the water.  The seas this morning, last night, and now, seem to be the same – not-very-imposing waves moving in a number of directions.  But the Captain, in his noon announcement of position, weather, etc., noted that the waves are “three to four meters,” which seems like a lot.  They don't seem to be organized (all moving in the same direction) although the longer I look at them, the more they seem to be generally, vaguely trending toward the east, along with the wind, opposite to the direction we're going.   Anyway, the waves and the wind have thrown the ship around in all the different ways a ship can move – pitch, yaw, roll, as well as shuddering and jerking.  And shimmying.  It's still moving some, requiring one to pay attention, but not like last night.

We've solved the 'getting pictures from Gary's phone' problem.  Abbey suggested that I ask how to transfer my 'one device' wi-fi permission from my laptop to my phone.  I went down and asked, and they said, “Oh, no, you get two devices each.”  That's not what the pre-trip instructions said, but – we'll take it!  I turned on the wi-fi on my phone, connected to Saturn, and there was lots of bing-ing, as over a week's worth of stuff loaded down.  Including all my pictures.  We're both still on airplane mode.

Among the downloads was a picture I took in the cathedral of Civitaveccia, a Madonna and Child which really looks like a Renaissance painting.  I wanted to try out Google Reverse Image (is that the right name?)(It seems to call itself Lens) and find out who painted it, and when.  Twenty minutes later, I have not gotten a satisfactory answer.  Lots of wrong answers, and one hit to the actual Cathedral's website, where the painting was featured but the painter and date were not.  The Wikipedia article on the Cathedral refers to “Nativity scene” attributed to the Domenichino College, but does not indicate what painting they're talking about – just “a Renaissance painting.” 

So – challenge, for all you Google warriors out there.  I'll attach (if I remember) my photo of the painting.  Can anyone get any further?

This morning, when it calmed down enough for me to go up to the Explorer's Lounge, I saw a white ship ahead of us, just about to the horizon.  I could only make it out because the sun was on it.  My thoughts went right to those scenes in the Patrick O'Brian and other novels of 18th and 19th century naval warfare, when an enemy is sighted, and you give chase.  Your quarry will have seen you, and will be hoisting all sail to escape.  You post someone in the crow's nest and feed the crew, so you can put the galley stove out before the fight.  And then you wait.

Well described, it is a time of exquisite anxiety and boredom.  Chases can take days.  Your prey can disappear in the night, using any one of a number of tricks to deceive you.  He could be leading you into a trap.  You're on your own, dependent on the wind and sea, and the particular skills and experience you bring to the job.  Hurry up, get ready, and wait.  No one relaxes, but no one has much to do once everything is ready.  It's either prize money or death.  Or it could all fall apart in a squall.  

This is what I was thinking of when I sat down in the Explorer's Lounge.

Tea Time
[ABBEY: Gary's got the veranda door to our room open, it is actually mildly warm! I brought a 300 piece puzzle up to one of the lounges. I started before lunch, and raced to finish it before tea time so our coffee table could be used. It was very satisfying to do a puzzle on this sea day. I did walk another lap, it was warm enough but the high speed wind made it unpleasant.

We checked out the weather before we left for the trip. High 60's, low 70's, sounds good, right? Well, I've worn all my short sleeved shirts...under a fleece and usually a jacket on top. Haven't touched my 3 capris.

Remember Gary's story of seeing the lightning hit the metal 19 story elevator in Malta? I heard the rest of the story last night. Apparently one of the Saturn (our ship) passengers was on the elevator  when the lightning struck. She didn't know about the lightning, but her elevator suddenly stopped, and she couldn't get it to respond, or the door to open. She was the only one on it, and of course, couldn't read any of the instructions. Eventually, someone in her group tried to find her and called the ship, who called the fire department, and she was able to get out! She has quite the story to tell!

Other than the first night dinner and the sorbet, the food has been really good! For me, a foodie, the variety of tastes and offerings has been so much fun. Every day has been different, it's been hard not to stuff myself 3 x's a day. For instance, this morning, I had something from the Oriental food section- a stir fried egg on arugula on an English muffin, topped with crab paste.

Another lovely sunset, and then we're off to dinner. How can I refuse?] 

Pretty good sunset, over the sea.  Tomorrow:  Straits of Gibraltar!  Will it get dark before we get there?  Stay tuned...


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