Sun Talk

Hello there.

Sea Location as of noon on February 8, 2006:

Latitude: 22 degrees, 31 minutes S
Longitude: 021 degrees, 34 minutes W
Distance to Cape Town: 2,213 NM
Average Speed: 18.8 knots
Sea Depth: 15,235 feet
Water Temp: 27 degrees C, 80.2 degrees F
Air Temp: 26 degrees C, 78.4 degrees F
ENE Winds at 16 knots, moderate seas, average swell length.
Wave Height: 5-7 feet

So here we are, in route to Cape Town. Last night I fell asleep reading the guidebook my dear, dear friend bought me for Christmas…can’t wait. I keep hearing more and more great things about this eclectic old world city that has been infused with modern touches. From Galleries to Markets, and Beaches to Mountains…they’ve got it all. I’m contemplating a few crazy things, i.e.: Cage Shark Diving, Sky Diving, or possibly Sand Dune Boarding (believe it or not, the most dangerous of the three!). Of course, there’s no question I’m doing a tour of the vivid and serenely stunning vineyards of South Africa. I just can’t wait until February 14th. On the 16th I leave for Safari for two nights and three days. The name of the place I’m going is escaping me right now…but you’ll hear it later.

As for ship life, last night was crazy. We had to fill out all the pre-port paper work for the countries we are going to be visiting…two documents for India, four for Myanmar, one for Singapore (details on why we filled this out in a minute), one for Hong Kong and one for Japan. It was insane, mostly because people are just so damn stupid when it comes to paper work and following directions. As for why we had to fill out a form for Singapore…we are going to be anchoring and bunkering (refueling) there. We won’t be getting off the ship; however, we do get our Passport stamped!!! It really is a good idea not to let 700 college kids off the ship considering the laws of that amazing country. Just to give you an idea, gum chewing is illegal, and the fines for littering range from $1,000 to $10,000. If you ask me, I think it should be the same for littering in the US, and all over the world for that matter.

For those of you that watched the State of the Union address, I’ve heard that good ol’ W mentioned Myanmar in a bad way. As of right now, we are dead set on going there, however if the wonderful State Department does issue a statement regarding the military rogue state, it is likely that we’ll be stopping somewhere else instead (Sri Lanka? Thailand? Malaysia?). But again, there is no talk of changing our itinerary...nor does anyone want to. And so help me god, if W screws up yet another big trip in my life (Europe trip in High School)…whoops, I better be careful, he supposedly has the right to invade anyone’s personal information at any time he sees fit, regardless of the law. Well, enough politics…I’m supposed to be disconnected.

I’ve joined several clubs on board. In addition to being apart of the Production Company, I’m a member of the Caribbean Sea Social Shenanigans Committee, the FAB Committee (Floating Activities Board), the Sea Olympics Committee, and the Ambassadors Club. So as you can see, I’m keeping a busy schedule…as usual. Also, I got another script that I’m going to be doing private readings for with two other men, one of which is my Environmental Politics Professor. It is a raunchy comedy that has three characters in the military during Vietnam. I’m just about finished reading through it and it seems great. We’ll be doing that just after we leave Cape Town.

Well, I’m off for now. Enjoy your day in the States…I’ll be sure to enjoy mine at sea.


P.S. Tonight will be the third night in a row that we lose yet another hour of sleep! They are killing us with these time changes all at once! Tally ho.