Today's Talk

And so we meet again…

Location update as of 2/9/2006 noon time:
Latitude: 25 degrees 36 minutes S
Longitude: 014 degrees 35 minutes W
Average Speed: 18.48 knots
Distance to Cape Town: 1,788 NM
Sea Depth: 9,987 Feet
Water Temp: 26 C, 78.8 F
Air Temp: 25 C, 77 F
Winds coming steady and strong from the East at 17 knots.
Moderate seas with average swells. Swell height: 6-7 feet.

It’s funny, we have slowly decreased our speed each day and somehow it feels like we are crawling now. Odd, considering that we have only decreased speed by less than a half a knot a day.

Anyway. What a day it is. It was a bit tough getting out of bed this morning because it was the third day in a row that we lost an hour of sleep. But the great thing is, there is always time for an afternoon nap on deck 7 in the sunshine. There are adventures in tanning too, though. We were out there for about 20 minutes when we started to feel a drop or two coming from the sky. We slowly and solemnly got up and looked to the front of the ship; it was amazing. You could see the line of rain that we were heading right into. Looking up you could see the massive rain cloud that was releasing its water weight out over the Atlantic. We took cover and within ten minutes, we were through the spits of rain and the sun was back to shining. Thankfully, from there on, there were no clouds and a steady breeze blew to keep that hot sun cool.

I’m very excited about tomorrow’s schedule. I signed up for a Bridge Tour so I’ll be getting a view from the top, and also from the bottom. They (crew members) take you up to the Bridge where they navigate and drive the ship. You also get to tour the bowels of the ship. I’m hoping for a photo op with the Captain and the upper echelon of officers.. The Captain is this confident, stately man who walks around with great pride. We, as his passengers, bow down in his path and worship his steps for he is the god of the MV Explorer. What he says goes, and there is no questioning. When he walks by, voices stop or turn to a whisper and he continues on his way. Its great. I’m hoping to drill some officers with questions. I’m also going to a community college class tonight about the Environmental Practices at Sea which is being put on by the Staff Captain. Should be interesting.

We have school tomorrow then a day off. Then we are back at it until we hit Cape Town on the 14th. Hope all is well in the States.

Till next time my land-living lads and ladies.