(written 5/16/2011)
From the Captain as of 12:00 ocean time (right now, one hour ahead of the East Coast of the US)
Heading is .071 true (ENE)
Ocean depth 16,000 feet
Distance from Florida 1600 miles
Wind at 24-27 knots
Ship speed, 18 knots
Next port: Funchal, Madeira off the coast of West Africa
So we’re sailing in the Atlantic Ocean. Nothing but water as far as the eye can see. Saw one container ship off in the distance, headed the opposite direction. Nothing since then.
Seas are kind of bouncy, nothing bad. The water is a beautiful blue, with white foam.
Tonight is formal night. So I figure it’ll take about an hour to get Monster One laced and taped into her gown. And since the show starts at 6:30- and it’s something she wants to see, we better get started early.
UPDATE: 22:30 (10:30 PM) Well, first day at sea has seen our Second Plague: The Plague of Vomiting in the Nicest Dining Room on the Ship while wearing a Formal Gown and Running Up the Steps. And while I won’t reveal who it was, I can safely say it wasn’t me. Funny thing (if vomiting in public without being drunk is funny) is that the show tonight was Twice Charmed, which is based on Cinderella- and how the stepmother with the help of her evil fairy godfather Franco (and this guy playing Franco was great- to all my DCL friends out there) manages to undo Cinderella’s happy ending. And as the Plague Bringer was fleeing with her big dress and high shiny heels up the marble steps, all I could think of was, wow, sort of like Cinderella. Hopefully her prince won’t run after her and slip in her vomit.
Of course- she left me behind to clean up, which got me severely chastised (in the kindest and gentlest way) by Ali- one of the head servers- who told me I shouldn’t be cleaning up. Not my job, and when I didn’t stop, got a “stop that immediately Ma’am, please.” It reminded me of the story of when Marilyn Quayle, wife of then Vice President Dan Quayle, was on her hands and knees in Marine One cleaning up after one of her kids had thrown up and the Marines first asked her, then tried to order her, to cease and desist the clean up. Kneeling in a long gown and cleaning up vomit with napkins- not my idea of how to end the night.
Anyway- hopefully she’ll be better tomorrow and they won’t jug us for having a sick person aboard and lock us in our room under quarantine.
(Random at sea pictures will appear in a slideshow at some point, not sure when)
Teamskoi at Home and Abroad 