(Written May 18, 2011)
From the Captain as of 12:00 ocean time (three hours ahead of US Eastern)
Ship’s position: 32.90 N, 52.18 W
Heading: .080 true, ENE
Wind speed: negligible wind
Ship speed 21.5 knots
Seas: no waves
Travel in last 24 hours: 497 nautical miles
Distance to next port: 1790 nautical miles
The sea is, as they say, smooth as glass. Barely a ripple, and no wind except for that generated by the movement of the ship. I was up to see the sunrise today, and report that the sunrise over the middle of the Atlantic looks a lot like it does over the Caribbean, the Atlantic closer to the US, the Florida Straits, and the Med.
It seems like the Plague of Vomiting is behind us, to be replaced by the Plague of Crispy Burned Painful Skin (aka sunburn). This one might be with us for a few days. So the plagues are getting lamer and lamer as we progress, and we’re hoping there’s not a really good one being saved up for later.
Saw two container ships today. One in the morning came across behind us, and one was off to the starboard side. We also saw some whales off the port side this morning. Or we saw parts of them.
I’ve noticed there are an increasing number of Western Europeans working on the ships in food service positions. This is something we didn’t see when we started cruising, when these positions were mainly held by people from the Philippines, India, and Eastern European countries, with a handful of Caribbean and South American countries represented. These have become more prevalent, along with Turks, but the number of Western Europeans in these service positions is far higher than I would have expected. And it’s not a few English here and there like you used to see, but a lot of continentals. Changing economies.
Again, nothing too exciting to report. Just calm seas and winds. I guess we’re in the doldrums- if we were a sailing ship, we’d be in big trouble. I would have had to start eating the other passengers by now.
It also reminds me of the Cabin Fever Bit from Muppets Treasure Island…
Teamskoi at Home and Abroad 