Monday, October 29, 2007

Indonesia

Jakarta and Ciwandan

Photos:

Before we even saw the hazy outline of the city skyline of Jakarta, we could see it was a thriving metropolis and a busy port. The Captain was called to the bridge as we approached to help weave our way through the maze of ships and boats of every size and description. It’s the most traffic we’d seen coming into a port. As usual, we waited for our pilot boat to arrive and were finally secured to the dock by 11:00. The passengers were called to the ship’s office so that the customs officials could clear us in personally. The Captain explained that we would need a visa and it was expensive (turns out it was $20 U.S.) and it would take some time. He discouraged us from going ashore because we would need to be back aboard by 8PM for a 10PM departure. We were disappointed and expressed our desire to see Jakarta. The officials said “It’s a big holiday (end of Ramadan) and banks were closed so we wouldn’t be able to get any money. When I asked, the admitted that of course we could use an ATM. I somewhat jokingly said “Oh well, we really wanted to see your beautiful country and we were going to spend a lot of money, but if it’s not possible . . .” They then said that yes it would be possible but we would not be able to take our passports - they would beheld at the Immigration Office. I was not comfortable with that, but they issued each of us a pass, showing that we were cleared and have visas, so off we went with a driver who would show us the highlights of the area in eight hours or less.

Very hot and humid. Old van that was hot-wired, switched to new van with plastic on seats but air conditioning. Lots of money palmed at every gate and stop. Miniature Village, Old Port (private tour and boarding ship) terrible conditions, gangplank that also serves as life raft, pay is equivalent to $100 U.S. per month. , lunch at fish market, artist market. (Bought painting) Good tour guide and driver Back in plenty of time.

Received packaged from mail forwarding service via Fed Exp. Great to get personal mail, especially from grandsons, Taylor and Zach, friends China & Cliff and even an invitation for an SIA (Society of International Affairs) cocktail party in Washington. Unfortunately, it’s in November and we’ll be in Xingang, China at that time. Martha’s friend Chuck sent magazines, newspapers (from Skagway,Alaska) and some DVDs of one of her favorite TV shows. That’s a real treat since most of the videos aboard are Chinese copies and often stop playing halfway through, which is a real bummer.

Sometime after midnight, we left for Cewandan, Indonesia. By the time we cleared in with Customs and Immigration in Cewandan, it was 5 PM and we were scheduled to leave at midnight. The Captain and Barbara took a taxi to go swimming at the beach but we elected to stay aboard. We learned later that evening that it was a rocky beach so they didn’t go in the water but there was a swimming pool at the beach so they had a swim there.






We were slightly late in departing Jakarta which meant we were late arriving in Cewandan which meant we had to wait five hours for our pilot and also for a place at the small port. We finally were secured at our berth for the night around 3 PM and about 5:00 we were told we could go ashore if we wanted but that we would be departing at midnight. We were really out in the boondocks at this port and though we could have taken a taxi to a nearby beach, having such a full day the day before, we opted out. There were young guys on the dock who waved to us as we stood on the pilot deck looking down at the beehive of activity of on and offloading of cargo. They were selling all sorts of local craft items - carved statues,masks, t-shirts, etc. but we didn’t go down to buy anything. I did hold up some of my handpainted scarves but they didn’t offer to buy any. We learned later that the Captain and Barbara went and it was a rocky beach but had a swimming pool which they went in. Sounds like we didn’t miss anything.

Singapore

Singapore

Photos: Port of Singapore Lucky Plaza Hindu Temple (outside and inside) Raffles Hotel Long Bar Boats on river Cable Car to Sentosa Island Merlion Cityscape Siloso Beach


After seventeen days at sea, we were pretty excited to see land - Sumatra on our starboard side and finally Singapore to port.

We were thankful to have made it through the Malacca Straits without incident. From a newspaper we picked up at the Seafarer’s Club in Singapore, we learned of some recent incidents with other vessels. A barge carrying steel from Penang to Indonesia was boarded by 10 pirates who destroyed all communication equipment onboard before taking the master (captain) and chief engineer ashore. The pirates then contacted the ship’s owners to demand a ransom and negotiated for their release. Other incidents included ships being robbed in Indonesian waters (a chemical tanker), in the Democratic Republic of Congo pirates robbed a refrigerated cargo ship, in the waters near Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam, five robbers stole ships stores from a container ship and in India robbers boarded a container ship at anchor but were scared off when an alarm was sounded. So, I guess the days of the pirates on the high seas are not in the distant past after all.

Sunday: Arriving at 7 am, we were anxious to spend our first day ashore seeing some of this beautiful city. Unfortunately, by the time the ship cleared Customs and Immigration, and our passports were returned to us, it was 11:00 and almost noon before we were able to get a taxi. So, we made the most of our time and headed for the famous shopping district of Orchard Street. Ngee Ann (pronounced “neon”) high rise shopping mall, where we were able to find all of the essentials on our shopping list. We also visited, Lucky Plaza (the old high rise mall) in hopes of finding an astrology software program to help us enjoy the night sky, but with the hundreds of shops there we had no luck, though Martha was able to find the short-wive, world-band radio she wanted in order to tune into BBC while we’re aboard. We also had fun shopping for Martha’s outfit for a wedding she’ll be attending in December in India. We then found another shopping center where I was able to get my prescription for antibiotics filled (in the unlikely event I have another bout of diverticulitus) and two new print cartridges. Finally, we had earned a lunch break and enjoyed some very interesting, and good, Korean cuisine. Next stop was an internet café which was so small and crowded it was hard to stay long enough to check our email. We enjoyed a walk along Orchard Street taking in the sights and before heading back, stopped into a British Pub (who would have thought?) for a pint and some fish and chips. Actually, people here do seem quite British, at least in one way. They queue for everything. The queue for a taxi is sometimes half a block long but there’s no choice except to just get in line and it moves surprisingly quickly. The cabs arrive one after another but we soon learned that not all cabs will take you - they first ask where you’re going and depending on your answer, they ask the next person. It seems to be a good system but took a little getting used to.

Monday morning we got an earlier start and spent a very full day in Singapore. Though it rained off and on (sometimes a real downpour) all day, we enjoyed a small art gallery, some other nice shops and then ducked into the old Raffles Hotel and had an original Singapore Sling at the famous Long Bar. Raffles is no longer just a hotel - they now have a museum tracing the history of the hotel back to the early 30s, jewelry stores, antique shops, a bakery, several restaurants and bars of course, and a huge ballroom for everything from special art exhibits to ballet and symphony orchestra concerts. We learned that a suite at Raffles is now $6,000 per night. Even in Singapore dollars ($1.50 s.d. to $1.00 USD), that’s a lot of money. The river walk was delightful, even with a slight drizzle and we loved watching the many boats, some acting as ferries and others as tour boats and ended at an outdoor café for lunch. We walked the seven blocks to China Town and entered the Mariamman Hindu Temple during some type of special service - with musicians and lots of bell ringing. The firewalker ceremony was scheduled for the following week and we were sorry to have to miss that. Walking along the little alley ways that make up the old part of China Town was fascinating and we made a few small purchases - my favorite being a stamp with my name in Chinese characters carved while I waited (on top is a small figure for the year of the goat, when I was born).



Tuesday we had one more full day for sightseeing. We took a taxi to Faber Hill and cable car to Sentano Island. There is a huge (about the size of the statue of liberty) sculpture of a Merlion (half Man and half lion) that was created to remember the folklore of one of the early discoverers of Singapore who claimed to see such a creature - hence the name Singapore (port of lions) though there are no lions here. We learned much about the history and culture from the Images of Singapore museum and particularly liked the rooms replicating the many festivals held here. We walked and stopped at several restaurants which, unfortunately, were all closed (it was mid afternoon) but finally had a nice lunch in a resort hotel overlooking Sentosa Beach, where we later had a little walk and dipped our toes in the Indian Ocean. We later took a monorail back from the island to mainland and taxi back to ship. We were back aboard for a light dinner in our own little dining room.

Wednesday: Surprisingly another day here in Singapore since the on and off-loading took longer than expected. We felt we’d seen the highlights of Singapore so enjoyed a quiet day aboard (very calm for painting while the ship is not moving) and visited the Seaferer’s club to post another blog and check email. Unfortunately the club was closed (probably because our ship was not scheduled to be in port) so Martha and I sat on the steps (wish I had a photo of that) of this very rustic warehouse, where we could access WiFi, and communicated with friends far and wide.

We were very pleased to receive a package of mail from our mail forwarding service, which contained news from family and friends: Martha’s big news was from her parents in Philadelphia who told her about the recent announcement of a Nobel Prize winner from Martha’s small community where she grew up in Pennsylvania. Mario Capecchi was born in Italy during World War II. When just four years old, his mother was taken by the Gestapo to Dachau, and before she left she put him in care of friends who lived in the country. Something happened to them and he was on his own on the streets for the next 4 or 5 years. After she was released his mother found him again when we has nine years old and they went to Pennsylvania to live with her brother and his wife who saw that he went to school and studied and later went to University. He’s now seventy years old and it was anticipated that he would eventually get recognition for the work he has done in genetically engineering mice to develop human-type diseases as part of the on-going efforts of medical scientists to find cures. Of course, in addition, we learned of the prize for peace being awarded to Al Gore and of the one shared by three other Americans.

Martha also received some Time magazines and Skagway newspapers from her friend Chuck. We all enjoyed the newspapers and laughed at the big news from Skagway: Headlines in one paper read “A Porcupine Walks Into a Bar,” which is a true story of just what happened about 2 AM and it took three customers and a police officer to get him out. One man received several quills in his leg. Another article was “A woman reported that her 86-year old husband was missing. She was shopping and he didn’t want to shop. She left him sitting on a bench on Broadway while she shopped. When she returned he was gone. He was located on the bench in front of AB Hall where he had been sitting for 2 hours or more. His wife was mistaken about the location of the bench where she had left him.” Sure glad we didn’t miss all this big news from Alaska.

We learned from our friend Richard (via email) of the passing of Doug’s former racing skipper, and good friend, Tom McCune. Doug speaks of him often and of the grand adventures they shared racing offshore out of Florida, during the years Doug lived in Florida and worked in the Honeywell Clearwater office. In fact, Doug had recently written a story about a race he and Tom did together and we sent it with a note to Tom’s widow, Teddi.

Crossing the Equator was an uneventful event aboard the ship. We didn’t observe King Neptune rising out of the sea to board our ship (but maybe that’s why we were on pirate watch alert last night) and there was no celebration marking the occasion. We did “retard our clocks” one hour but advanced an hour the next day. It’s strange to watch the clock in our room slowly advance or retard when the times change and all the clocks, starting at 10 PM slowly speed up until we’re on the new time by midnight.

Monday, October 15, 2007

Crossing the Indian Ocean

Crossing the Indian Ocean

1. Barbecue in Gulf of Aden, 2. Rafting in the Red Sea, 3. Cargo on deck, 4 and 5. Emergency drill, UNABLE TO POST PHOTOS. WILL POST LATER.



The following are Doug’s reflections while sailing in the Indian Ocean.

At the completion of the Canal, our pilots departed ship at 2200 and we began our three day sail down the Red Sea, a not totally interesting passage that has given rise to the composition of the Red Sea Blues and a comparison to driving across the Great Plains of North America. During this period, I reflected on the condition of the ship as I walked a daily mile or so on the main deck, fo’c’sle and poop deck and I couldn’t help but compare it to my Navy days. We no sooner had our heads shaved in boot camp when we began to be disciplined for “gear adrift”, i.e. anything not stowed properly and “Irish pennants”, loose lines or something frayed. This was not just petty discipline but meaningful training as items not properly stowed or maintained on a ship at sea can be dangerous. This apparently is not part of the training for merchant seaman as I see many items improperly stowed as well as just casual carelessness with hoisting harnesses, clothing articles, packaging from drinks or food and other items loose on deck as well as unmade lines.

While the deck discipline may not be as tight as a Navy vessel, the engine room and bridge are very professionally manned. The ship’s officers have all completed a four year university education and are very knowledgeable and responsible. I visit the bridge at least once a day to check our position and notice, in addition to conning the ship, training is also being conducted by the officers for the lower ratings. Using sun lines to correct the compass, reducing celestial sights, updating the paper chart every hour with present position and correcting charts with Notice to Mariners are daily activities. The engine spaces are immaculate, as they should be and proper watches and logs are maintained. To the credit of the deck crew, they are working constantly at sea to maintain the ship with chipping and painting and, in port, work long hours in loading and unloading cargo. With the current Master, emergency drills are conducted once each week involving both crew and passengers.

Cruising out of the Gulf of Aden, across the Arabian Sea and then the Indian Ocean past the Maldives Islands and Sri Lanka, I am amazed at the amount of traffic. On the pilot deck for an early morning walk, I count 12 ships in view! We are seldom anywhere without a ship on the radar screen if not in view of the eye. Especially as we passed fairly close to Sri Lanka and for hours were surrounded by hundreds of small fishing boats. Reflecting back on our sailboat cruising days, I recall that one of the major deterrents for me to complete a circumnavigation was the vast expanse of the Indian Ocean, which I expected to be very lonely. Of course, this route is not as expansive as our route across the Pacific Ocean but that was interrupted by many pleasant island stops. I now realize that stops in Sri Lanka, India and Oman between Singapore or Kuala Lumpur and Suez would likewise have broken up the long passage, although my prior experiences in India and Arab countries still make me think they would not have been as enjoyable as Polynesia.


Back to me:

At lunch one day, Gani was grinning from ear to ear and couldn’t wait to tell us that he’d just learned that he, and the rest of the crew members, would be going home on November 17th, when we get to Shanghai. It turns out they never know exactly how long they’ll be aboard when they’re assigned to a particular ship. They sign a nine-month contract to work and are sent out for any where from three months to nine months. This crew had been aboard since July, so mid November would be four months and they were all hoping they would be home for Christmas. After they’re home for a month, they can get reassigned to another ship but if they aren’t assigned after a month, they get paid anyway until they are assigned. Of course we’re happy for them being able to be with their families, but we’ve come to know and love each of them - especially Jonhi our great cook, and Gani who takes such good care of us. The following week, we learned that the Captain (and wife) plus all of the officers are also leaving in mid-November from Shanghai. It seems the company that hires the ship’s crew and officers is changing from Columbia to Global. They have assured us that nothing will change for the passengers but of course it will. We’ll have to get to know another new group (I sure hope they’re as much fun and like to sing and dance). We’ve decided we’ll just take over running the ship after Shanghai.

We’ve also received an updated schedule (subject to change of course) for the rest of the cruise. Two more stops have been added - San Diego and Costa Rica. Doug and I are particularly excited about stopping in San Diego even though it will be just one day, we hope to see some of our friends there.

10/14 Arrive Singapore. 10/16 Depart Singapore
10/17 Arrive Jakarta, Indonesia. 10/19 Depart Jakarta
10/19 Arrive Ciwandan, Indonesia. 10/21 Depart Ciwandan
10/23 Arrive Laem Chabang, Thailand. 10/25 Depart Laem Chabang
10/27 Arrive Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam. 10/28 Depart Ho Chi Minh City
10/30 Arrive Labuan, Malaysia. 11/1 Depart Labuan
11/6 Arrive Dalian, China 11/8 Depart Dalian, China
11/8 Arrive Xingang, China 11/12 Depart Xingang
11/14 Arrive Shanghai, China 11/17 Depart Shanghai
11/17 Arrive Qingdao, China 11/ 21Depart Qingdao
11/22 Arrive Masan, Korea 11/24 Depart Masan
11/25 Arrive Kobe, Japan 11/27 Depart Kobe
11/28 Arrive Yokohama, Japan 11/29 Depart Yokohama
12/10 Arrive San Diego, CA 12/11 Depart San Diego
12/19 Arrive Puerto Moin, Costa Rica 12/19 Depart Puerto Moin
12/23 Arrive Houston

We continue to have an emergency drill each Saturday afternoon at 1600. So far we’ve been instructed, and the crew has demonstrated, what to do in case of: a fire aboard the ship, a fire in the engine room, a collision at sea, the need to abandon ship in the life rafts and in the large life boat, an explosion in the cargo section, a fire in the engine room, and a breach of security (unauthorized person aboard or terrorist threat). While going through the Andaman Sea and the Straits of Malacca, the captain ordered a “pirate watch” which means we had crew stationed all around the perimeter of the ship, all during the night. A ship such as ours is not as likely to be boarded by pirates as a tanker would be since the fuel they carry is very valuable. We sleep better at night knowing they are so safety and security conscious.

Med and Suez Canal





Photos: 1. Stromboli, 2. Suez Canal, 3 Great Bitter Lake,
4. Painting the ship while at sea

Mediterranean Sea and Suez Canal


Leaving Genova (9/28/07), we steamed down the Italian coast passing close by the active island volcano of Stromboli, which was spectacular at sunrise, and entered the Straits off Messina between Italy and Sicily. After passing through the Straits, we passed by the active volcano of Mt. Etna on the coast of Sicily. Setting a course of east southeast, we later made our way down the southern shores of Crete and continued toward Port Said, Egypt. Unfortunately, we wouldn’t be stopping at any of these exotic ports in this part of the world. Our next stop, after a 15-day passage, would be Singapore.

Cruising the Mediterranean brought back old memories for Doug of his time operating with the Sixth Fleet, when he was in the Navy in the early 1950s during the Korean and Cold Wars. The best memories were of the many interesting liberty ports but, being in these waters, he also recalled the harassment of Soviet “trawlers” and other foreign ships and the occasional aircraft, while they conducted flight operations. He says there were a lot of “dodgem car” games going on as they also tracked Soviet submarines departing the Black Sea and the Dardanelles.

We arrived at Port Said considerably behind schedule and missed our prior appointment of meeting our pilot at 0700 on 1 October. We finally picked up two pilots at 1800 and moored to buoys at 2200. There was a moment of unrest when the emergency alarm was sounded because of the several local Egyptians who boarded at the same time as the pilots. Doug, Martha and I were in the midst of watching a movie and, since we’d never heard the five-short-blast alarm before, were not quite sure what to do. We went out on the stern deck and looked down at the muster station (where we go for an emergency drill) but there was no one gathered there and all lights were out. Then we quickly went up to the bridge where we found only the Captain and one of the Egyptian pilots. The captain was looking very serious like he didn’t want to be disturbed so we waited and finally the third officer came up and told us what had happened.. Doors to the superstructure were secured and the “pirates” were bought off with a few cases of Marlboros. We went back to our cabin, locked our door and finished watching the movie.

Passage through the Suez Canal (often called the “crossroads of Europe, Africa and Asia”) consists of two southbound convoys and one northbound convoy each day. We departed early in the morning and reached the Great Bitter Lake by mid morning, where we anchored up with many other ships awaiting the passage of the northbound convoy. Anchored up with us was the USS Wasp, an LHA which carries an amphibious force of 1900 US Marines, landing craft, helicopters and Harrier jets. They were scheduled the first to leave for the continuation of our southbound passage and we were thinking they would probably just as soon be last as they are no doubt headed for the Persian Gulf and Iraq.

We finally departed the southern end of the Suez about 2200, dropped off our pilots and cranked up to our usual cruising speed of 18-19 knots to proceed down the Red Sea passing Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea and Somalia on our starboard hand and the Sinai Peninsula, Saudi Arabia and Yemen to port.

For those interested in a little history of this famous canal, please read on:
The idea of linking the Mediterranean to the Red Sea dates back to ancient times. Unlike the modern Canal, earlier canals linked the Red Sea to the Nile, which forced ships to sail along the River on their journey from Europe to India. The Red Sea Canal consisted of two parts: the first linking the Gulf of Suez to the Great Bitter Lake, and the second connecting the Lake to one of the Nile branches in the Delta. The canal eventually fell into disrepair and was re-dug during the Roman Empire but was later abandoned upon the discovery of the trade route around Africa. In the mid 1800s the Suez Canal was designed by French engineers and built by Egyptian workers. The completion of the Canal was cause for considerable celebration. In Port Said, the extravaganza began with fireworks and a ball attended by six thousand people, including many heads of state, including Princes, Princesses, Emperors and Kings. The parties continued for weeks and also included the grand opening of Ismail’s Opera House in Cairo.

The Canal emerged on the political scene in 1956, during the Suez crisis. Egyptian president Nasser, announced the nationalization of the Canal. His decision was in response to British, French and American refusal for a loan aimed at building the Aswan High Dam. The revenue from the Canal would help finance the High Dam project. The announcement triggered a reaction by Great Britain, France and Israel, who all invaded Egypt less than two months later. Their action was condemned by the International community and Nasser claimed victory. In 1967, the Canal was closed at the wake of the Six Day War, when Israel occupied the Sinai Peninsula, causing the Canal to act as a buffer zone between the fighting forces. Egypt reclaimed the Canal upon the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, and the Canal was re-opened in 1975. Since then, the Canal, which stretches 167 kms (100 miles) across the Egyptian desert (from Port Said and the Mediterranean Sea to Suez and the Red Sea. And has changed the face of maritime world trade., has been widened twice. Today, about 50 ships transit the canal daily and the cities and beaches along the Bitter Lakes and the Canal serve as a summer resort for tourists. At its narrowest point, it is about 197 feet at the bottom, and is wide enough to allow ships with a draft of 53 feet. The Canal can accommodate ships as large as 150,000 tons fully loaded, but not wide enough to allow two way passage of ships. There are several passing bays where ships may pass - in the Bitter Lakes and between Qantara and Ismailia. There’s also a railway that runs the entire distance of the canal. The Suez has no locks because the Mediterranean and the Gulf of Suez are at the same water level. On a typical day, three convoys transit the canal - two southbound and one northbound. That is why we were given a time to arrive at the entrance and, even still, had to wait to enter. We also had to anchor for several hours in Great Bitter Lake for the Northbound ships to exit before we could continue on. If able to transit the Canal non-stop, it would take 11 to 16 hours at a (required) speed of 8 knots (the entire canal is a no-wake zone).


Life aboard has settled into somewhat of a routine though the relationships with the other passengers and the crew continue to develop. We’re a very harmonious group, each with our individual personalities and idiosyncrasies. An example being when I was recently sick for about four or five days. Of course Doug took good care of me, Martha stopped by and continued to send positive messages my way, Sunhilde said the best thing was to massage my stomach (always a circular motion in the same direction) for twenty minutes each morning, of course Helge didn’t say anything, Barbara practiced English enough to say “How are you feeling?”, Gani served me chicken broth, apple juice and tea; but the Captain was the best. He stopped by and said. “I know you’re not feeling well. We have medicines in the infirmary, I don’t know what they are, but you can check with the First Officer.” I said, well, I’m fairly sure it’s diverticulitis.” He didn’t understand, so I put my hand on my stomach and said, “It’s a stomach problem.” He took a step back, put his hands up and said “Oh, I’m a man, I wouldn’t know anything about that.” I assured him it wasn’t a female problem and he said “Well, then you should just eat rice for a few days.” Later, the Chief Engineer, Marenko, stopped by and told me in his Croatian-accented English that we had a syringe in the infirmary but no one on the ship really knows how to use it and he didn’t know what we would administer with it - perhaps it is to be used as an IV. It doesn’t give you a real comfortable feeling but certainly encourages us all to stay healthy on this cruise. So, I accepted all of the suggestions, took a full five-day prescription of antibiotics (that thankfully my doctor in San Diego had given me) and some fairly strong pain medication and was soon back to normal. I’ll continue to be more careful with my diet for the remainder of the cruise (absolutely no seeds and nuts) and lots of water. The good news is that I’m feeling great. Everyone else seems quite healthy - we’re fortunate that no one has gotten sea sick as we had a really rough couple of days in the Mediterranean.

Italy and the Mediterranean

Photos: 1. Rock of Gibralter 2. Arriving Genova, 3. An Italian dinner, 4 Basketball game SORRY, UNABLE TO POST PHOTOS. WILL DO SO LATER.

ITALY and leaving the Mediterranean


By the time we left Antwerp, on our way to Genova, Italy, we had become better acquainted with our new Captain and his wife. One evening we invited Barbara, the Captain’s wife, to play a game of Farkel (also known as “the dice game”) and, even though she doesn’t speak much English (and we speak no Polish), we were able to explain the game and had a lot of laughs and a good time. The Captain was sleeping so that he could be on watch later. The Chief Engineer, Marenko, said he’d like to play some other evening when he’s not working.

Monday afternoon the alarm was sounded at 4:00 for a safety and fire drill and, as directed, we quickly donned our life vests and helmets and met on the aft deck, A level. The roll was read and all were accounted for. We then were informed of our assigned seats in the life boat and instructed to enter and take a seat. Inside, it’s like a small airplane with an aisle down the center and two seats on each side. There are thirty nine seats (Doug and I are seats 10 and 11) and it’s quite close and claustrophobic. They didn’t actually launch the boat, just wanted us to practice getting in and adjusting and fastening our seatbelts in case of a real emergency. Then the crew sprang into action for a fire drill, including testing the hoses, and putting one supposedly-injured man (the steward, Vincent) on a stretcher and administering CPR and oxygen.

People have asked what we’ll do with all our time on the ship. Well, here’s an example of a perfect day on the ship: Sleeping in, painting, seeing the rock of Gibralter on one side and Morocco on the other, reading a good book, having a nice dinner with stimulating international conversations, watching dolphin leap out of the water keeping up with our ship, a rousing game of basketball (played by some of the crew and Martha), a spectacular sunset, and a movie to entertain us in the evening.

We continued on up the east coast of Spain, passed the French Riviera and arrived in Genova on the 27th. The day before our arrival was quite rough - strong winds and huge waves which threw the ship from side to side - but no one got sick. The Chief Engineer, Marenko, looked a little green and commented several times that he didn’t like this weather, but the rest of us did well.
The morning we were to arrive in Genova, we learned at breakfast that we would be departing the same day - the reason being that we were only offloading and taking on five pieces of cargo. I was really disappointed since I’d hope to spend a day seeing this beautiful city. As it turned out, we didn’t get tied up to the dock until 4:00 PM and were told we would be departing at midnight. To make matters worse, we weren’t given our passports until 6:15, so all we had time to do was call a cab and rush into the city. We went to the old section, which, from what we could see was very charming. We found an internet café where we could enjoy a glass of nice Italian wine, check email and post a blog. We walked to dinner in the pouring rain, just a few blocks away, and enjoyed the hustle and bustle of car horns blaring and people scurrying to catch buses and trains. The restaurant we chose was typical northern Italian and very good. After a little wine and some comfort food of pasta and veal, we were happy that we’d made the effort to see at least a little of Genova.

It turns out we didn’t actually leave until around 6:00 am. I continue to remind myself that on a trip like this, we must be flexible.

This poem about the sea is from the book “Simon’s Family” by the Swedish author, Marianne Fredriksson. The poem is written by Simon, the main character in the book and I thought others might enjoy it.

What does the sea smell of?
Turn your face to the storm
out there, bringing to you all the scents of sea,
filling your nose, your lungs.
Start with sturdy words.
Seaweed. Salt.
There is no answer to the words.
What does the sea smell of?
Try the other words, the harder ones:
Force, freedom, adventure.
They fall to the ground, limit the unlimited.
Ask the question yet again:
What does the sea smell of?
And at last see that the question has no meaning.
When you have stopped asking,
Then perhaps
you can experience the sea.

We’re certainly experiencing the sea - often right in the middle of it on this trip
I’d like to mention some other books we’ve been reading while aboard: Doug has been mainly reading mystery and suspense thrillers (two numerous to mention as he often goes through a book a day) but also enjoyed Chuck Yeager’s autobiography. I’d like to recommend “Plum Wine” by Angela Davis-Garoner (Susan, you would like it), “My Sister’s Keeper” by Jodi Picoult, “The Amateur Marriage” by one of my favorite authors, Anne Tyler, “The Tenth Circle” (very different but great) again by Jodi Picoult (Marietta and Julie, you would enjoy this one), and “The Resistance” by Anita Shreve (Dawn, you would like it), “The Year of Magical Thinking” by Joan Didion (not a novel and very moving), “Simon’S Family” by Marianne Fredriksson (author of “Hanna’s Daughters”), and “Thirteen Moons” by Charles Frazier (his first book since “Cold Mountain” and it”’s excellent!). I have many more waiting to be read and will report periodically on my favorites.

We’re making our way toward the Suez Canal and looking forward to seeing this historic site, as well as traveling through the Red Sea.