May 1, 2001 (Day 55) – Part II

May 1, 2001 (Day 55): Regal Princess, North Pacific – 11pm

It is our second May First. We are in US Territorial waters. Early this morning, we passed close to Adak Island where, after a visit in 1944, FDR was rumored to have accidentally left his pet dog prompting the supposed dispatch of a destroyer to retrieve it.

Morale:  Good.

Health:  Good. Almost back to 100%. Still a bit tired. We lost two hours last night.

Seas are a bit more active again. I am sitting listening to the creaking of fixtures as the ship rolls in 12-foot pitches. Still not seasick, although I am starting to get concerned about being “landsick” when we are on dry land after my body has compensated for the regular motion of the ship. The side-to-side rocking of the ship is very conducive to sleep.

Met up with some of the community we are building aboard the ship. Chatted with Santa and Mrs. Claus. Talked with the waitress that we see at the pizzeria. Saw the Canadian couple from our first dinner who explained to Anna the nuance of the art auction process – interesting to learn, but nothing we are planning to use at least in the near future.

The bridge tour today was fascinating. It was fortunate there were a number of others on our tour familiar with oceangoing vessels. I could not always understand the questions that they asked, but they seemed happy with the responses that they received from the crew. Works for me. They may not have been familiar with the technology on the bridge, but they understood the tasks the equipment performed far better than I did. While I was not completely surprised that they still used paper charts – I assumed so that they were not completely dependent on the technology should there be a power failure – I did not know that they re-use the same paper charts. I would have thought that they would print off a new chart for each voyage; instead they just erase the old marks.

No tour would be complete without one difficult member. Today’s entrant was a portly American gentleman who deigned to allow the rest of us plebes to join his personal visit. My favorite question was about how the crew dealt with the waves crashing against the windscreen of the bridge. The crew was very polite and pointed out that the bridge was roughly nine and a half stories above the waterline. But they were very nice and did not respond with an attempt to check this gentleman’s buoyancy in salt water. Uncomfortable shifting and muttering in the group when this person spoke indicated that I was not alone in my interest to use him as bait for the catch of the day. When he spoke, I focused my attention on the GPS monitor, watching our coordinates change every couple of seconds.

The tour explained how they obtain fresh water for the ship. They take in water from the sea while they are sailing and separate out the salt by using an evaporation technique utilizing the heat from the ship’s engines. This process yields about 30 tons of fresh water per day.

At dinner tonight, George filled in some of the details that I missed. He explained how the stabilizers work – like big underwater aircraft wings, if I understood correctly – and that the ship utilizes computerized ballast tanks that rapidly shift water from one tank to the other to reduce the swaying of the ship. Quite an impressive piece of technology we are afloat in.

Took in another round of trivia this afternoon. We walked a mile on the deck to have some fresh air and ease the sting of our loss. The wind was fairly strong so one direction so half of our hike was a labor; half a breeze. When we were done the time the snow picked up. A little bird flew onto the deck. Presumably land is not too far away, although when we look at the horizon it is hard to tell.

George and Amy, my Maltese grandparents, are a riot. They interact with each other, starting minor arguments that they then ask us to “referee.”  Despite their differences, there is quite a bit of affection between them. Amy does not like the sea – living on an island has taught her respect and fear of it – and carries a cell phone to remain in constant (almost literally) contact with her children and grandchildren. She showed us pictures of her grandchildren; we shared photos of our niece and nephew. She has not changed her watch so she always knows what time it is in Malta. Her biggest complaint about being at sea is that there is no coverage for her mobile phone. She will try again when we get to Dutch Harbor tomorrow to see if it works. “Heaven help them [their kids] if it does,” George responded.

We had a celebratory drink to mark the physical half-way point of our trip. We also bit the bullet and rented a laptop to send an e-mail. I crafted the update in advance so time could be used as efficiently as possible. At $20 per half-hour time was a real consideration.

We dock tomorrow in Dutch Harbor. Restocking is a high priority. There are rumors going around that certain provisions are running low. Already certain items listed in the menu as “Always Available”, such as steak, have been removed. Perhaps the large selection of fish is not to everyone’s liking.

Speaking of provisions, our stores of “Funky Soy Sauce” potato chips are running low. Alas, our ability to restock this item in Dutch Harbor may be less successful.

Excerpts from Anna’s journal included

• ChasingFogg15
• International Date Line
• Pacific
• Travel