575 This is the TV navigation channel. As you can see we are doing only 17 knots but the wind across the deck in going 35 knots. So the actual wind speed is only 18 knots. The wind is almost on the bow so you can just subtract. If it’s coming from the side more the computation is more complicated. You can also see that we are going almost due West (that’s 270 degrees) and are only 7 degrees North of the Equator and 16 degrees west of the International Date Line. Majuro on the right is our last port and Chuuk on the left is our next port. We’re the triangle on the red line. After we pass a point the line turns yellow. This display has improved immensely over the years.
697 The sky this close to the Equator almost always has clouds and is often very overcast. We’ve passed through squalls all day. Usually very small but lots of rain in them.
Oct 6 & 7 – At Sea. 6th This was another normal sea day. Didn’t do much but attend a couple of lectures and get my journal up to date.
Tonight’s entertainer was Marty Brill, a comedy writer for many TV shows. He was funny as always even though we’ve seen him so often that we know 80% of his gags. He’s a storyteller and works pretty much ad lib for much of his shows. Depends what’s on his mind or how the audience reacts. He snuck a couple in on us that we hadn’t heard before and they were hilarious.
7th If there was ever a trans-Pacific cruise for non-sailors this is it. We are sticking so close to the Equator in the Doldrums that the ship hardly ever moves. When we turn north to head to Okinawa and Japan it’s possible that we could run into a storm but we are not spending much time up that way before returning to the Equatorial area. I was just looking at the Pacific wave height map and there must be a typhoon going into China just below Shanghai because things would be pretty exciting if we were there now. As in most things, timing is everything.
Today our port lecturer, Barbara, gave a presentation on WWII in the Pacific. I guess if you’ve been in a coma for 60-70 years it would have been informative but with 45 minutes to cover the war in the area you can’t do much but drop the names of major battles and give a little timeline. She’s the perfect speaker for an older crowd because she’s very deliberate and clear in her pronunciations, which makes her a little slow for my taste. I do enjoy her presentations because I can write while I listen if I sit at the back of the balcony where they have a short bar with stools. She’s a very nice lady and seems to be sincere.
They have an electronic chart that you can look at on the TV and at places around the ship. It gives you a lot of information, latitude, longitude, direction, speed, wind speed and direction, water depth, air and water temps and it also displays a GPS style map.
Their having a Mongolian cookout on the Lido today but I don’t know if I’ll go. It’s very hot and humid outside so I’ll have to see how long the line is before making my final decision. I haven’t had a sandwich for lunch yet and I might just try that today. Sushi appetizer goes without saying. Well I caved in to my usual routine and had the Mongolian lunch followed by a sushi dessert. I’m such a slave to routine sometimes.
At lunch time we passed very close to Palikir Island which is near Pohnpei Island where we were going to stop before they rescheduled the stop tomorrow in Chuuk.
HAL has started something new or maybe it’s Gene’s idea. They call it the Spotlight and it’s a short show at 7:30PM before the main show at 8:15. It’s sort of like a combination of a lounge show (drink service goes on and it’s a shorter show) and an opening act like so many main show venues and concerts have. Best combination of warm up and main act I’ve ever seen was the Candlestick Park Beatles concert in 1966. The Cyrkle opened for them singing ‘Red Rubber Ball’. What a night that was. Anyway, the Spotlight performances have been well attended and well received. Usually it’s a reprise of a performer that has already done the main act, often the night before. HAL used to schedule game shows like the Not So Newlywed Game, Match Game, Liar’s Club and What’s My Line featuring members of the crew or passengers as the contestants. They’ll still probably do some of that but the Spotlight is an idea that will catch on if the performers agree to the extra show. So far, many have.
Tonight’s Spotlight was Marty Brill, last night’s performer. The main show was Jennifer Green, an Australian lady who performed a show called ‘Strictly Bassey’. As you’d expect she led off with Goldfinger, probably Bassey’s biggest hit in the USA. It was an enjoyable evening. Her picture in the daily program was about 20 years old.
No comments:
Post a Comment