World Cruise - Day 51 - Mar 3 - At Sea

I got up at 6a this morning and sunrise was at 6:10a.  But my camera ended up getting fogged due to the humidity.  I thought that putting it outside for about 10 minutes would give enough time to clear the humidity, but it was still foggy, so after waiting about 20 minutes, I finally used by pocket camera on a quick shot before it fogged up as well:

That was the best shot I could get.  After another 30 minutes or so, the DSLR had cleared up.  Not sure what I can do about that other than placing the camera out on the balcony about an hour before sunrise.  And nope, I don’t want to wake up an hour before sunrise just to get the camera unfogged.

It’s pretty humid here as we make our way toward the equator.  We are heading out northeast from the northeast coast of Australia toward Papua New Guinea and will go around the eastern side between Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.  I think we are currently about 15 degrees south, which to compare to 15 degrees north would be about the same as Guatemala.  Temp today will be a high of 84 and low of 77.  Tomorrow will be a high of 86 and low of 79.

We were watching a grouping of four birds that are following our ship this morning:

I got some pretty good photos of the birds, although I’m not sure what they’re called.

They look similar to the swifts we saw in South America.

Frigate bird is a name that comes to mind, although I’m not sure if that’s correct or not?  The pic above is probably my best photo, since you can see its coloring against the sea and sky backdrop.

They make a noise that is somewhat between a duck call and seagull call.

They’ve been simply riding the air currents from our ship, mainly gliding, but every once in awhile they flap their wings to get out in front of the ship.

I thought there must be land nearby, but I checked both my map and the ship’s map and I don’t see any islands anywhere nearby, so I think they’re just catching a ride on our air currents

Also, we are apparently stirring up the fish in the ocean, since they every once in awhile dive down into the ocean to catch a fish.

I caught the following sequence of one of the birds diving into the water.

Here it is about ready to dive into the water.

I got the splash, although I didn’t get the actual entry.

Then he stays underwater for a few seconds…

…then emerges.  Can you see the fish in its beak?

Then it’s off again.

Flying low across the water until it gets enough speed.

Then it moves back up into the air currents thrown by the ship.

We went to breakfast this morning in the main dining room.  We usually do breakfast in the room, but decided to try the main dining room this morning.  Krissie had an omelet and I had eggs benedict (with turkey instead of Canadian bacon).

We did a Bible study and video sermon today by Chris Rowland on being an inside out Christian (i.e. from the heart).

I got a “Cruise Summary” for the 2^nd segment a few days ago and hadn’t yet put it on the blog.  Here is the summary of the ports, distance (nautical miles) and speed (in knots):

San Diego, California to Honolulu, Hawaii – 2,265 nautical miles, 16.8 knots

Honolulu, Hawaii to Nawiliwili, Hawaii – 91 nautical miles, 13.0 knots

Nawiliwili, Hawaii to Pago Pago, American Samoa – 2,281 nautical miles, 17.0 knots

Pago Pago, American Samoa to Dravuni Island, Fiji – 683 nautical miles, 18.0 knots

Dravuni Island, Fiji to Bay of Islands, New Zealand – 1,023 nautical miles, 12.2 knots

Bay of Islands, New Zealand to Auckland, New Zealand – 124 nautical miles, 9.7 knots

Auckland, New Zealand to Fiordland National Park, New Zealand – 863 nautical miles, 15.6 knots

Fiordland National Park, New Zealand to Burnie, Tasmania, Australia – 957 nautical miles, 15.4 knots

Burnie, Tasmania, Australia to Sydney, Australia – 521 nautical miles, 15.1 knots

Total distance from San Diego to Sydnew: 8,808 nautical miles = 10,129.2 statute miles = 16,312.42 kilometers

So I guess our top speed is at/close to 18 knots?

I just talked to the Captain (John Foster) and he said the birds are brown boobies.  He’s quite the comedian, so I didn’t know whether to believe him or not, but he said that is their name.  He said they stay with the ship to catch the flying fish that come to the surface and jump as the ship goes by.  He said they live at sea and only come to shore to nest.  We have now picked up more birds, about 12-15 of them are now following the ship.  I went up to the top deck to take some more pics and was able to get closer up to them this time.  Instead of cropping these pics to just the birds, I am leaving them full frame.  Here are my best pics of birds, part two:

The birds could actually coast faster than the ship, so every once in awhile they would have to turn around and get back into the air slipstream.  It was during this turn that that would do a quick scan for fish.

I like the contrast of the wave from the bow of the ship against the blue water, framing the bird.

This is a more close-up shot, note the red feet.

Here is an underside view, you can see how they have webbed feet for swimming in the water.

If you look at the above photo closely, you can see at least 10 birds, including two splashdowns (one middle left, on far right) as the birds are hitting the water going after fish.

Trivia was pretty easy this morning, we got 18 out of 20, winning team got 19.  Here are the two questions we missed:  What country introduced birth control pills in 1960?  USA (we put Sweden).  Before Smoky the Bear, what Disney character was used for forest fire public service announcements?  Bambi (we put Goofy).  Rosemary had both of the answers written down, but we went with other answers on each.  Some of the other interesting questions: What world religion has multiple hells, including chattering teeth hell and cracked like a lotus hell?  Buddhism.  What was Harrison Ford’s trade before acting in the Star Wars films?  Carpenter.  Who is the actor for whom you need to find other actors within six degrees?  Kevin Bacon.  What is the fraction for pi?  22/7.  Appaloosa is what type of animal (Patti, I knew you would love this one)?  Horse.  What South America city’s name mean river of January?  Rio de Janiero.  What day of the week is most common for heart attacks?  Monday.  Who did Cuba’s parliament name as president in 2008?  Raul Castro.

Julie, Krissie wasn’t certified on the scuba dive she and Dan did, it’s called an “introductory dive” or “resort dive”—they give you minimal instruction, then take you out with a dive master who controls your flotation, etc.  All you have to do is breathe correctly.  And they keep you in shallow water, typically only down to 12-15 feet so you can come up quickly if needed.  Technically it doesn’t count at all toward becoming certified.  Certification involves about 5 classes, testing and a total of about 8 certification dives—4 in a pool and 4 in open water.  Once you are certified, you can go out on your own with another certified diver.  Some people can do it in as little as week, but it does involve a lot of reading and study.  Someone told me a story about a young lady who got certified on her honeymoon and she said all she did on her honeymoon was read and take tests.  So Krissie isn’t certified and if she wanted to dive again, she would either have to get certified or do another resort dive.  That was probably enough for her, she will snorkel at any other stops we make.  It was included at the same price as snorkeling and to dive the Great Barrier Reef was once-in-a-lifetime for both of us, so I was glad she got to do it.

Afternoon trivia was tougher, we got 11 out of 20, winning team got 17.  The ones we missed:  What musical movie has the longest running theatrical release ever?  Rocky Horror Picture Show (we put Phantom of the Opera, we misunderstood the context of the question).  What is a perfect FICO credit score?  850 (we put 800).  What makes a Cosmopolitan cocktail pink?  Cranberry juice (we put grenadine).  How much more powerful is the sense of smell vs. sense of taste—10x, 100x or 10,000x?  10,000x (we put 100x).  How many King Edwards have ruled Great Britain?  8 (we put 6).  What country granted independence to Madagascar in 1960?  France (we put Great Britain).  What species of land mammal has the longest tail?  Giraffe (we put kangaroo).  What fitness practice uses electric chair, spine corrector and ladder barrel?  Pilates (we put yoga).  What element takes its name from the Greek word for green?  Chlorine (we put copper).  Other interesting questions:  What book is the basis for Disneyland’s Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride?  Wind in the Willows.  What illusionist shares his name with a Charles Dickens novel?  David Copperfield.  What finger strikes Q on a standard keyboard?  Left pinky.  What is the standard abbreviation for plastic polyvinyl chlorine?  PVC.  Who was the first pope to enter a mosque?  Pope John Paul II.  Who wrote a trilogy of books starting with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo?  Stieg Larson.  What year was Oldsmobile phased out—1995, 2000 or 2004?  2004.

The entertainment tonight was Annette Wardell, an opera singer:

Fits the profile of seeing someone/something onboard a cruise ship that I wouldn’t normally go to see, yet found to be very entertaining.  “Honey, would you like to go listen to an opera singer tonight?”  “Um, no.”  Yet onboard a cruise ship, it’s the perfect “night out” for us.

Annette was truly delightful.  She got a spontaneous standing ovation from everyone in the audience.

Tomorrow is sea day #2 of 5 on our way to Guam.  I think we may cross the equator either tomorrow or Monday.