5/28/2010 Sardinia to Starboard

Well, email is out and likely to continue to be out for a while. I’ll
still write up these entries and post them all upon our arrival to Greece
if email isn’t up by then.

I will admit that all hands are glum about our email problems. Apparently
the issue has to do with an “integrator” which fried. For myself, who is
used to getting emails and communicating that way, it is rather depressing
knowing that you are cut off and have no means of communication. For some
of the students, who have completely grown up with this technology, it is
even harder. Hopefully a message will be posted on the web site informing
people that we are down.

But since I’ve gotten into the habit of writing these daily blogs, I’m
going to continue to do so with the unlikely hope that somebody will read
the backlog. Today we saw the first drops of rain in about 2 weeks with a
passing shower, and the sea has been remarkably calm. Today, we also
passed through the Straits of Bonifacio, which separates the islands of
Sardinia and Corsica. I only saw Sardinia, and Corsica was out of sight,
so I guess these straits weren’t exactly as narrow as I envisioned.

The main deck has also taken on some sort of new odor, which can best be
described as rusty nails mixed with rotten eggs. I am not sure what the
source of this smell is, but it has permeated down into the hold. Yum.

Today, I had a visit from the ship’s doctor. This was not because I was
ill, but because he had borrowed the Avatar DVD which then subsequently
leapt out of its packaging and then became wedged behind a bulkhead. He
managed to retrieve it through the liberal use of a plastic wedge but was
worried about damage to it. So right now, I am playing it through with
the tv and sound turned off just to see if there are any problems.

The good Doctor’s visit then became more concerned with the functionality
of the TV’s in the cadet’s lounge You see, we have a rather complex (to
me at least), stereo and video system which consists of multiple wires
leading into a myriad of Gordion knots that go all about the ship. The
Doctor, needs to play training tapes for the students, so he wanted to
make sure our VCR was working.

The library has four VCR’s: One to play tapes, one to rewind tapes, one
to fast forward tapes, and one that eats tapes. The problem is making
sure you are using the correct VCR for the correct function. We now have
found that the VCR that plays tapes has inherited some of the
cannibalizing traits of the machine that eats tapes. I shall have to pray
to the VCR gods and probably need to sacrifice a tape or two (such as
Holyfield v. Tyson II) before I receive divine assurance that my other
tapes will be spared.

That’s all for today!

Fair Winds and Following Seas,
Joe