Walking Papers

As we emerged from the Straits of Gibraltar and into the Atlantic, a
change has overtaken the water. Where once the smooth seas of the
Mediterranean lay beneath us, it has been replaced by the slow and steady
rocking of the Atlantic. Yay.

The water looks different visually as well – it is somewhat grayer. But,
on the good side I did see a dolphin or a small whale today peaking up
with its dorsal fin. It was just a passing glance and I didn’t see it
after the first look.

We are now about 80 miles off the coast of Portugal and moving at roughly
full steam north to the Bay of Biscay and then the waters of Great Britain
and Ireland. With only two days to go before our next landfall, a certain
sense of “channel fever” or restless giddiness has fallen over the hands.
Jokes are getting sillier, and the cadets seem caught between the tension
of their testing, while at the same time the coming landfall. It should
be noted that there is an inherent jealously of those who are on the ship
for the full 90 days versus those who are aboard for 45. It is rather
nice being on the receiving end of that jealousy.

Today, I have received my “Walking Papers” so to speak. This is a nice
letter I found tacked to my cabin door which thanked me for my help on
this half of the cruise. It went over departure procedures such as
remembering to get my passport (can’t go far without that item), and to
leave my lifejacket behind. It looks like there is also no assigned
seating on the charter plane, so it will be first-come-first serve. Hmmm,
I wonder how I can plot to get one of the first class seats.

And in other items of interest I had this rather lengthy conversation with
some deck officers at dinner tonight about longitude, how to find it
either by the moons of Jupiter or chronometers, how it was so difficult to
calculate longitude and how it was related to Hawaii.

I told you “channel fever” is setting in.

Fair winds and following seas,
Joe