Storm in the Indian Ocean

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I won’t be able to say I’ve set foot on Sri Lanka but I can say that I have seen it. The island once known as Ceylon appeared off the starboard side low on the horizon this morning at dawn as I was taking my walk on deck nine. Nautica is about 20 miles off shore so I couldn’t see much detail, but I could see hills back in the morning mist.



Later today a storm moved in. We are now in fairly heavy seas with whitecaps stirred up by the wind. The lunch crowd in the café was much reduced with a good number of passengers holed up in their staterooms either seasick or afraid of trying to negotiate the tilting decks and corridors. I find this part of a cruise exciting and am a bit disappointed it isn’t even rougher. I have weathered much worse weather crossing the north Atlantic three years ago between Iceland and Canada. Last winter when I was on Nautica’s sister ship, Insignia, I enjoyed a major storm in the south Atlantic between Brazil and the coast of West Africa. By comparison the present dust up is quite a minor affair, so far that is.



Last evening at dinner I met a couple from Sequim, Washington who it turns out I had chatted with one evening while I was at work at Benaroya Hall. I remember them telling me at the time that they quite often come in to Seattle for concerts and then take the ferry back to Bainbridge where they leave their car and drive all the way back to Sequim the same night. Carol, the wife, has been a classical pianist, so that may account for their willingness to go to great lengths to get to Benaroya. She is particularly happy with our new music director, Ludovic Morlot. I’ll have to introduce them around the next time I see them at the concert hall.

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Photos

M/S Nautica friends
friends Jean and Gene Crane of San Miguel Mexico celebrating Jean's 82nd birthday