At Sea

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At Sea January 11 and 12, 2008

Yesterday, Friday the 11th, was our first full day at sea in the Pacific. The sea was calm and the weather warm and slightly cloudy. We went to a lecture about stargazing in the southern skies given by an Astronomy Professor from British Columbia. He was an excellent speaker, and we learned how and where to find certain stars as we near the equator. The big dipper virtually disappears as does the North Star. There is no south star, but we will see the Southern Cross when the weather is clear. Also, during certain conditions, at sunset we could see a green flash as the last rim of the sun hits the horizon. This occurs nearer the equator as the sun goes straight down rather than sets at an angle as it does, say, on the west coast of the US. There is really only one good place on the ship to see the stars clearly, and that is forward on the deck right under the bridge where it is dark. All the other public decks are lighted for safety reasons. So, given good, clear weather, we should be able to find some beautiful sights in the sky.
Today, Saturday the 12th is cloudy with some rain. Not a good day to see sunsets or stars. The seas are calm, however. Bruce is hoping we get the football games today, but tonight is a formal night and we eat early right during the Packer-Seahawks game!!! Don’t know how that will work out, especially since Bruce and Brigid are from Seattle. Decisions, decisions. Today we are going to skip the talk about Liz Taylor given by some Hollywood talent agent. Our friend Bruce said that after National Velvet it was all downhill anyway. So, I think it’s a good day to read and maybe play some bridge. There were 27 tables the last time I played - guess you can tell the ages of the passengers on this cruise. Bruce is working on his Captain Cook presentation to his biography group in Madison, so I may play bridge with someone else today.
I had trouble publishing photos on the last blog because the signal wasn’t strong enough. I’ll try to put them on this entry if I can. More later.

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Photos

Happy Sailors
In the lake before the lock with Brigid and Bruce.