Blogs from Pacific, Oceans and Seas - page 22

Sunday 12th February: Today was just about everything you expect crossing the equator to be. The sea was very gentle, the skies were clear blue, the sun stayed high in the sky all the time and it was very, very hot. We were already at over 84 degrees by mid-morning and it was glorious as we slipped over the line at about 11.20 am. We did all our normal sea day things (gym, breakfast and lecture) and were able to get back to our cabin to watch the ship's navigation channel at the moment we crossed so we have a photo of the TV screen showing us going over zero degrees. The afternoon was fun but a whole heap smellier. In fact smelly just doesn't describe it well enough. Most people who wanted to take part ... read more

Friday 10th February: We're rapidly approaching the Equator now and are in the area known as The Trade Winds. And it's well named, not for any quantity of stomach disorders (especially the ones that seem to afflict all members of the Tilson clan!) but the winds that must have pushed the early explorers rapidly on their way in search of new lands. The winter weather is glorious here with temperatures up in the high seventies, the sun is shining, there are a few puffy white clouds and enough movement on the sea to make the movement in the swimming pools a heap of fun. About a one foot swell from the shallow end to the deep end really does making swimming interesting. I wish all pools did this - we'd swim every day. Work in the ... read more

8th February: It's impossible to talk about today without talking about the weather. It is still seriously bumpy but the more you study the sea, the more you see in it. It is primarily a dark, cold midnight blue today but it gets broken into a vibrant spearmint green as the ship breaks it up and forces oxygen into it. The seas are huge today but the Captain reminded us that Hawaii is famed for its surfing beaches and out here is surely the birth place of those giant rollers. When two waves collide (which happens about once every few seconds), they explode into the finest mist which instantly transforms into an airborne rainbow. It's so easy to see how ancient civilisations saw gods in all this nature. Surely something cleverer than mankind paints a million ... read more

golfito.is nice coastal town, interesting woodn haousin architektur consytrukted by gringo banana plantations that left long ago. smoke 1000. minerva hotel is 2000.entered panama,camp policxe station.arrived panama city,stay miami,6 us. morn.smoke,beer,mp3. true: no feel much motivation, no stimulation. allmost daydream bout havin aids,doomsday. i waste time, i dont love god. went 2 marinas,pined notice bout sailboathitchhikin on blackboards, spoke 2 none. made new pipe.tagua.much i hang in hammock:mp3,beer,smoke.wastin away hours.much is walkin.allways walkin. went 2 colon.sailboatsearchin. nothion.still just hangin arround, still not dedicatin 2 searchin.wastin days.is: i block. dont wanna do public relation shit.i see sailors but cant ask em. yesterday i ask 1, he was hiperfriendly,stimulatin me 2 go on.thank him god.sometimes a little friendlyness can do as much as a little ... read more

10,320 is a pretty big number and it's the number of miles we've travelled so far since leaving Southampton. We've had all sorts of weather in that time: freezing cold, boiling hot, fog, rain, very lumpy seas, flat calm and now that we're heading north up the coast of Mexico towards San Francisco, we're getting cold again. It's not really cold because it's actually 66 degrees here right now and that's at 8.30 in the evening but it's cold compared to the weather we've enjoyed for the last 2 weeks. So we spent today indoors. We did 2 lectures today: one from a forensic scientist on forensics (no great surprise really!) and he's doing a series of 4 talks all about how people try to commit the perfect murder and how the men in white coats ... read more