Peace Boat: Around the world over Sea

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September 18th 2008

Published: September 18th 2008

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islandbutterfly

Sayonara Nihon

leaving Kobe to set sail

September 13
10 days at sea

After greeting 900 passengers and escorting them to the check in counter aboard the TSS Topaz AKA: the Peace Boat, we were finally ready to say sayonara to Japan.

We departed Yokohama under a colorful sky of streamers. With the sun blazing, music blaring, and hundreds of people gathered on the dock waving goodbye to our ship. Champagne in hand and tears in eyes we set off for our 109 day voyage around the world on September 3rd, 2005.

On our second day at sea we encountered a huge typhoon heading north. The rough seas began to toss us about the boat until nearly everyone was sea sick and bed ridden. Motion sickness medicine became an after dinner mint. My roommate and I lay in bed munching bread and sipping water for three days.

Our first stop was supposed to be in Danang, but due to the super typhoon, the captain had to alter our course by 450 miles. We found our selves closer to the Philippine Islands rather than Vietnam. For our safety we had to skip Vietnam all together and

Bye Bye Kobe

Sailing away

our first stop is now Singapore.

Luckily the weather has eased and our busy days of dancing and singing on stage, throwing parties, attending formal dinners, organizing classes, attending lectures and seminars on agent orange, war, global education and culture still allow us time to relax by the outdoor pool, do yoga and lift weights.

We danced under the stars as a DJ rocked out the boat. Japanese drummers carried the rhythm of Taiko through out the ship. The Japanese on board are a beautiful mix of young spirited people and wise retired souls, but all have one thing in common; a love of peace. It’s really a productive and beautiful environment to be in.

We have two good restaurants to dine in. The Yacht club is an outdoor restaurant on the upper deck over looking the ocean, while the Topaz dinner provides classy 4 course meals for lunch and dinner. Breakfasts are a buffet of waffles, pancakes, eggs, bacon, miso soup, muesli, fresh fruits and fancy breads. Lunch is salad bars and udon, BBQ chicken, fresh fish, curry, chili, rice bowls, or pasta, while dinner courses have global themes and

Peace Boat TOPAZ

my home on the sea for 109 days

different daily delights like smoked duck, turmeric snapper, Bombay curry, and spring rolls to tempt us. Each day is a different menu and the veggie options are loaded with fresh grilled veggies and tofu which have tempted me to switch to the veggie card.

I have 2 room mates; Lydia and Ai. Lydia is Canadian and very cool. She has a boyfriend back home too so we can stay out of trouble together. We hear stories of boat magic (after 3 months at sea, under the stars with the waves lapping and moon shining people seem to fall in love and once the cruise is done, the spell is broken and lovers are strangers once again). She is exercise crazy too so we keep each other from being lazy. Ai is a sweet, cute Christian Japanese girl. She is a translator on the boat. The three of us get on well and have a groovy room going. I feel really lucky to have such cool people to room with.

After a two day brake in Singapore, we set sail again and head to Seychelles for some beach down time.

Love and