El Gringo Viejo

11_Sydney Harbor 10 Feb 2016 We docked in Sydney at about 6 AM, a night and day and another night out of Melbourne; about 36 hours at sea. We were well away from the Great Barrier Reef and the Australian shore, and saw nothing except ocean and a few more ships than usual going the other way. Out on the rear deck at 9 AM, already docked, the famous beauty of the Sydney Harbor was not apparent. We could see two bridges and a lot of industrial activity, but not the Opera House. We should have been on deck at sunrise to see those famous sights as we sailed in, before we turned a corner into our dingy docking area. We will be ashore here for five days, so maybe we will see them on a ... read more

10_ It’s not salt pork and hardtack I’m sure you have read of the dietary privations of a long sea voyage- food that starts out alright but soon degenerates into a daily ration of rum, with moldy salt pork and worm-eaten sea biscuits. And then come all the vitamin deficiency diseases- ricketts, scurvy, etc. I assure you we are not suffering from any of this. Ms. Amsterdam serves five main meals every single day. We have a buffet breakfast with offerings of Eggs Benedict (five varieties) waffles, crepes, omelets to order, fresh fruit, grapefruit halves, several kinds of sausages, German cold cuts, sweet rolls, smoked salmon with cream cheese and fresh baked rolls, and every day some surprise that we have not seen before. Then I go up to the library to read the New York ... read more

7_Jan 27 Sayonara until I find some free internet I’m sure you thought my choice of photos was peculiar in the last blog (Rangiroa). The reason is, I aborted the photo upload after about 30 minutes (more than $15) of exquisitely slow internet connection, with only two photos uploaded. It makes me nervous to burn money at this pace, so this is my last post until we reach some civilized place with free wifi; maybe New Zealand, maybe Australia, maybe Detroit. My e-mail is even worse; I am not going to burn money at this snail’s pace, bringing in the 90% of my emails asking for political donations, or trying to scare me about Republicans. So here are a few personal messages: Dear Gail and Don Dawson: We very much want to see you in Auckland. ... read more

Jan 22, 2016 The Marquesas Islands Probably you have never heard of Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas Islands, but it was one of the most famous islands of Polynesia in the 19th century. It is where the hero of Herman Melville’s first novel, Typee, jumped ship and had many adventures and a famous love affair. There were two tribes, the noble Happar along the coast, at war with the cannibal Typees of the interior. The love interest was a beautiful Hippar child of nature, quite racy and naked for 1846, and it was an instant best seller. Some people consider it better than Moby Dick. Melville lived on Nuku Hiva for about 28 days, a very long time compared to the three hours we have scheduled. Nuku Hiva could have been ours. It was claimed for ... read more

Jan 10, 2016 The Canal This morning at 7 AM we arrived at the entrance to the Panama Canal. I did not see it or hear it, but when we went up to breakfast, there it was. We were already in the third Gatun Lock. (See photo 1). It was all very slow and majestic- no scraping or bumping. When the lock filled, we were drawn by “mules” that run alongside- very small powerful tractors. You may remember when Jimmy Carter turned the Canal over to the Panamanians, many people said that such backwards people could not possibly run this complex enterprise. Actually, of course, it was like the great non-disaster of the calendar in 2K. Pro forma, we were boarded by a Panamanian official who acts as temporary Captain while passing through Panamanian waters. We ... read more