halifax to galway 2012

Still no whale sighting for me, though earlier in the week, others saw both humpback and pilot whales as well as sharks. The humpbacks were seen slapping the water, something they do to stun the fish prior to feeding. We’ve run into rough seas the past few days so no sightings of any kind except for birds. We had 13-foot swells yesterday. Walking forward to aft has become a sport.

 

I’ve heard that the MV Explorer can reach 32 knots, making her one of the fastest cruise ships in the world, if not the fastest. Although an officer on the bridge claimed only 29 Kts, we average 13.1, or about 15 mph. It doesn’t sound fast on land--and it’s certainly not the 17,500 mph that a rocket ship goes--but this ship moves. I took a tour of the bridge a couple days ago--awesome!--and learned about the stabilizers that help keep our starboard and port sides on a somewhat even keel. The ship requires more fuel for their use, but without them, most of us would be scrambling for the white plastic-coated bags found in stacks around the ship.

On the bridge, there is one man dedicated to looking out for danger. Which guy is it? The Yankee fan?

Besides the rocky seas, we’ve had a number of interesting lectures on our upcoming ports of call: Galway, Dublin, and Southampton. Last night, we also got to hear a talk by Kathy Thornton, who will be the Executive Dean on the Fall 2013 voyage. She was an astronaut, so we learned about her voyages and what it’s like to see 16 sunrises in a day.

This, however, is a sunset from the other night. We only saw one that day, but when it’s like this, there’s nothing better.

So yeah, this is my life right now. Even with all the banging around, it’s a pretty good one. The ocean feels more calm this morning, and we’re scheduled to arrive in Galway at 0630 tomorrow. I plan to be a-wake for it. Uuugh, sorry (this is a photo of the ship’s wake).

More adventures to come. See you in Galway.