Sailing the Ocean Blue: The Ship's Log: Day 8

[barbarafett]

8th May, 2014 - Day 8

 

38º23' N, 25º27' W at noon. We can see the largest Azores Island, San Miguel, from the starboard side; its highest point is 3,600 feet. These islands belong to Portugal. There are 9 islands, in 3 groups of 2, 5, and 2. A few thousand people live there. They are an important refueling station for both ships and planes. They are also a center for deep-sea fishing.

 

766 nm to Lisbon. We will pick up our pilot* at around 6:00 AM on Sat.

 

70ºF at noon. Winds around 20 knots. Swells are still coming in on the starboard quarter, but the sea appears calmer than it did yesterday.

 

*Guy whose job it is to lead a large ship like this one into a harbor and guide her on a safe course.

 

Slept in until 8:10 this morning. Grabbed coffee and muffins and took them with us to the last lecture of Mr. David Kirkpatrick's series on the movie business. Turns out he has a novel coming out soon. Signed up for his e-mail list.

 

Went to Coffee Chat with our Cruise Director and Hotel Manager. It is a guest Q&A session. There were a few complainers, but I learned a lot of cool stuff.

 

We were hungry (since we didn't have time for a sit-down breakfast), so we went straight to Windjammers after that, arriving right at 11:30. You could see the Azores from the cafeteria and from the deck, as I mentioned.

 

After lunch, we walked a bit and watched EM boogie-board on the FlowRider. Then I decided I wanted to swim, since the weather was finally nice enough for it. Turns out they don't heat those pools; they're only heated by the sun, and it hasn't been sunny for long enough to heat them up again. I sat with my feet in the very cold water for a bit, then went in one of the awesome hot tubs that overlook the ocean. Then I went and dried off and changed for choir practice.

 

Today was our fourth choir practice. Our fifth and final one will be the day of the performance. Today we met three of the four professionals from the onboard show cast who will be singing the lead parts, and ran though the song a few times with them.

 

We went straight from there to the 5:00 PM ice show, which was amazing. It was on Deck 3 near the center of the ship, so the ice didn't rock much, but the ship was still rocking a little. I was amazed that everyone skated so well, with only 1 fall and 1 or 2 brief staggers. I love watching figure skating on TV, but it's even more impressive in person, especially on such a small rink in such an intimate venue, on a ship! It was a truly spectacular show.

 

Today at dinner, we celebrated LS's graduation from his MFA program. (He's missing the actual commencement ceremony to be here.) We all held up little mortarboard decorations, while LM played “Pomp and Circumstance” on a little portable speaker, and we presented LS with a real mortarboard and a faux diploma made by EM. There was also a special, celebratory cake for dessert.

 

We walked more after dinner. The sunset was beautiful. Then Mom went to the show (briefly) while I went and read my book for a bit.

 

Moon just past the first quarter now.

 

W4W: Mom and I walked a total of 8 laps together today; then I did 1 more by myself, so my total is 9.

 

Steps today: 12,064. Total so far: 97,892.