Category: The DayBook

And the water that wasn’t sloshed out of the pool was drained.

But.

And.

So, life is good.
2898 nautical miles.

The finest kind tropical weather vanished over night.
All things considered, I liked yesterday much better.

Today we have been enjoying 14-16 foot waves with some rather startling interludes that send passengers and dishes to the deck. But I haven’t heard any calls for medical attention so, it’s either entertaining or annoying. Depending on your perspective.

My seasickness protocol of Dramamine and black coffee is holding up. I had my usual breakfast and lunch and am happily anticipating happy hour.

2284 nautical miles so far. 

Gotta say. I am having a serious case of ship envy after seeing this fine vessel. Not 100% sure I could make it around the ship any longer. But I sure could sit on the deck in style.

This is the last day of the islands. At 5pm this evening, we start hauling ass back to the frozen north. So i went all in on going ashore this morning. Took a water taxi into Phillipsburg and walked back to the ship. That was about 5 miles. Seriously, I don’t know how much longer I will be able to do this. But, I am grateful. And I have three sea days to rest up in.

2083 nautical miles. Hoping for a boring three sea days. Cosmos tonight to mark leaving the tropics.

But we belong in the container yard. Because Dominica is one of the orange tyrant’s “shithole” countries. Dominicans are no longer welcome in the US. Town is about 2km away and I am feeling the years today. So I stayed on board today.

I rather enjoyed sitting and reading on the deck of a slightly swaying ship. I thought about Robert Louis Stevenson, Samuel Clements, Isabella Bird and all the other writers/adventurers of the 19th century who headed out to warmer climates on steam ships.

It is also a quiet place to watch your own life wind down. To reflect on paths not taken. To hope for graceful acceptance of whatever comes next. It’s not sad. It just is. Nobody is promised tomorrow.

But. If there is a tomorrow

There was more to see. But 4 miles walking is about my limit. Not complaining. Damn grateful that I can still do 4 miles. Accept and adapt.

Heading back north tonight. 1800 nautical miles. Think i might like Martinique more than St Croix. Maybe. 

And with my binoculars I can see some truly awesome yachts in that area.

1605 nautical miles so far. St Croix still my favorite stop. But I am optimistic about Martinque tomorrow.

What do you expect when you’ve been at sea for three days and you’re fellow travelers are at least as old as you are?
I got off and had a fine little walk around Frederiksted. It’s a sweet little town. With lots of good looking snorkeling right off the pier. Also, good diving. But now, I just wander slowly and watch

I did see a couple of sea turtles.

And, even if I could still snorkel and dive, I would not have been able to participate because of my leg with the open cut. Not smart to go in the ocean with any kind of cut. Carlton did not listen to me about this. Much to his regret.

1450 nautical miles so far. St Croix is my favorite stop.so far.

Will I ever stop trying to tack bird fotos wit a phone?I couldn’t even take bird fotos with a 500mm lens.

Very gentle sea day. I was able to do my yoga class over zoom. Zoom yoga is maybe the only good thing we got out of COVID.

1218 nautical miles in 73 hours.

But wait…

I didn’t walk into the chair. It flew across the deck and hit me. Thinking it would have been worse if I had not been wearing my compression socks.

Got a big ass bandage from the pool lifeguard. But it will take a while to heal with my elderly skin and suspect circulation. Wreckage of the future.

820 nautical miles in 49 hours.

And we have all the usual cruise ship things.

A fine first day at sea. We have traveled about 400 nautical miles in 24 hours.

I am being indulged with a visit to the Japanese restaurant for dinner this evening. 

We are on the ship and the ship is safely underway. It appears that the ship is almost if not completely full.

Most of the passengers appear to be at least as old as Christy and I. Lots of mobility devices. But that’s what we expected.

There is very little good news coming out of USA today.

Instead of being on an old boat going to St. Croix, I feel like I should be on an old bus going to Minneapolis. At my age. There’s damn little I can do. But at least I could “woman” a cauldron in a soup kitchen.

I should be getting ready to leave tomorrow morning. I have watered the orchids. I have 90% packed. But I only feel 10% ready. Nevermind. I have 90 minutes before happy hour. If I spring into action NOW, I can be 90% ready to go.

But it is oh so seductive being a slug.

And what am I going to do on my 12-day cruise to St Somewhere? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I am taking my well-stuffed Kindle and my iPad. Hope I fold a little paper and read a few books. And maybe fold paper while listening to an audiobook. Oh, have some cocktails. 

Springing into action now. Next post from Vision of the Seas. I hope.