Well, I made it through my first 24 hours of ship life. I am still dealing with my stomaching being about half way up my esophagus, but no mishaps yet. We have been cruising along at a consistent 12 knots. It will take us about 9 days to reach the OBS location. The wind is at our backs and weather looks fair for the next few days. Can't say the same for China who is dealing with a Super Typhoon.
My past day has consisted of eating, sleeping, being on watch and sitting outside watching the horizon. The internet seems to be able to handle the uploading of low resolution photos so I will work on compiling a visual tour of the ship in the next few days.
This morning I got to watch flying fish sore across the sea surface (they stay above water for a good 15 seconds and glide at least 100 ft. It is really impressive) and birds repeatedly dive for the catch of the day. I could only watch for so long before I had to avert my attention back to the horizon.
As with everyday life, I find myself always looking forward to the next meal. It is like getting a present every couple of hours. The food has been great so far. Breakfasts have all been accompanied with lots of fresh tropical fruit and lunch and dinner both have an extensive salad bar (complete with sprouts!). Yesterday we had enchiladas for lunch and pork chops and mashed potatoes for dinner. Today we had BLTs and tomato soup for lunch and spaghetti, bolognese and calamari steaks with a white wine, lemon cream sauce for dinner. Apparently giant squids are attracted to the boat at night (they like the light) and the crew members catch them sometime. This results in super fresh calamari as a regular occurrence on the menu and the squids are so big, instead of slicing them in "O's" like you usually get in your appetizer basket, the chef here makes steaks out of them. Now that is a freakin big squid. Each meal also comes complete with dessert. We have had pecan pie, pineapple upside down cake, chocolate chip cookies and chocolate cake. What is not eaten at the meal sits on the counter tops calling your name every time you go down to get more coffee.
In addition to the meals, the mess hall is fully stocked with any type of snack food you can imagine. There are shelves of candy bars, popcorn, pretzels and chips and large jars filled with M&Ms, gummy bears and tiny peanut butter cups. We have a freezer full of ice cream and a fountain with all the Dt. Coke I can consume, which comes complete with a chewy ice dispenser (just like Sonic!). I am trying really hard to control my feasting. As Danny put it, this is what Willy Wonka's research vessel would look like. Needless to say, I will not go hungry on this trip.
This afternoon Tina and I had our first Salty Crafts craft time. We decided to be like the original knitters, the Arabian Sailors, and work on our yarn goods. Tina learned to knit and is well on her way to completing her first knitted scarf. WooHooo! I think tomorrow will be a knot tying tutorial.
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