Bill and Sheila At Sea - Day Four

Sheila and I were up at 6:30. I am back on the fantail again. Having finished a leisurely buffet breakfast and several cups of coffee with the gang, we have split up and gone on to our individual pursuits.

The weather has not been kind to us. It is a cold and windy by tropical standards. The temp is in the lower 60's and there is a strong wind. There is also a strong quartering sea off the starboard bow and we are pitching and rolling noticeably. Nothing bad by small ship standards where twenty and thirty degree rolls are common but enough to make some of the non sailors on board uncomfortable.

Around 10:00, I decided to go back to cabin and start packing up for our debarkation tomorrow. In one of those things that only happens in the movies, I look down the two hundred yard long passageway and saw Sheila approaching from the opposite direction. The rolling had gotten the best of her and she didn't exactly know what to do. I told her to sit down quietly and sip some ginger ale. She retrieved a scopomaline patch from her makeup bag and applied it as well. Within a little while, she was recovering somewhat and with her help, I proceeded to put four suitcases of stuff plus what she had bought in Cozumel back into three suitcases. It wasn't easy but I think I managed it. I will know for sure in the morning.

In the meanwhile, the weather has gotten worse. We seem to be steering nearly due north with a strong easterly sea and wind hitting us nearly abeam. I am amazed that this giant ocean liner is managing to repeat less violent but otherwise identical gyrations as the cursed Gator Navy LST I served on for several cruises long ago. LST's were universally denounced as the worst riding ships ever built.

The Triumph is rolling about five degrees from side to side and pitching more than that. There are two to three foot waves in the swimming pools from the ships motion and the water from them is splashing all over the deck. Occasionally, the stern shakes from side to side like a salsa dancer. When that happened on our LST, the bow had taken a dive, the stern was rising and consequently the screws were partially out of the water causing them to shake the fantail of the ship like a terrier shakes a rat. I can't imagine that happening on this giant but I guess it is possible. Every once in a while she seems to stop entirely in the water and then crab forward to one side. Another favored move of the old LST whose blunt bow could not cut through waves.

These are the classic moves of a shallow draft ship in heavy seas. I really don't understand this at all. The seas aren't that heavy, barely white capping actually. And, while the wind is stiff, I'm guessing twenty knots gusting to thirty or so, again that is nothing compared to a real storm or even a moderately bad day on the Atlantic. The stabilizers keep her from taking the long, sickening rolls that plagued older ships but the motion is still annoying. She bounces around like a cork.

By now, Sheila has recovered enough to seek more adventures. She has sworn that she would descend the large water slide on the Lido deck and now dons her bathing suit and soldiers off to do it, dragging me in tow. We meet one of our traveling companions on deck near there. He, ever the scholar, is taking in the sun and reading something heavy. He decides to take the slide in too. Who says sixty year old people can't have adventures?

Most of the gang came up to our room around four. I took the memory cards from their cameras and downloaded their cruise pictures onto my netbook. When I get time, I will make a DVD for them all.

We gathered for dinner around 6:00 in the usual lounge. We were seated immediately at a rather nice table with an excellent view to port. The meal was nothing less than superb. I started with an excellent onion soup and then had a little sushi. For my main course, I had grilled Mahi Mahi and for dessert Baked Alaska. Sheila had basically the same meal except that she had chilled asparagus soup. It was very good as well. Again, friends had brought a bottle of good champagne and this time I took only a tiny sip to be polite as the usual toast was offered. Sheila drank her glass and managed to repeat my champagne headache of last night.

After dinner, we popped in to the second half of the Vegas style show in the main theater. It was definitely a PG version of a Vegas show but very well done. There was Latin music followed by a finale of patriotic music. Everything and everyone involved was top drawer. The show would have been at home at any the best hotels on the strip.

When the show ended, some folks went back to their rooms to pack. Sheila and I, having already taken care of that chore, ambled down the Oxford Club to listen to some Karaoke. As would be expected, some was bad and some was very bad. But, the final number before we left redeemed the whole enterprise. A smiling little Texas gal of about twenty strode up, took the mic and proceeded to bring the house down with a highly professional rendition of “People Get Ready.”

By this time, most of the gang had wandered back down and joined us. They were going to go back and do the Vegas show again. I had had enough for the day and came back to the room to mentally and physically prepare myself for tomorrow's ordeal of debarkation, customs and the long drive back to Tulsa from Galveston,

While Sheila is intermittently swearing she will never do it again, I have to say that I had the time of my life. We were traveling with a group of dear old friends. Aside from the weather, most things worked and worked very well. I love the sea and had been longing for another voyage for years. This one was all of the fun with none of the work with good friends thrown in to boot. I would do it again in a heartbeat.