at sea on the way to Hawaii

January 27th - at sea. For those of you interested in details, we are now about 6150 nautical miles from NYC and over 250 from LA. We’re traveling at 21.5 knots and are at 31 degrees 59.97 N latitude and 122 degrees 30.51 W longitude. Our next port is Honolulu, which we will reach on 2/1. There’s a strong breeze across the deck and moderate waves of 8 ft.

There’s a book in the library here that I recommend to the curious. It’s called Do Dolphins ever sleep? by Pierre-Yves & Sally Bely. For example you can learn the difference between oceans and seas, why the sea is salty, why icebergs are white. In the category of what you don’t need to know are such details as - at what degree does a wave break (<120 degrees) and how big was the biggest wave ever recorded (110 feet). I learned that the tuna is practically the only warm-blood fish, and it is fast, crossing the Atlantic in 40 days and sprinting at 30 knots. You can also read about the difference between mahi-mahi and the dolphin.

On a more personal level it takes me about a half day to adjust to motion at sea every time we really move out but I’ve not ever been really uncomfortable. I usually walk around the ship with the walking group at 7:30 every morning we are at sea -we cover about a mile by going around the ship three times. Then, I am really awake - especially in the wind, like today. Last evening we saw the glittering lights of LA as our last sight of land for a while. There’s an awfully lot of water out here.

Hard to image the rough weather you are having back home. Time for me is going fast, even though we’re turning the clock back often. We’ve covered over 6000 miles and been underway now for 17 days. BTW, a nautical mile is 1852 meters, which slightly less than the American mile and the English mile but longer than the French mile. [You really needed to know that, didn’t you?]
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January 29 - at sea. 6693 nautical miles from NY, 788 from LA. Weather 60 degrees, speed 21.3 knots. [for Bill Good: very early on the 29th: 29 degrees 18.76 N latitude, 131 degrees 35.76 longitude]. Pool temp 80.6 degrees. calm seas, waves small at 4.9 ft. Sunny. Will arrive in Hawaii Feb 1.

Reading a bit each day. Finished Do Dolphins Ever Sleep? A few more tidbits: No matter the size, shape, or speed of an object in the water, the wake angle is always 39 degrees. Fishing is one of the most dangerous occupations in the world, second only to professional logging. Stopping distance in an emergency is longer than you’d think: liner - .5 mi, cargo ship 1.5 miles, supertanker 5 miles! It takes 450 years for a plastic bag tossed overboard to decompose. Next book is WWII related - The War Against Rommell’s Supply Lines - it covers the North African campaigns that Wib Raffensperger participated in [he’s a major writer in the Dear Coach book I’m working on]. In the last leg of the trip I will be in Egypt and plan a trip to El Alamein there.

Lots of shows, movies, games, but those are things I don’t do much on board. There’s always a few picture puzzles underway on an table by the library. I am following up on my plan to USE the gym and spa. And, meeting people - our friends from New Mexico left our dinner table in LA; new folks are from the lake district in England.