Sailing The Red Sea

Events & Thoughts From April 1st - April 3rd

Sunday – April 1st

Temp still 101 early this morning – phoned clinic, the MD not on duty until 10am. My previous doctor is off today - darn – what a wonderful lady – we really hit it off well, so much so that I gave her and her husband a bottle of wine I picked up in Chile. Doorbell rang at 10:30am – my original MD! Said she was notified I’d gone backward and wanted to see me herself – how very thoughtful. No fever at that point – put back on the same antibiotics that worked so well before. I told her if she could get me well before Egypt, I’d give her our last bottle of Chile wine – if not, she gets a bottle of water! She’ll call tomorrow morning – cabin visits are a little spendy. Layed in a lounge chair on our deck most of the day – as always, Cheryl brought me everything I could possibly need/want! Hadn’t seen a ship of any kind since leaving Bombay until this afternoon – then we started seeing convoys of cargo ships. The Captain told us the closer you get to Somalia, the more frequent you see groups of ships (cargo vessels) traveling together for protection. He again reassured everyone we are safe according to his reports – no unusual activity in the area. Entering the Red Sea this evening – Egypt is still 3 days away.

Monday – April 2nd

Feeling pretty good this morning – no temp, which means I’m not isolated – still hacking. There’s a respiratory bug floating around – we’ve run into people who can’t even talk. It’s very selfish – folks won’t go see the doctor because they don’t want to be isolated & miss anything. Then they get on these tour buses sneezing & coughing – the air is of course recirculated infecting several others. We have an engine room tour scheduled for 10:30 this morning. In all our years of cruising, we’ve never been offered a tour of the engine room, so we’re very much looking forward to that! UPDATE: Received a call around 10am - engine room tour moved one day because they don't want guests down there as we transit this area - understandable. My MD made a "cabin-call" before lunch - nice surprise - says she may want to give me a mask to wear in Egypt - reason...we have a 6-hour bus trip from Safaga to Luxor when we go visit the Valley of the Kings, & doesn't think breathing on the bus for that long will be healthy for me. I really DON'T want to wear one of those rediculous -looking cone masks, but since she and her husband will be on the same trip, I'll get busted if I don't wear it!! Just have to think positive & hope for the best. Balance of the day very quiet - we avoided groups of people today just in case - we had a quiet dinner last night out back in the fresh air by the pool - everyone else was eating in the dining room. Very pleasant weather, although you can tell we're approaching Arizona style patterns...hot & dry during the day, nice and cool at night - love it! 

Tuesday - April 3rd

Feeling better. I ran into the Internet Manager yesterday who told me our satellite would be overhead between 3:30 & 4:00am. Got up early and sure enough, GREAT connection, so I uploaded a few dozen new photos from the Antarctic, Falkland Islands & Easter Island - please check them out - I'd forgotton just how beautiful & magnificant the Antarctic was!

You know, all parents are proud of their children, & justifiably so. First daughter Jennifer has been a registered nurse approaching 10 years, second daughter Renee, an operations & marketing specialist with Lowe’s Home Improvement. Oldest son Christopher, a professional Rigger for concerts & sports events, & youngest son Bryan, a professional parachutist & HVAC Tech. Middle son Brendon took a part-time contract job with Black & Decker in their Charlotte warehouse about 5 years ago, which eventually turned into a full-time position. The past few years he’s been working 8-12 hours a day, 6 days a week. He gave us a tour of their massive facility last summer and there wasn’t a question I asked that he didn’t have the answer to. He understood every aspect of warehouse operations and I remember telling him that with his knowledge and positive work attitude, he’d be running the place someday. We just learned today that he and 11 others went through 3 interviews for one of the top positions, and he was selected for the promotion! Brendon’s now in charge of logistics & transportation for not only the Charlotte facility but also their warehouse in California. He no longer works on the floor but instead, now has his own office. At 23, he’s one of the youngest managers in the history of the company – how awesome is that!!?? Brendon, we’re so very proud of your progress & promotion! He & Brittany also have some exciting personal news, but they’ll share that with the rest of the family in the near future.

2013 Grand World Voyage

Ok…we’re hooked. Yesterday, the itinerary for the 2013 World Voyage was published and distributed. It’s 3 days longer (115 days) and covers a little more distance, approximately 41,000 miles. The trip next year covers many places we didn’t visit this year: It hits the west coast of South America, New Zealand, the southern & western coasts of Australia, & the big selling point for us, Africa & an African safari. It also revisits many of the places we enjoyed this year, such as Sydney & Singapore. It DOES NOT return to India, though we have no regrets about our visit this year – that’s part of the overall experience and we’re very grateful we were able to visit. Long story short, we booked the trip! It leaves Ft. Lauderdale on January 5, returning early May – same ship – we requested and got a different suite on the same floor, about 10 cabins up the hallway. Reason - our current room has a whirlpool tub which we don’t use – I didn’t realize we are paying extra for this amenity – all we need is a shower! We only have two regrets about the trip next year. One, it takes time away from family, and two, it takes time away from the Blue Stars Drum & Bugle Corps, the non-profit musical organization I’m now a part of. There’s so much I want to do in terms of securing corporate sponsorships, etc., I’ll just need to work twice as hard between May & December this year.

One thing I forgot to mention about yesterday…many folks have been paranoid about pirates, particularly since adding guards & razor-wire. Late afternoon as we entered the Red Sea, a couple of very small boats could be seen off the left (port) side of the ship, probably a half-mile out – so pretty close. I was laying outside our cabin just resting, and I could feel this surge of people moving to the port side and when I got up and leaned over the railing, there were probably 600 people with binoculars gawking at these two vessels…which turned out to be nothing more than little fishing boats from a nearby village – quite comical! We probably scared those poor fishermen to death! So as I mentioned, we entered the Red Sea late afternoon. There are several theories as to why it is called the Red Sea. One explanation is because it borders the Egyptian Desert, which the ancient Egyptians called the Dashret or “red land”; therefore it would have been the sea of the red land. The other explanation revolves around the seasonal bloom of red-colored algae. Either way – it’s blue today – very narrow & shallow. You can monitor the sea depth on TV (navigational channel) – just before entering, we were fluctuating between 12,000 & 14,500 feet – once we entered the Red Sea we have been as shallow as 37 feet! Raised Catholic and believing as I do, one can’t help but reflect on the parting of the Red Sea – you look out over this expansive body of water and just wonder what it was like…ahhh, our first battleship! I just looked up from the desk and glanced out the window – a gray/white battleship – Cheryl grabbed the binoculars – no flag on it – just “P831” on the hull. Must be friendly!! Gorgeous morning – not a cloud in the sky, a slight chill in the air (like a Fall morning) and very calm seas.