When I mentioned that rougher seas were ahead last weekend, I illustrated it with a pretty panorama, but it didn’t convey what it looks like when a container ship heels over the swells—back and forth, back and forth. Let me remedy that. I took these photos from the bridge around 11 this morning, when the ship was heeling between 4° and 8°.
The rolling already seems more dramatic this evening. Books and other smooth objects have begun sliding off flat surfaces, and it’s only supposed to get worse. I’m expecting that by the time we set foot in Auckland, I’ll look back on this post fondly and reply, “Eight degrees would rock me to sleep. Try sleeping through fifteen!”
Starboard heel of about 8°Port heel of about 7°Starboard heel of “only” 5° (standing further back in the bridge)
We are currently at 17° 38.277′ S 149° 42.769′ W, passing between the islands of Moorea and Tahiti. Last night we gained an hour, making the ship’s time UTC -10.
We last saw land on September 19th as we departed from Balboa after transiting the Panama Canal. It’s been eight full days of nothing but ocean, so we were excited to be within 3 nautical miles of Tahiti—even though we weren’t stopping. The outlines of the islands started to appear a little before two in the afternoon, so we went out to the port side of the ship and watched as Tahiti and the city of Papeete came into view.
Approaching Tahiti (left) and Moorea (faint, straight ahead)
A few months ago Jonathan and Stacey gave us a jar of orange marmalade—homemade with oranges from a tree in their backyard—to ward off the scurvy we’d risk by traveling the seven seas on a container ship.
It traveled with us by car to Los Angeles, Phoenix, Tucson, El Paso, Big Bend, and Austin.
It traveled with us by train to New Orleans, Washington DC, and Philadelphia.
It traveled with us by container ship to Savannah, Cartagena, and Panama.
This is one well-traveled marmalade.
Stacey’s orange marmalade on the Cap Cleveland
To sustain us as we head into our fourth week on the ship, we finally had it for breakfast this morning, on the bridge, as the ship heeled a dramatic (to us) 7-8° degrees over the swells.
