Monday, August 22, 2016
We had a shortened sleep with the time change last night. At
some point in the early morning hours the seas got dramatically rougher. Our
roughest yet as we neared sunrise. When I looked out the window before the sun
had risen, I could see a small muffin-shaped island as we approached and passed
it. I don’t know if it has a name what it is. I thought it was Little Diomede.
As we passed it and compared our view with the TV’s navigation map, it was
clear that it was not Little Diomede and we could see it coming up ahead and
port. We passed the Diomede Islands about 8:30 to 9am on the port side so we
could see them from our cabin window before we had breakfast on the starboard
side. It was raining to start and then as we got past the islands, the sun
actually came out. We think it is the first time we’ve seen the sun while
aboard. It stopped raining. So far all of the scheduled sea life viewings have
been rained out except the Dutch Harbor sailaway. It was our coldest day at 39F
and strong wind.
Since it was so rough, I decided not to try to go to higher
decks and skipped yoga classes. We went to breakfast down in the main dining
room and considered it our Sunday breakfast. Clay had his usual and I had
Belgian malted Brux waffles with maple syrup and bacon. I got 2 waffle segments
or a half of a waffle. It was shatteringly crispy! I enjoyed it. We came back
up to deck 7 to find that the aft Promenade Deck doors had been unlocked and
there was a birding naturalist back there. This must be his permanently
assigned location. The Diomedes were just aft of our port side and the sun was
breaking through on them. I hope we got a photo.
After breakfast, we found a small yellow card at the cabin
notifying us that we have a mandatory expedition briefing at 9am in the Galaxy
tomorrow morning. Attendance will be taken and if you’re not there then you
will not be allowed ashore until we reach Nuuk, Greenland. I hope the seas calm
down before then since there will be no sleeping in tomorrow.
Clay walked on the treadmill very early this morning. I
found some jigsaw puzzles this morning. They are in what looked to be a rental
office (I think the door said Constellation Suite) aft of the Bridge Lounge. I
poked my head in and asked the couple in there if anyone could come in and work
on the puzzles and they said they assumed so. It was very dimly lit in there
and the sun was glaring through the window so they were not having an easy time
of it. It was awkwardly configured for more than the 2 of them so I left them
to it.
So we have sailed the Bering Strait and I have no need to do
that again! I am guessing even with our big seas and 27 knot winds that given
the sunshine that we have had a relatively calm sailing day for the Bering
Strait. The captain said it was 65 knot winds early this morning and calmer now
at noon. Soon we should pass 66 degrees 33 latitude North and cross the Arctic
Circle. The captain said that when we were looking at the Russian Big Diomede
Island and the USA Little Diomede not only were we seeing 2 different countries
but it was Tuesday in Russia and still Monday in the US, so we were looking
across the International Date Line. The captain says due to the strong North
wind and southerly current that we are only making about 9 knots on 2 engines.
He said before we got into the wind and current we were doing 18 knots. He says
we need to average 12 knots over these next 5 sea days to make Ulukhaktok on
schedule. We hope to step on land again on Saturday in Canada.
We stayed low for the rest of the day. We had lunch in the main
dining room even though the menu was unappealing. I had the vegetarian curry
with steamed rice and pappadam. I ate the rice and pappadam. I have had curries
I like and I have curries I hated. I didn’t like this one. Clay had a
hamburger. He ate it. Clay had soft serve butter pecan ice cream and I had a
scoop of banana sherbet. Given the fit of my pants, I can skip some meals. I failed
to note that we have each been eating a small tub of popcorn every time we go
to a movie! We went to Belle Epoque at 2:30pm. It was in Spanish subtitled in English.
It was funny. Clay must have liked it more than I did because I could not stay
awake and he did. Of course, he had napped all morning after breakfast and I
didn’t.
We had our 2nd dinner at Silk Road at 6pm. We
enjoyed it much more this time. We made better ordering choices this time, I
think. Clay had sushi to start and salmon for his main. I had vegetable tempura
to start and “Wagyu Beef” from Greg Norman’s Queensland Ranch for my main. In the
past I have not like the taste of Wagyu beef compared to regular beef. I quite
enjoyed this and it was tender and tasty and cooked well done per my order.
Clay had the green tea ice cream in coconut tapioca soup and I got the best
dessert again which was sesame ice cream with chocolate soufflé cake. Clay said
if we can get another reservation that he would order the same dessert. It is
the best dessert I’ve had onboard. It is not clear that we can come again. We
are entitled to 2 more free reservations per our cabin purchase, but when Clay
tried before he was only offered 9pm and we won’t eat that late. Given that the
2 times we’ve been at 6pm and it was mostly empty I don’t know why we can’t get
an early reservation. We’ll see.
