Days 41-44 ~ Delight on the High Seas

 February 19-23, 2022

73 degrees, fair skies (& wobbly seas! Thank God for scopolamine!)

NAUTICAL TERM OF THE DAY ~ "Go for the pig & whistle." 

The term was used in the early sailing days of the English navy. Once a week, the sailors were allowed a ration of rum, known as "the pig." A young subordinate sailor would be sent down to the cargo to get the rum and told to "get the pig and whistle." If he stopped whistling while he was out of sight, he was believed to be drinking the rum and so was lashed.  

 Pig & Whistle...sounds like a good name for a pub, doesn't it? 

I'm a dedicated carnivore, but I couldn't bring myself to have the pork after seeing this sorry little fellow on display in the World Cafe. 

As I type this is, we are off the coast of Guinea, Africa, on our way to Mindelo, Sao Vicente--one of the Cape Verde Islands. We fetch up on land tomorrow and the entire ship's company is ready for some terra firma. Even the crew is receiving well-deserved shore leave. Our delightful little room stewardess, Vi, is fairly dancing with excitement. She hasn't been ashore in months. The sharp reduction in the number and severity of Covid cases is making it possible for us to enjoy independent exploration of the island if we want. 

However, while on board, we're still bound by the those hateful masks unless we are eating or actively drinking. I suspect we'll have to wear them until we get home because the countries we visit still want to know what steps the ship is taking to prevent the spread. 

Had fun painting this fellow!

I'm combining days because many of our sea days follow nearly the same schedule, which is to say, sometimes none at all. We're big on believing that it's perfectly okay to do nothing, to sit and read, to just watch the waves glide by. But we have enjoyed some interesting classes on how to use my iphone, how to waltz when the ship is pitching and yawing (the trick is to stand still and let the ship do the work!), painting and drawing classes or a combination thereof, lectures about navigation and other nautical matters. This afternoon, we're touring the engine control room with our friends, Kristy and Dave, and in a few days will get a bridge tour. 

Some things are like our life at home. Sort of. We had a passenger-led worship service in Torshaven (the night club) on Sunday evening at 6. The DH preached a short sermon (about 10 minutes) and we sang our duet version of "Jesus Loves Me/O! How I Love Jesus" (suitable on long car trips for singing small children to sleep in the backseat!) The pub was pretty well packed. It's nice to see so many coming out for worship. 

Some things are very different from home. We're constantly offered unique types of entertainment. We were treated to a nautical "County Fair" to celebrate crossing the Equator again. Every ship's department set up booths with games and activities to try--face painting (or in this case "forehead painting" because we were all still masked up!), driving nails with the mechanics, playing beer pong with the bar staff, making towel animals with housekeeping, testing the steadiness of our hands with the medical staff, and close up magic with Greg Moreland, to name a few. 

The DH and his towel cobra. Dave and Kristy are behind us to the right working on theirs.

We've also used some of these sea days to get acquainted with our next door neighbors, Judy and Bill from Greeley, CO. After watching the Montevideo sail out side by side, and Judy and I sharing a tray of beads for making jewelry in art class, we decided to have supper together. Turns out that Judy has worked in lots of music stores, and Bill is quite a sculpture artist! Check out his website to see his large bronze installations! Amazing art works! Judy also got me started with "seated yoga" which, despite its name, is quite a good workout!

In addition to the guest performers brought on board for the evening shows, Aaron Syfert, our Cruise Director, pulled together a show made up of duets using all the musical performance staff one evening. It was excellent! And if ever we don't feel like a big show in the theatre, we can always find King playing guitar and singing lovely ballads. This charming young man just had his 26th birthday yesterday and he's leaving the ship soon to go home to marry his sweetheart. Last night, he performed the song he wrote to sing to his bride as she comes down the aisle to him. Very touching... 

And let me sign off with the DH's photo montage...

Mindelo, Sao Vicente, Cape Verde tomorrow! 

More soon...