I’m back on the blog, after a brief hiatus due to a mix-up with SeaWave and my e-mail not working. It’s back to normal now, so I’ll be picking up where I left off. Also, I apologize if anyone e-mailed me and it bounced back due to my e-mail being down. If that’s the case, please resend it. Tomorrow is Sunday at Sea, so I’ll be writing a nice, long post to catch up on what’s happened since we left San Juan when I last posted.
Today was the last day in San Juan, PR for us. I went on the catamaran and snorkeling exursion arranged by the school today, which was wicked fun. It was a gorgeous day, with plenty of breeze and warm water. This evening we have an early curfew since we’ll be sailing tomorrow. Freshmen had to be back at 2100, sophomores at 2200, 1-bar seniors at 2300, and 2-bar & above at 2359.
We arrived in San Juan, Puerto Rico around 0830 this morning. After a couple of hiccups with the electronic check on/off system, everyone granted liberty was off the ship and out into port. The weather was perfect for a warm welcome into Puerto Rico. We got lucky and had a last-minute berth re-assignment last night which put us at Pier 1 of the passenger terminal, right in the heart of the city!
Today was uneventful and routine. I had maintenance again, so I continued work on some of the IT projects I have going on right now. This evening my group worked some more on our voyage plan, which is coming along nicely. Other than that, not much happened. The only notable event on board today was that we got ice cream in the mess deck. Though it might sound a little goofy to be news, ice cream is a big deal on cruise.
We got underway this morning around 0800 and headed back out to sea. I was on mooring stations on the stern, and we were definitely feeling the effects of the cold front that came through Tampa at that hour this morning! I had a hat, coat and gloves on and was still cold out on deck. It was pretty cool to watch the tug help maneuver us out of the harbor, since I hadn’t seen it help us coming in on account of finishing up the last few touches on our electronic wristband system for checking on and off the ship with less than an hour until needing it.
Our visit to Tampa is officially over. Liberty expired tonight at 2200 for sophomores, and 2100 for freshmen. It’s been chilly for Florida the past couple of days, with daytime temperatures in the 50’s, and last night the temperature was forecasted to get down to 29 degrees! We’ll be casting off at 0800 tomorrow morning, heading back out to sea. I’m assigned to mooring stations on the stern, which is the first mooring stations I’ve had so far on cruise.
I’m writing from the John F. Germany Public Library in Tampa with 2/C Balcunas, checking e-mail and other various Internet items. It’s cold here today (54 degrees Fahrenheit) so it’s a good day to do indoor things. Tampa has been a pretty mellow port for me so far. Sunday my grandfather and partner came up from Fort Myers and we spent a few hours together, touring Tampa and going out to lunch, which was really great.
As I’m writing this, we’re passing Cape Hatteras, and the ship is definitely pitching and rolling! We’re expecting 9-12 foot seas and winds steady at 35kts with gusts up to 45kts. I have watch 0000-0400/1200-1600 Wednesday and Thursday, so I’ll be on the helm as we move south of Hatteras tonight, which I’m pretty excited about. There have been a number of people getting sick, which is a bummer, but completely expected.
I thought I should make a quick info post with a few things I’ve thought of. First off, I will be using SPOT throughout the voyage to provide people back home with position updates in real-time. However, I do not have a place to put it on the ship that would allow it to be operational 24/7, so I’ll have to go out on deck and periodically allow it to update.
As I’m writing this we’re headed due south out of New York Harbor, passing Barnegat Inlet. We’re making about 15 knots, and the seas are relatively calm. I’m laying in my rack, being gently rocked by the ocean, which is an awesome sleep inducer. However, I’m determined to make a blog post and fire off a few e-mails before falling asleep. Today marked the first day of rotations on cruise. There are four rotations, which allows each division to be on a different rotation at any given time.
