Crossing the Equator

 

22 February 2014

We were at sea for four days as we sailed to Recife, Brazil. Recife is basically at the easternmost tip of the continent and it is a long haul from Trinidad. Having four days of relaxation is just what I needed; those four islands in four days were very tiring.

We slept in, took in some shows and lectures – there is a wonderful maritime historian onboard who gives mesmerizing lectures on the history of cruising – and, of course, we enjoyed the food venues. We continue to meet our fellow passengers and have been enjoying hearing about where they come from and their cruising experiences. We continue to discover that we are youngsters to cruising compared to many of the passengers. At dinner one night, we met a couple who have cruised at least 120 days a year for the past 10 years.

We started to encounter some rough weather with rolling seas and heavy rain. There are plenty of indoor things to do so it hasn’t crimped our style, but I imagine those folks that soak up the sun all day long at the pools aren’t too happy.  At dinner, there were many one-upmanship stories about rough seas that make what we are experiencing seem like smooth waters. The clouds did make for some fabulous sunsets though.

We crossed the equator on February 24^th. There was a Pollywog ceremony onboard to initiate those who were crossing the equator for the first time.  A representative set of passengers was selected and appropriately humiliated on the pool deck.  Lots of laughter and fun.  I would hate to be the crew that had to clean up though.

During these days at sea, the Captain of the ship announced that the norovirus has invaded the ship with several passengers reporting illness.  This is the virus that has sometimes forced ships to cancel their cruises. They are putting some pretty strict sanitization processes into place and there are constant reminders for passengers to wash their hands. At the buffet restaurants, you are no longer allowed to serve yourself and the crew is very vigilant about sanitizing the tables and chairs before you sit down to eat.  Here’s hoping that all the measures work and the norovirus is nothing more than a slight annoyance.

 

One of the stateroom TV channels shows latitude and longitude – we are close to the equator!

The crowd waiting for the Pollywog ceremony.



King Neptune addressing the pollywogs.

Pollywogs appropriately christened.



After being swabbed with all sorts of disgusting things, the pollywogs had to jump into the pool.

The sunbathers abandoned the Lido deck once the rains started in earnest.

 

Beautiful sunsets in the midst of the rainstorms.

As we got closer to Recife we saw several of these fishing boats.  They are very small – about 15 to 20 feet long and they travel in groups of 2 or 3 to lay out their fishing nets.