Day One at Sea

Given the number of days at sea on this voyage, it was inevitable that this picture should show up, sooner or later, so I thought I’d just get it over with. There is land in view from our stateroom, but I’d guess it is a good 50-60 kilometres away as we steam north along the Brazilian coast. Because we got away late yesterday and because we are facing stiff head winds of 60 kmph, we will be at sea a little longer than anticipated, so that our tour time in Salvador will be diminished. Our best speed right now into the wind is about 32 kmph or if I was a sailor, 17 knots. So…about the wind. The sea is not rough, but sailing into this wind has certainly made us acquire our sea legs. It’s not nauseating, but Dawn IS wearing her sea bands. Sitting around the pool was a bit of an act of masochism due to the wind, where at one moment Dawn’s flip-flops were sitting beside her chaise and the next they had blown to the end of the boat. I sat and watched someone’s glasses blow along the deck with a crewmember in hot pursuit. Dawn is less than impressed by the way the wind has styled her hair.

We’ve discovered that there are a lot of Canadians on board and in particular, a large contingent of French Canadian bridge players from Montreal. People go on cruises to dance, so why not to play bridge. Most of the people we’ve had conversations with, however, have been American and they seem nice. As we continue to sail north, the sun gets higher and higher and hotter and hotter. By noon it had hit 37 degrees. Thank God for air conditioning! One thing is certain. We will get lots of reading time. Hopefully the books don’t run out. Dawn has discovered that she can’t see the screen on the i-pad at the pool, so that limits its use to indoors. Maybe we’ll have to take up shuffleboard or, God forbid, Bingo. In this heat it’s essential to remain hydrated, so after some cool cabin time, it was Happy Hour with its variety of refreshing liquids. It was also Meet the Captain night tonight with the requisite free drinks. We were introduced to the heads of each department on the ship, the last and most important being the chef – from France.

At Meet the Captain, we met yet another couple from Canada (Windsor). Then, with them, we dined in the Grand Dining Room at a table for eight that attracted yet 4 more Canadians – two from Alberta and two from Victoria. It is now clear that Canadians have taken over this cruise. Following dinner, we went to the evening show which featured a classical guitarist who studied under Segovia by the name of George Sakellariou. Excellent!