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Random Pics, Stories, and Jokes from the past Few Days

This is what greeted us in the harbor in Kauai, big difference from Honolulu!

I swear it was only once.

                             It will (probably) never happen again.

                   I fell off the wagon.

                   Actually, it was a well planned and executed sortie into the local group of little shops just outside of the Port. You know, the ones with all of the very important chachkies that are needed at the last minute before you re-board your ship. In my case it was one, single, solitary, lone(ly), can of my former beverage of choice…..

                             Monster.

It hurts just looking at it!

                             Paula was not happy and from your previous comments to me I can tell that there are quite a few of you that are now shaking your heads in disgust.

                             But… in my defense, I was the one that put myself on the wagon 😊  It’s just that this was a chance that I couldn’t’ pass up!

 It had been 20 days, 18 hours, and 35 minutes since my last one, but who’s counting!

                             Could I have just one?

                             Could I buy just one?

                   Would I start to crave this Elixir of the Gods once again?

Or had I traveled far enough in my quest for the freedom to actually choose whether I wanted one, or more importantly, needed one?

                   Well, you can all start breathing again because I can officially announce that I am not looking forward to my next Monster. I am not counting the days until we reach a port (American Samoa, eight days, and 4 hours away) where they may possibly have this for sale.

                   I am not even thinking about it now!

                   Phew! Now that I’ve got that off my chest we can get back to the Important Stuff Like where the hell are we?

                   I can answer that!

                             10 Degrees, 0.83 minutes North Latitude

                             156 degrees, 40.74 minutes West Longitude

                   Got that?

The Map on our wall. The Captain confers with me daily so I can assure him that we are on course 🙂 We are headed south to French Polynesia (Tahiti) at the bottom of the map.

                             That means that we have just 690 miles (69 miles to 1 degree of latitude) to go until we cross the Equator! We are steaming south at approximately 22 miles per hour (19 knots) so that brings us to the middle of the planet in about 31.36 hours from now or about noontime the day after tomorrow!

Ok, time for a Random Dad Joke courtesy of Captain Ron…

          Why did the bicycle fall over?

          Because it was two tired!

                   This the perfect time for us to have the Court of King Neptune convene! He comes up from the Deep whenever a ship passes over the Equator that has people aboard that have never crossed the Equator. These folks are called Pollywogs. You know, those little critters that eventually turn into frogs.

                   Ok, I get it, little, innocent, aqua-type creatures that eventually change.

                   The problem here is that when we cross the equator and King Neptune gets through with us, we will be Shellbacks.

                   Turtles.

                   I guess that’s better than frogs, but c’mon! I guess that the sailors of yore were not that intelligent and had flunked Biology. Anyway, the Ceremony is held on all types of ships, military included. I am happy that we are safely aboard a Cruise Ship where we are actually paying passengers and the Cruise Line would like to have us re-book a cruise in the future! I am quite sure that the Navy ceremony does not care if you want to go on another cruise or not! Everyone, officers included, must undergo this Initiation Ceremony. This ritual dates back at least 400 years in Western Seafaring lore and is observed by every ship in the world.

                   We have signed up for this event as did about half the passengers! There is definitely not enough room on board for everyone to undergo this transformation in person, so usually a few victims, both passengers and crew, are selected to represent everyone else. But the Ceremony is held outdoors where all can at least watch the Festivities.

                   It should be memorable either way and we get a Certificate (suitable for framing!) when all is concluded.

You all will be the first to see it.

I can feel something growing on my back as we speak.

          Speaking of parties….

Hula Party!

The other night when we sailed away from Hawaii, there was a Hula Party down at the pool. We have some Hawaiian Heritage folks aboard who have been giving Ukulele lessons and Hula lessons. We went topside to watch the festivities. When they got ready to do the Hula stuff, we made a beeline to the upper deck so that I could not be dragged (kicking and screaming) on to the dance floor.

          But…. luckily, the Instructor called her Hula Dance Class out to give some very nice demonstrations. A true Hula dance tells the stories of the Hawaiians’ past history, that is one of the ways that their heritage has been passed from generation to generation. As you will see from these photos, there was just one lad in a class of lasses…… and he obviously is a fan of Rogers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific!

Gutsy guy

          Ok.. another one…

                   I ordered a chicken and an egg online.…..

                   I’ll let you know which one comes first.

Ever wonder how they keep the decks so nice?

          When I started writing this it was 4 AM here, which means that it was 9 AM where most of you guys are. By the time I get done with it, assemble the photos, have Paula proof-read it for me, and actually send it, it will be close to 8:30 AM here or about 1:30 PM on the East Coast. I know that you are used to me having this ready early in the morning, but hey! There are few Time Zones between us and it’s only going to get worse as we head westward!

          The last thing that I want you thinking is that I’m “sleeping in” or something like that!

A photo that Paula took of a Wall inside the Arizona Memorial. It lists all of the Sailors that are still on “Eternal Patrol”
Proof that we were indeed there!
This is one of the two launches used to ferry people out to the USS Arizona Memorial.

Ok… last one…..

What did the 0 say to the 8 ?

“Nice belt!”

Thanks for reading!

The other side of the harbor in Kauai, the “busy” side 🙂

4 replies on “Random Pics, Stories, and Jokes from the past Few Days”

Did a catch up session!! Thanks for the beautiful pictures, the history lessons and the jokes!! As always A+ work!!! Sail on!!! Love to you both!!

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