Some sea days are meant for resting and this was one of them. I got a good 8 plus hours of sleep last night with the aid of my breathing machine and the gentle rocking of the ship. Yesterday the Captain announced that we would be crossing the equator at 9 am and he's usually quite accurate in his predictions. So Angela and another lady made arrangements to be in the LIDO pool at 9am. I had my GPS compass on and precisely when we reached 0 degrees, the ship's horn sounded which signaled crossing the equator. My camera was running so I also got a short video clip of the event. Good fun was had by all.
With that task completed, I went to the coffee chat which featured a deck officer and the ship's senior doctor. There were interesting questions. We then secured a front row spot for the King Neptune ceremony at the aft pool where the Polliwogs (those who have not previously crossed the equator) are transformed into Shellbacks (those who have) in an elaborate ceremony involving kissing a dead fish and getting slathered with slimy colored egg white and covered with seaweed (noodles). Some then have to sit alongside the pool and let the concoction dry while others get to jump into the pool. Their choice of fate is determined by a court chaired by the Captain. It's all good fun and my favorite was seeing the younger ship's doctor get thoroughly slimed and then having to sit in the sun and let it bake on.
It was several hours until the next talk at 2pm by Terry Greenberg on the history and current status of Papua New Guinea. There was another period of free time where I attempted to help a fellow with his PC which was getting quite full and he didn't know how to clear it. While I wasn't successful because he didn't know the Administrative password, I got him started on the recovery path.
Our interdenominational bible study went well and the LIDO dinner was relaxing. Greg Redfern presented a talk on the NASA lunar ship LADEE and Stephen Kane performed a masterful concert on the piano with a focus on show tunes.
Tomorrow is our port call in Wewak and we are on a private shore excursion on a 4x4 vehicle and up the Sepik River into the wilds of Papua New Guinea. Stay tuned to see if we return.
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