Day 15; 14 Nov. At Sea.

Someone put a quarter in the slot for we were rockin' & rollin' all night. Pitching and rolling, that is. Not bad at all but enough so I knew we were at sea and the weather was stirring something up. We are heading NE and the swells are rising NW. The stabilizers work well.

Morning was cooler and sunny and the morning deck walk went well, despite “Wrong Way Sally” dashing around against the flow. Due to human nature (a preference for going a certain direction in certain circumstances) and with tradition and for safety, deck walking is done in a counter clockwise direction. Sally was walking clockwise and being a power walker, had arms, elbows and knees pumping and flailing about. Rounding the 4 corners of the walk, there is a strong likelihood of a full frontal collision with Sally. Not to mention fists high and elbows going. But there were only about 40 people at the time Sally was out so the odds were not much damage would be done. Fortunately she got a cramp and had to retire.

Nice morning to finish updating the log, blog and photo file. By mid day the clouds started to gather and the bridge reported that we may expect higher swells tonight, maybe upwards of 30'. So much for the men's pool league preliminary play-offs.

Noon report is closer to the 1 pm report as I was off watch at noon. 32º 40.91'N and 009º 41.08W. Speed of 15.2k. Course 040. Depth 1340m. Temp 21c/70f. Wind SW at 22 knots (force 6) Apparent wind of t he starboard aft quarter at 8. Swells from NW at 6-9 meters, expected to increase to 9-11 meters tonight. Distance 4,298 nm. Noon-noon 300 nm. Sunrise 0707. Sunset 1738. Ran parallel with a container ship for awhile which gave up and reduces speed. Then we passed a tanker heading opposite. Julie spied a small sailboat heading opposite. A good rain came and rinsed the ship again. Sea motion slowly increased and by dinner time everyone was staggering to maintain balance. About the time we get our sea legs back we stop in port.

This was formal night #3 of the voyage so we got our our good stuff, cleaned up and took in the strings for a half hour before dinner in the main dining room. Immediately after we were faced with a decision; either go to the show room for the clarinet player or back to the cabin to prep for tomorrow. We opted for the prepping for tomorrow. Besides, I am waiting for the solo tuba virtuoso's performance. Tomorrow's port, we hope, will be in Morocco.