Update from the
Heartland
No.686
30.1.15 – 8.2.15
Blog version: http://heartlandupdate.blogspot.com/
To all,
It is time for another travelogue. I did not have access to the Internet
during this period (or rather I chose not to pay the exorbitant access fees),
thus the typical content is absent from this week’s Update, and you may wish to
forego the remainder of this edition.
Update no.687, the following week, should return to normal.
On Friday, Jeanne and I flew to Fort
Lauderdale, Florida (FLL), with four other
friends (Cindy, Dee, Carol and Jerry) to enjoy a weeklong cruise in the Eastern
Caribbean – a nice respite from winter on the Great Plains. This time, we decided to make our hotel
and travel arrangements as part of a complete package with the cruise line, which
turned out to be a very good decision in hindsight. The two-leg flight through Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) was
actually ahead of schedule on both legs, although full up on both segments – a
product of the times in which we live.
A coordinator was waiting for us at baggage claim. They picked us up at the airport, took
us to the hotel by charter bus, and made certain we were well informed
regarding each step of the process.
We stayed at the Westin Hotel in Fort Lauderdale. The food was great and the bed divine. We would highly recommend the Westin,
if you ever need a hotel in the area.
On Saturday, as part of the process on
embarkation day, they picked our baggage up from our rooms at 09:00, and we
never had to touch them again until they arrived in our stateroom that
afternoon. The same charter bus
company took us for the 30-minute transit from the hotel to the docks at Port
Everglades, Fort Lauderdale, Florida – a rather busy port facility from all
appearances – tankers, container ships and by my count a half dozen cruise
ships. I must admit, it was rather
disconcerting to be meandering through a massive tank farm with labels on the
large storage tanks like Jet-A, Diesel and Unleaded Gasoline. Various cruise lines maintain
permanent facilities at the port. Two of the largest cruise ships in the world
were in port – Royal Caribbean International’s MS Oasis of the Sea and MS Liberty
of the Sea, 225 KT, 6,000-passenger, very big ships. We arrived at the Holland America
terminal at 11:30 [R] EST. The
check in process was much shorter than expected, and was very well organized
and executed, as we completed the security, passport and health screening as
well as final assignment details in short order. By noon, we embarked aboard Holland America MS Westerdam – a mid-sized ship, well maintained,
I must say. The ship’s captain was
Arjen van der Loo. Our trusty ship:
MS Westerdam
[Westerdam.jpg]
We deposited our carry-on bags in our assigned stateroom {my
trusty laptop, as I must keep up with my writing (this modest journal and Book
IV of the To So Few series)}. We
selected a Verandah Deck 6 stateroom, since we enjoy the open air and
exceptional views. Our little
group enjoyed a nice lunch buffet at the Lido Deck Restaurant, and discussed
our observations and latest adjustments to our plans. Jeanne and I took a nice leisurely walk-about to familiarize
us with the ships facilities – quite nice for a modest sized ship, I should
say. We participated in the
mandatory emergency drill at 15:45.
They took roll call by stateroom number, completed the briefing for
donning our lifejackets and signals to be used in an emergency. Various members of the crew from the
captain on down clearly stated that failure to participate in the emergency
drill would necessitate one’s removal from the ship. The bevy of cruise ships
set sail (so to speak) beginning at 16:00 [R] EST. We were the fourth ship to depart the port. I must say, as a proud alumnus of
Little Boys Boat and Barge School, watching these massive ships maneuver in
comparatively tight spaces with their bow and stern lateral thrusters is rather
awe-inspiring. We were clear of
the channel and into the open ocean shortly after 17:00, heading east initially
and then south. We opted for the
first sitting for evening meal and were assigned to a table one short of the stern
most on the second deck of the main dining room; thus, we had a magnificent
view of sunset beyond the retreating skyline of the Florida gold coast. As I was not particularly hungry, I had
a delightful Bahamian seafood soup and simple penne pasta dish with a small
bowl of butter pecan ice cream to close the meal out. The ladies decided to try a little gambling in the casino
and play evening bingo. It had
been along day for me with no refreshing nap; so, I was rendered unconscious in
short order and slept like a baby, being gently rocked by the passing swells. Here, I will add a trivial observation:
the elevators have an inset floor mat with the day of the week in large white
letters on a medium blue background, to remind us older, retired folk what day
it is – very nice touch.
Sunday, at sea (Super Bowl Sunday) – During
the night, we passed through the Bahamas out into the Atlantic Ocean and headed
southeast. With Jeanne sleeping
well, I took my laptop out onto the balcony to carry on my usual morning
routine – writing. According to
the television position tracker, we were doing 16.5 knots. With the prevailing trade winds in this
region, we had 36 knots of relative wind on the forward port quarter. Another cruise ship appeared to be
station keeping with us at about five miles off our aft port quarter, although
as time passed she was gradually overtaking us. Dawn at sea with spotty fair weather cumulus clouds made for
a spectacular sunrise. While the
ladies enjoyed shopping, gambling and bingo, the highlight for my day was the
afternoon wine tasting. Ship’s
officer Lieutenant Engel conducted the event and brought humor, engagement and
an interesting perspective to the hour session. The chosen wines: Caliterra Chardonnay (Chile), Dreaming
Tree Chardonnay (California), Cuarto Domino Malbec (Argentina), and Decero
Cabernet Sauvignon (Argentina).
The wines had unique character and were quite tasty; however, the
entertainment of the hour presentation was. Those wines were worth recommending
and passing along to those of you who might actually appreciate or use the
information. Of course, the big
event for most of the Americans aboard was the Super Bowl game between the New
England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks . . . oh yeah, and the entertainment of
Katy Perry and those imaginative commercials. The game started while our group sat down to evening
meal. They had several associated
events in various lounges and clubs on the ship. They also broadcast the game on the ship’s closed circuit
television system. We caught the
last few minutes of the first half to the end of the game – a wild exhibition,
I must say. It all came down to a
lousy play call at the end for the Seahawks; I imagine they thought the
unexpected would do the trick, but the more risky pass when they had a rhino of
a running back proved a bridge too far.
Monday, Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos
Islands, British Overseas Territories – Dawn came several hours prior to our
approach and docking at the cruise ship pier at the southern tip of Grand
Turk. It was mostly cloudy and the
persistent 20-knot trade winds cooled the otherwise warm temperature. Jeanne and I went ashore, or rather I
accompanied Jeanne, for some leisurely shopping within the cruise lines
compound.
Jeanne lovin’ it in
Grand Turk
[Jeanne Grand Turk
150202.jpg]
Jeanne & Cap in
Grand Turk
[Jeanne & Cap
Grand Turk 150202.jpg]
A little known factoid – at least to your humble servant – I
learned that Grand Turk was part of the Eastern Test Range for NASA’s Mercury
space program and one of the ascent tracking stations in their network. John Glenn’s Friendship 7 orbital
spaceflight splashed down near Grand Turk after three of the planned seven
orbits, and he first touched ground after the flight on this island. The sky turned overcast and a light
rain dampened an otherwise nice day.
The gangway came up at 14:30.
We went to the Deck 10 Exploration Café to enjoy a nice cuppa tea with a
blueberry scone while we observed the ship’s departure from Grand Turk. It never ceases to amaze me the precision,
unaided, ship handling these vessels are capable of performing in rather
confined spaces.
Tuesday, San Juan, Puerto Rico – We
shifted to time zone Q [Atlantic Standard Time (AST)] at 02:00. I awoke early, as is my routine, and
took the laptop outside to write on the balcony well before morning nautical
twilight. Listening to the waves
always has a relaxing and refreshing effect on me. It was a beautiful dawn at sea with scattered fair-weather
cumulus clouds and nice warm temperature even with the relative wind. As the sun rose well above the horizon
and several hours out of San Juan, a magnificent male tern flew close-aboard
past our stateroom balcony. We watched
each other for several seconds before he moved forward to more productive
pursuits. The birds flew just off
the water among the swells and the ship’s wake. More birds began to show up. I guess the ship’s passage stirs up the fish and makes for
good hunting. Their graceful
agility and speed made for fascinating entertainment. Several times, one bird or another found an appropriate
target, rose sharply, rolled over and dove straight away into the water. I could not see evidence of their
success, but I think it safe to assume they were not performing their flying
prowess and aerobatics for grins or my entertainment. Regrettably, I was taking a nap as our ship entered San Juan
harbor and docked at the Old Town piers, so I missed the view of Castillo San
Felipe del Morro that dominated the eastern side of the harbor entrance. This was my first time to San Juan
harbor – a near perfect natural harbor – no wonder the Spanish worked so hard
to hold onto the port and the island.
Jeanne and I decided to take a walkabout to absorb the history of San
Juan. The entire area used to be
within a strong protective wall, some of which still stands today. We took a roundabout course through the
narrow city streets to Castillo San Cristobal – the eastern most fortress that
protected the city and the eastern land approaches.
Castillo San
Cristobal
[Cristobal 150203
A.jpg]
The Spanish recognized the importance and features of the
harbor; they began building fortifications to protect the harbor in 1521. Of particular note in the image
immediately above are the two distinctly contemporary concrete additions to the
fort in 1942 – lookout stations for German U-boats. From the left lookout station looking east:
View East
[Cristobal 150203
B.jpg]
From the left lookout station looking west:
View West
[Cristobal 150203
C.jpg]
Castillo San Felipe del Morro, protecting the harbor
entrance, is shown at the distant shoreline. The fort complex is a world heritage site, and is maintained
by the U.S. National Park Service.
They run a small trolley-tram between the two forts, several miles apart
as well as into the old town area.
The forts took 250 years to complete, essentially as they are now, and
withstood repeated attacks by the English and Dutch. It was not until 1898 that the city fell in the
Spanish-American War and has been U.S. Territory ever since – the Commonwealth
of Puerto Rico. We even managed to
get in some shopping for Jeanne. I
added the following image from Castillo San Cristobal to show the space of Old
Town San Juan, our ship at dock, and the harbor behind the ship.
San Juan Harbor, Puerto
Rico
[Westerdam Puerto
Rico 150203.jpg]
The ship set sail at 20:00 [Q], so I got to watch another
ship handling demonstration and this time Castillo San Felipe all lit up (well
the city-side wall as the ocean-side wall was kept dark for the still functioning
lighthouse). I just love history.
Wednesday, Philipsburg, Sint Maarten, Netherlands Antilles – We
backed into one of two, bilateral, cruise ship piers and moored next to the
Celebrity X Line MS Resolution that had
docked immediately before us. The
island is divided essentially in half with the Dutch on the southern half and
the French on the other half. I
was told the island has several clothing optional beaches, although we did not
avail ourselves of such accommodation.
Carol, Jerry and I signed up for the America’s Cup Regatta excursion,
which sounded quite exciting, although I was somewhat skeptical, I must
admit. As I learned, six, former,
12-meter, racing boats had been acquired by Colin Percy for reportedly US$2M
each, with the centerpiece being Dennis Connor’s 1987 winning boat Stars & Stripes. I was pleasantly surprised that these
boats were the real deal, and to say the least, they were impressive, even
being 28-year-old sailing technology.
Twenty-six Westerdam
passengers signed up for the first of two scheduled sessions (they apparently
added a third to satisfy demand).
We were divided into two teams.
Carol, Jerry and I were assigned to the Stars & Stripes boat, while the other team took the True North boat – a Canadian challenger
in the 1987 race.
The Racing Boats
[sailing 150203.jpg]
In the Racing Boats image above, Stars & Stripes is on the left and True North is on the right.
The sailors will notice several significant features of this image. I will point to the wakes of the two
boats and the shape of the two jibs.
Captain Morgan from Jamaica led our boat with two professional
crewmembers – Elaina from Paris, and Allie from Santa Barbara. We were each assigned various
positions. I was the timekeeper –
a very important duty. We had a
mixture of males and females, young and old, and frankly I was amazed they
could handle the winch grinders for the mainsail and jib sail, but they did
with very little training. We
raced the other boat on a three-buoy, three-circuit course. We tacked and jibed . . . oh sure, we
were not the pinnacle of perfection a real crew demonstrates, but we got ‘er
done. Captain Morgan and his
ladies educated us, taught us and entertained us during an hour plus on the
water. At the end of our session,
we entered the harbor, furled the jib and luft the main sail into the wind, as
a power launch came along side to exchange our group with the next excursion
group. While I am reasonably
familiar with the mechanics of sailing, it was fascinating to see the America’s
Cup technology of the day up close and personal in action. All three of us felt it was the high
point of this cruise; to which I say, here-here! We departed Philipsburg at 15:00 and headed northwest,
running with the wind and swells on this leg – next stop, our last port of call
before disembarkation.
Thursday, at sea – An exceptional
Caribbean dawn at sea, I must say – a mere, smattering of small, wispy clouds
disturbed the otherwise flawless sky as the purple, orange and pink bands gave
way to the brilliant blue of sunrise.
We are running with the wind, and there is nary a white cap in sight
beyond our bow wave and wake. Ah,
the simple things in life can offer such pleasure. This was a sunbathing day for Jeanne and a writing day for
me, as my sun days are long gone . . . without SPF infinity sun block, since my
pinkish-white skin has been displaying the price of unprotected, sun damage
from my youthful ignorance, or perhaps it was just complacency or arrogance,
depending upon one’s perspective.
This moment of the day is precisely why we paid a little extra for a
balcony stateroom. When the sun
reached our balcony deck, I had to retreat to the darkened interior of our
stateroom. Such is life for a
pinky. We had our last formal
supper – filet & lobster, good eatin’. No one can say we were not fed well aboard the Westerdam. We also celebrated Carol
& Jerry’s 32nd wedding anniversary – congratulations to them.
Jeanne & Cap
[Jeanne & Cap
150205.jpg]
Friday, Half Moon Cay [I am told it is
pronounced ‘key’], Bahamas – I awoke at a pre-dawn hour, quietly gathered up my
laptop and went to the balcony for my morning writing session. The skies were overcast. The near full moon above illuminated
light and dark spots in the cloud cover.
Just as I began to dig into my story, a rainsquall enveloped the
ship. This was supposed to be a
sunny beach day for the ladies. As
fate would have it, the sky remained overcast all morning and did not break up
until it was time to weigh anchor (14:00 [R] EST) – well, actually, they
decided not to drop anchor and simple maintain position with the ship’s bow
& stern thrusters. I took a
good nap – the best one of the cruise.
The ladies played Farkle, and then took the shuttle launch to the sandy
spit of an island. The crew
performed a lifeboat drill by lowering, releasing, and then recovering one of
16 powered lifeboats. In the
afternoon, after departure, I went to the last wine tasting presentation by
Lieutenant Engel. He featured a
light, sparkling Zonin Moscato (Italy); a late harvest, Errazuriz Sauvignon
Blanc (Chile); Warre’s Otimo 10 Porto (Portugal); and, Sandeman Ruby Porto
(Portugal), along with chocolate covered strawberry, and squares of three other
chocolates. Afterward, he
surprised us with Creekbend Sherry from Indiana. Again, very well done and worth the effort. Thank you, Engel. After a delightful last supper with our
friends, the night’s task was packing our check baggage. The TSA pre-screening process, in
conjunction with the ship and airline baggage handling procedures, required us
to place temporary tags on our bags and leave the bags outside our stateroom
hatch by midnight, which we did in short order. The passageway was filled with most everyone’s check
baggage. The next time we see our
bags should be on the carousel at the airport in Wichita. If this works, it will make the
debarkation process as easy as the embarkation process was for us.
Saturday, disembarkation – The process of
leaving was just as smooth as the embarkation process a week earlier. Cindy, Jeanne and I were in the first
group to debark. The only time we
were not walking was standing in front of the Customs & Border Patrol agent
and when we took our seats on the bus to the airport. We arrived at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International
Airport, Broward County, Florida, at 08:30 for our ticketed flight scheduled
for 18:53 departure – not a bad layover – doncha think. We tried to get an earlier flight –
there were four of them before ours.
No joy! So, we waited. I finished one book, finished several
segments of Chapter 12 for To So Few –
The Trial (Book IV), and got well into the latest book from W.E.B Griffin
(one of my favorite authors), before we arrived at home sweet home at 00:30. A glass of water and a quick shower to
wash off the grit of travel . . . I was unconscious by 01:00, and so ended our
little adventure.
And, to think, they used to pay me to
cruise the ocean main . . . oh my, how times have changed. Our accommodations back in the day were
rather austere by comparison to these modern cruise ships, but hey, some things
remain as they have been for centuries.
Such is life at sea.
Thank you so very much to Aspen Shae,
Jacy Lynn, Tracy and Shalee Lynn for holding down the house, and tending the
dogs and cat.
My very best wishes to all. Take care of yourselves and each other.
Cheers,
Cap :-)
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