There is
an area of land between Guatemala and Mexico that has no mountains, creating a
valley between the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean. As a result, the prevailing winds cross
through this area and are quite strong and in the Gulf of Tehuantepec the waves
are close to 12 feet high because of the gale force winds. The ship sailed through this area last
night. Wow! Definitely a rock-and-roll night.
Now the
ship has sailed all day in calm seas and sunny weather about 25 miles off the
coast of Mexico. This area of the ocean
has a geological feature known as the Middle America Trench, where depths reach
6300 meters (20,650 feet)! The color of
the water is dark blue and when churned up it looks sea green.
Sunday we
attended the Traditional Maritime Service. Very joyful as we sang Amazing
Grace with some great voices singing loudly.
Last night
we heard some good jazz and there have been movies during the day – ‘The King’s
Speech” and “Contagion.” And of course,
more lectures.
Today, Jim
Rowe, a naturalist, told us all about whales and dolphin found along this coast
and near Hawaii. In Cabo San Lucas,
there will be humpback whales, the California grey whale, pilot whales and lots
of bottlenose dolphins. Did you know
humpback whales can live up to 150 years?
We are looking forward to seeing whales; our luck in the past hasn’t
been very good for this type of activity.
Another
lecture was a virtual tour of the Queen Elizabeth bridge by two of the 3rd
Officers. Some interesting facts:
The bridge
is manned 24 hours a day in 4 hour shifts by a crew that includes 2 officers
and a quartermaster (the person who knows how to manually drive the boat).There are 19 engineers, electrical and electronics officers manning the engine room.
There are allegedly no maximum wind forces or wave heights in which this ship couldn’t successfully steam, but of course, with passengers onboard, the captain and the navigator work hard to avoid the roughest seas.
The ship has four huge12 cylinder and two huge 8 cylinder diesel engines.
The ship can stop in 1850 meters, which takes about 6.5 minutes.
At full speed, 24.3 knots (28 mph) Queen Elizabeth burns about 2600 US gallons of fuel per hour. This is about.one gallon every 58 feet.
Someone asked how the ship will navigate through the areas with pirates. The answer: At top speed on a course recommended by the military in the area and there will probably be armed guards onboard and warships nearby. Something to look forward to??!!
Today’s Nautical Terms:
Waves: Caused by the wind with the size determined wind speed, the time the wind has been blowing and the distance the wave travels. Water does not move with the waves, it just changes shape as a wave passes.
Wardroom: Originally a place where officers kept their spare wearing apparel; now it is where officers take their meals, relax and socialize.
Tonight is
formal and we have been invited to dine with the Chief Purser at 8:30 pm. How did they know to ask us to join the
numbers guy? We will miss the show
tonight – a celebration of Neil Diamond songs……okay by us. ;-)
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