2:00pm Local Time

Ship’s position:

32°28′2″ N 48°58′15″ W

We have now traveled about 1,700 nautical miles from Florida and are over halfway to our first port of call. We’re pretty much in the middle zone of the Atlantic Ocean now. The blue dot in the screen shot below shows the ship’s current position. Never thought that I would ever be here on a ship of any kind 🙂

The winds have died down a bit and there is now much more blue sky and sun showing. A welcome change from the past few days.

I have not seen another ship since we left Fort Lauderdale. Perhaps they have passed by us in the night while I was sleeping or I was on the opposite side of the ship when they were in sight on the horizon.

After breakfast this morning I spent some time typing up notes about our plans for the Marine Trader Trawler. I must confess that while I am enjoying the repositioning cruise I would much rather be getting the trawler ready for the big trip back to Canada. Oh well, that time will come soon enough.

Even though the sun is shining there is still a lot of side to side movement on the ship and the air is getting a bit cooler (17 degrees C). As a result, more people are staying inside and it’s harder to find a quiet place to sit.

I found a table in one of the lobby bars that was not open yet and relaxed for a couple of hours reading a book & typing notes on my iPad. At one point I stopped for a stretch and saw myself on the ceiling. Maybe I should install some mirrors on the ceiling of the trawler! I think Catherine will vote against that idea.

I phoned Catherine last night using my SKYPE to landline calling account. The connection wasn’t too bad considering my location and the fact that I was sharing a satellite internet connection with many other passengers. It was nice to talk with each other but it also made me feel a bit lonely. I think that this will be the one and only cruise-ship cruise that I take by myself.

Time to go. Need to snack at the buffet to build up my energy level before making a couple of trips around the ship on the Promenade deck. And then shortly after that it will almost be dinner time.

Cheers!

Ship’s Position @ 11:30 am (Ship’s Time)

30°20′28″ N 58°3′1″ W

We turned our clocks ahead again last night. So we are now 2 hours ahead of EDST.

Today it’s totally overcast but the temperature is holding at 20 degrees C. The temperature in this part of the ocean is slightly over 20. Higher than I thought it would be.

I took the photo above from the Skywalker lounge at the back of the ship. Nice panoramic view from up here but the entire room shakes a bit – like a train traveling at high speed. I don’t think I’d want to be up here in a storm.

The water has calmed since yesterday. Swells are only about 2 – 4 feet & the number of whitecaps has dropped by more than half. Hopefully this will continue, although I am a little concerned because the ship’s staff have been placing barf bags in conveniently accessible locations around the ship.

Not sure if that’s an indication of what’s to come (weather wise) or if it’s one of the passenger’s critique on the food from the buffet. I’ll keep you posted on that 😉

The Captain announced that we have travelled over 1,200 nautical miles since leaving Florida & that we have passed the halfway point of our journey to the Azores Islands.

I’m still finding lots of interesting things to do to pass the time. The cruise line has become quite progressive in their programs. This afternoon I’m attending a seminar that will help me make it through the rest of the trip. I was going to take the ballroom dance class but I’ve decided to save that for another trip when Catherine is with me.

Gotta go – it’s almost time for the seminar & I want to grab a snack at the buffet before it begins.

Bon Appeit!

Ship’s Position at 11:00am ADST

28°20′45″ N 66°23′52″ W

The ship is making good progress but there was tension building in the air yesterday afternoon!

I encountered several golfers who were quite stressed that they could not get the broadcast of the last round of The Masters on their stateroom TV or on any TVs in the bars on board. However, the 2 ESPN channels we get were thoughtfully broadcasting reruns of NASCAR races & a college hockey championship game.

Thankfully, just when we thought all was lost, the final round of Masters broadcast preempted the auto races & all was forgiven (at least by the golf fans).

I have to confess that I watched a fair bit of the final round myself & was glued to the set until the final putt was sunk. ⛳️

Last night after dinner they were showing the movie “Passengers” at the outdoor theater so I went early, got a good recliner with a blanket & bundled up & was ready for the show.

Unfortunately, there was something wrong with the sound system so they ended up showing a silent movie with closed captioning. Bummer! I hope that the guy who couldn’t fix the sound system is not also in charge of maintaining the ship’s navigation system!

Thoroughly disappointed I headed to the late night buffet to console myself.

When I woke this morning the seas were noticeably rougher. There are whitecaps on the water as far as you can see & you need to chose your steps carefully to maintain your balance.

The swells on the water appear to be between 6-8 feet. The ship is moving at 20 knots & into a 20 knot headwind so it really takes an effort to walk forward on the promenade deck. Even so, it’s reasonably comfortable once you are out of the wind. I would not want to be out in this on my little boat!

The ship’s log says we have travelled over 750 nautical miles so far. I guess it’s too late to change my mind about the crossing 🙂

Cheers!

April 9 – 9:00am ADST
Present Position: At Sea

25°59′14″ N 76°2′21″ W

Above is a photo of the Fort Lauderdale skyline at sunset as we were headed out to sea. Red sky at night sailor’s delight! Hopefully this will continue 🙂

Woke up at 7 this morning & headed to the buffet for an early breakfast. No land in sight in any direction & I was a bit concerned that other passengers might get worried about a limited food supply & start eating to calm themselves. Thankfully most were still asleep, no doubt recovering from yesterday’s hectic pace.

The weather this morning is beautiful & the sea is calm. Last night’s passage was so smooth that when I woke up a few times I could not even tell if we were moving. We are far enough north & east now that the ship’s time has moved ahead 1 hour to Atlantic DST.

I attended a lecture this morning about the history of the Atlantic Ocean & its influence on the world over the centuries. The speaker is from Canada & he will be giving a talk on a different subject each day. He was pretty good so I’ll add these lectures to my routine!

Time to get moving again, it’s only an hour until lunch.

Here’s some travel minutiae for anyone that may be interested in this kind of stuff:

– Ship’s Heading: 074 degrees
– Distance Traveled So Far: 246 Nautical Miles
– Ship’s Speed: 17.6 knots
– Wind Speed: 11 knots
– Apparent Wind Speed: 30 knots
– Sea Depth: 15,500 feet
– Weather: Sunny & 22 degrees C

Cheers!

April 8 – 2:00pm EDST
Port Everglades Cruise Terminal

26°5′52″ N 80°7′12″ W

I boarded the Crown Princess (shown above) in Fort Lauderdale about 12 noon today – along with about 3,000 of my new best friends 🙂

Here’s a view of the waterway where the ship is now docked – taken from my balcony cabin (L201) on the Lido Deck. It’s a long way down!

We set sail for England at about 7:00pm tonight. As soon as I got aboard I noted that there were already long lineups at the buffet restaurants. I hope we have enough food on board to make the crossing.

The crossing will take 14 days with a few stops along the way.

Sadly, Catherine is not on the trip with me. She has no interest in crossing the ocean on the water, but it’s been a “bucket list” wish of mine for several years, so away I go & there will be a reunion at the end of my journey. Thanks for the support honey!

Catherine & I are going to meet up at Heathrow Airport on April 22 & spend about 12 days self-guided touring around Bath, Oxford & London. Should be a lot of fun & I will have to do some extra walking to try & shed the extra weight I am probably going to pick up on the way over!

I hope to post some short blog entries while I am crossing. Each time I post I will include the ship’s longitude & latitude. If you copy & paste that information into Google Maps you will be able to see the ship’s position at that particular time.

Better go for now. It’s only a couple of hours before the ship sails & I see that the lineup at the buffet is much shorter now.

Cheers everyone!

Wally