Today was the first time I got stuck in an elevator. Really stuck...not just a momentary refusal on the part of my car to move. As an avowed claustrophobic, this was an experience I could have happily missed in life, but I survived. Sure, I did use the emergency phone button a second time, just to tell the person on the other end that the elevator car had started shaking, and, by the way, I had too, but I refrained from panicking. For the most part. In 15 minutes it was all over, and I didn't have to crawl through the ceiling of the car to get out. And if I'm relieved about that, I imagine that my rescuers were even more so.
And, except for those mere 15 minutes, we had a most wonderful 100th day of our winter at sea. 100 days!! 100 days!!!!! I just cannot believe that we've been here that long.
G and I had plans for a day apart, and that's not necessarily a bad thing after 100 days. A few weeks ago, Graham, who has been following this blog, emailed me for more specific directions to the lighthouse on the southern tip of Eleuthera. He said he was going to be on this cruise and was interested in doing that hike, but was going to have to do it alone, as his wife was temporarily not able to. Always thinking (and seeing this as a personal reprieve), I mentioned his email to G and casually suggested that perhaps he might like to join Graham. Doing it together would keep them both safer. And, yes, it might also save me...from having to make the trek again this winter.
So, after taking one of the first tenders over to the island, Martha, Betsy and I were happily settled in loungers on our favorite part of Princess Cays, and Graham and G dropped a note off at the First Aid center and started on their hike about 9:30am.
It was immediately obvious that there was a strong wind coming from the southwest, towards the island. The usual wind direction is from the island, and today's wind made the surf very choppy and brought bits of seaweed toward shore that were floating on the water. Not the nicest Princess Cays day, but it certainly was sunny and not too hot.
I took advantage of the wind to first fly my kite, and then, just before lunch, Martha and I braved the surf to go snorkeling. It was rough, and the interesting thing is that the different wind direction seemed to move the fish; instead of congregating at the end of the feeding pier, they were mostly more to the left of it. Strange!
We three enjoyed our BBQ lunch (I tried not to feel too guilty about G, hiking lunch-less around the southern tip of Eleuthera), and then Martha and I got some more sun time while Betsy enjoyed her lounger in the shade of a picnic shelter.
Graham and G retuned to Princess Cays about 2:15pm after a successful walk to the lighthouse. On their return, they also sidetracked past a beach immediately south of Princess Cays where there are an abundance of conch shells and some deteriorating unmarked gravestones from a century ago. They seemed to have a great time, and G is always happier moving than just sitting on a beach.
Back onboard, we rested until dinner. There was a mass renewal of vows ceremony by the MUTS pool at 4:45pm, but we did that last year on Valentines Day. This year G needed more rest than renewal, so we skipped that public proclamation of mutual love. We've lived together 100 days in an inside cabin...'nuff said!
Our final dinner with Martha and Betsy was fun mixed with a bit of sadness that it's over so quickly. We'll miss them! And they will miss Sutti and Somphong, who took very good care of us all. The evening entertainment was limited mostly to the crew talent show, at 7:15pm and 8:30pm. This is the second cruise where they've done that, and I can't say I'm a fan, especially since some very talented crew members can't get away during those times to perform. Instead, we all decided instead to go to Club Fusion to listen to band Sol Provider, our favorite, sing lots of love songs in honor of Valentine's Day. We're tucked into bed early...tomorrow is turnaround day, and that always means we'll be getting an early start. G asked today what I'd like to do tomorrow: "Root canal? AT&T? Apple store?" That's my guy!
Photo 1: Princess Cays before the crowd hit
Photo 2: Princess Cays lifeguard Jimmy treated us to two songs with his wonderful voice. What a gift he gave us!
Photo 3: I'll limit it to just one snorkeling photo this time ;-)
Photo 4: a photo of a photo...an aerial view of the southern tip of Eleuthera from an Eleuthera tourist magazine
Photo 5: Happy Valentines Day display in the Piazza
