October 14 and 15 – Cruising the Red Sea

Since our departure from Safaga we’ve been sailing in the Red Sea.  On Tuesday the 14^th at the noon update the captain reported we were off the coast of Sudan to starboard and Saudi Arabia to port.  He also explained the procedures in the event of an emergency.  Should we be approached by any vessels a signal will be sounded.  If the approach continues we’ll be advised to get off the open decks and inside.  If necessary we’ll be advised to sit down on the floor in the interior passageways.  It was a little disconcerting, but we were happy to know that the ship is prepared for any eventuality.

Today at noon the captain reported that we would be taking on extra security personnel shortly thereafter.  As we were playing our noon team trivia, the ship slowed and we apparently picked up a zodiac full of some personnel.  We are currently sailing past Eritrea and later  we’ll be passing through a narrow strait between Djibouti to starboard and Yemen to port. It’s an area known for the presence of lots of nefarious characters from pirates to terrorists so better safe than sorry!  Once we pass through the strait we’ll be in the Gulf of Aden between Yemen and Somalia.

We had dinner last night with the cruise director.  To our surprise he was born in Ashland, VA, and lives in Richmond.  A fellow Virginian!  He conducts the team trivia  and we told him today that we wanted some Virginia questions.  Didn’t happen!  The trivia is a cumulative affair and so far our team isn’t doing too well, but we’re just warming up.

This afternoon was the crew tug of war for the Seabourn Odyssey 2014 championship. Various departments of the ship’s crew compete.  It’s a lot of fun to watch and the crew clearly enjoys it.  The winners were the “Deckheads,” part of the ship’s security team.  After the competition we stayed on the deck above the pool to have a drink.  As the sun was setting four very fit looking men came along.  They were dressed completely in black and each carried a bag – as Al said, it wasn’t a lunch bag!  They walked forward toward the bridge and then a few minutes later walked back on the other side of the ship.   We think it was a four man team getting the lay of the land.

The runner up team - you can see how serious these guys are!

The winning team, the "Deckheads"

We picked up a mermaid and a pirate lass

The four man team checking out the terrain