The day after our departure from Ha Long we sailed through the Strait of Hainan which separates the Chinese island of Hainan from mainland China. The strait is roughly 20 miles wide and about 390 feet at its maximum depth. These are all troubled waters with the Chinese claiming islands and atolls that are also claimed by Viet and the Philippines. I didn’t see this but my neighbor did. He and his wife are from Hawaii and he has seen his fair share of fishing boats. He told me that around 5 or 6 AM while standing at the stern drinking an early cup of coffee, he saw a purported fishing boat approaching us very fast. He said the boat had more antennas on there than he’d ever see on fishermen. We agreed that it might very well have been one of China’s poorly disguised spy boats.
Later in the day as I sat writing and answering e-mails I saw several more small boats race toward us very fast and then back off. Perhaps they were just curious but one can’t really know for sure.
It was the last Trivia day and TADA! We won again. We got a bag full of prizes again and I’m almost finished doling them out to various staff members who’ve been especially helpful.
Following trivia our team went as a group to another Galley Lunch which is always fun. In the evening two friends, Patricia and Claudia, and I sat in the Club and had something to drink and talked and laughed a lot. They are such fun to be with. Eventually we had sushi for dinner. We laughed so much that we missed both the pre-dinner and after dinner show. We all turned in fairly early because the next morning we’ll be arriving in Hong Kong for an overnight stay. So signing off for now.
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