April 26 - Groundhog Day

No, I’m not confused; today is Groundhog Day here on the Seabourn Odyssey.  Today we’re crossing the International Date Line so we will be repeating at least part of April 26.  We’ve been sailing through the north Pacific and the Bering Sea.  This afternoon we were sailing somewhere east of the Kamchatka Peninsula and west of the Aleutians. How is that for a precise location?  We have very spotty and unreliable internet connectivity.  That can be very frustrating if you’re trying to do anything online. More often than not the connection drops in the middle of doing something.

I don’t have any exciting current things to write about.  If I were Tom Clancy, I could tell a tale about a Russian sub surfacing nearby and Melville might write about a giant whale.  But I’m neither of them,  so today I’m going to tell you a story about a young woman here on the ship.

Melody is the singer with the trio that entertains us in the Club at night and, when we were in warmer waters, around the pool.  Several days ago when we stopped in Fukuoka, Melody made arrangements to meet a high school friend who lives nearby.  Her friend picked her up early in the morning after the ship was cleared for people to go ashore, and they were off for a day of fun.  Unbeknownst to Melody the time for all aboard was changed from 5:30 PM, which was listed in the Herald (the ship’s daily program), to 4:30 PM.  The announcement wasn’t made until sometime after she’d left the ship.  When 4:30 rolled around, the Entertainment manager made a frantic phone call asking where she was. Melody nonchalantly said she would be back before 5:30.  Uh-oh! The time was changed and we’d be at sea by then! 

Evidently Melody’s friend was able to break the local speed record getting back to the dock in less time than the GPS said it should take and was able to drive up pretty close, which is not always the case.  Then the fun really began.  The friend was making a video of Melody’s mad dash to get on the ship.  There was a fence along the pier and first she ran the wrong way and had to circle back to get to the opening to get up to the ship.  The gangway was in the process of being lifted to be stowed on the ship.  It was suspended by cables against the side, not touching the dock at all, and at about a 30° angle and with the railings put away.  When she got to the end of the gangway suspended near the pier, a life jacket and a hard hat  were put on her and cables were attached.  Melody, accompanied by two men on either side, walked gingerly up the steps with nothing to hold onto.  Meanwhile on balconies and ashore people were yelling “Go Melody.”  She made it!  

Melody sent me the videos and I’ll load them here.  She’s a talented young woman who I’m sure will have many good things happen in her life. But I’m pretty sure this experience will stand out as one she’ll be able to tell her grandkids was among the most harrowing.  I’d also be willing to bet that though the time mix-up was not her fault, she’ll never leave the ship again without double or even triple checking that all aboard time hasn’t changed.

That’s today’s story. When I’m able to get online, I’ll post it.  In the meantime I’m having a devil of a time adjusting to going forward one hour every night for the last five and then going back a full day.  What time and day is it anyway?