The Med

We passed the Prime Meridian @ approx. 1330. As of 0030 we were steaming
along the northern coast of Algeria (37d22.504'N 003d59.126'E). At 0330 a
pretty spectacular thunderstorm rolled in to hand off to the next watch...
it was pretty cool to realize I was watching lightning over Algeria. Yeah.
That Algeria- the one in Africa. When we land in Egypt I will have visited
my 4th continent (yay me). Asia is coming up soon (double yay me again).

So I would describe the water of the Med so far as "powder blue when
churned, deep blue to hazel in various light." Much different than the
"turquoise when filtering sunlight and when churned into spray, deep blue to
look at, black and navy to grey in the gloom" of the North Atlantic.

Emails from Laura are not coming across the wire and it is becoming a pain
in my ass. And when I called her tonight the electrician came into the
office and sat his happy ass down at the other desk so I had no privacy (he
actually is quite happy- and keeps up an endless stream of comedic wit which
is why I'm willing to forgive him). This entire communication thing must be
rethought...

For the second time since we left NYC I am going to take a day off (which on
a ship means work just 8 instead of 13 hours). I have a stack of movies
from the "Hobby Shop," which in days of yore would have contained all sorts
of crap, from playing cards to model planes, but on a modern ship contains
thousands of DVDs. And my secret chocolate stash. And some cashews out of
the Slop Chest (a ship's store full of stuff you might need, sugar/fat/fake
stuff that resembles food- often called "candy," and a full line of ship's
merchandise- hats, teeshirts, jackets, mugs, etc. all sold on the honor
system).

We had a ship-wide BBQ at 1700 today and the pool temperature is up to 42
degrees. To my horrified Seattle friends who are thinking "holy crap!
That's 6 degrees colder than the Salish Sea!" I clarify with one word:
Centigrade. Oh yeah. Sure, I had to work until 0400 (that is 4am,
landlubbers)- but my new routine until we get into pirate waters is to hit
the pool after the midnight watch. Should be mine, all mine!