This morning we were all so excited to cross the equator around 8am that we slept through the momentous occasion. I think it was due to the fact that few of us are really that alert first thing in the morning after being up in the night to do a watch. We still did celebrate throughout the day and did a celebration dinner. The real celebrations will be tomorrow as we tend to tone things down on Sundays.
Some of the activities that we did however was, Eli radioed ahead to King Neptune to have the mermaids ready to greet Teyauna but she was rather disappointed when they did not show up at the Equator to wave. I’m not sure if she will recover from the disappointment but she keeps her eyes peeled out on the water nonetheless.
In the afternoon, Eli wanted to celebrate the occasion by raising our Jolly Roger pirate flag so it is now sailing high above the deck. Dailin on the other hand celebrated by shooting off the rest of his bottle rockets that he has been slowly shooting off and saving since Christmas… am I ever glad that they are all gone now.
11:30 pm PDT, Lat: 01° 07.018′ S, Long: 130° 04.816′ W, Course 210° T, Speed: 5.5 K, Wind: E 13 K, Swell: E 3′, Cloud Cover: 20%, Barometer: 1014 hPa, Temp: 25°C … Current Location
My heart aches for Teyauna. I don’t know why you guys didn’t sail right up to King Neptune’s palace – there are tons of mermaids there.
Yesterday you were Pollywogs and today you are Shellbacks. I dont blame you for skipping the gruesome rituals but I am certain that the next time we see you you will all be sporting beautiful gold earings pierced into your right ear. This is the true sign of a veteran sailor who has crossed the equator and no TRUE “old salt” would be caught without this great badge of honor.
Congratulations shellbacks. I am jealous. 27 years in the navy and I never crossed the equator. Oh well! I’m glad to enjoy your report of your success.
Ron