Will Gibson's South Pacific Journal

Thus began 6 days of sloth and slumber. With 3 hours per day spent in the gym in an attempt, successful I might add, to control the waistline. Despite being thousands of miles out in the Pacific, we had frequent visitors. Scores of flying fish, large pods of leaping spinner dolphins (many mothers with babies in tandem), a heraldic albatross, and the occasional lumbering turtle.

Fourth day out, we were scheduled to call on Fanning Island, a remote atoll in Kirabati. The island has no electricity and no running water. The last cruise ship to visit there was last March. There was a snafu in their Customs control, and as a result our visit was cancelled the night prior. So instead, we did a circumnavigation, which apparently no cruise line does, so we did get to see a lot of the atoll. The interior lagoon is 40 square miles! Talk about having to walk a long way to school and back!!

I’m happy to say that later in the day, at approximately 10:00pm, I became a member of the Golden Shellback Club. This club is the exclusive haunt of high sea travelers who have crossed the Equator AND the International Date Line simultaneously. There are no dues, and no benefits other than receiving a certificate, suitable for framing. LOL. Quite honestly, I didn’t even know what day it wasn’t!

There is a benefit to being a passenger and not crew and avoiding the induction ceremony, held top deck the next afternoon in the broiling sun. Polywogs, as the crew initiates are known, must follow the commands of King Neptune and his Queen, which typically include pledging solidarity with various forms of sea life by making out with them! Totally gross! And hilarious!

Three more days of deep blue sea and we arrive at American Samoa. Here’s a few pics of my cozy cabin retreat on Deck 1.

Mahalo and Aloha