Sunday – Cruising the Bering Sea

Not much to report. Breakfast for me was poached eggs and chorizo sausage in a spicy sauce, some bacon (it’s not breakfast without bacon except at home where I never see bacon), and cranberry juice. Elaine fasted.

Then we both read our respective books in the Explorer’s Lounge. At 11:00 we attended a lecture on Captain Cook (and others) searching for the Northwest Passage to Europe. They didn’t find it, of course, because it doesn’t exist. But Cook did a lot of very accurate mapping of Alaska and Canada and ultimately discovered Hawaii. Not a bad find. The Hawaiian natives were at first friendly and traded with Cook’s ship. Alas, on his third visit Cook decided to hold Kalaniʻōpuʻu, the ruling chief (aliʻi nui) of the island of Hawaii, hostage because the natives stole a longboat belonging to the Resolution. That was a bad idea as the natives killed him and some of his marines. Supposedly, his heart was eaten by the four most powerful chiefs of Hawaii. Most of his bones were eventually recovered. Is all that accurate? So said the lecturer. Wikipedia seems to agree. It’s quite a story. (Aside: we have met up with Captain Cook in various venues around the world that he visited during his voyages.)

Lunch in the World Cafe was excellent. Elaine had Saltimbocca. I had five spices roast duck and some perfectly cooked flank steak with mashed potatoes. We had gelato for dessert.

Then it was more reading and some naps. I filled out the customs declaration and the disembarkation cards required for our visit to Japan.

We can feel the seas now. You need sea legs for walking around. But it’s not by any imagination rough seas. These were taken from our balcony mid-afternoon.

Injury Report

No, not us fortunately. While we were in Kodiak on our tour, a woman on our bus missed the curb when leaving a museum and went down hard. Fortunately two of the women passengers on our tour were retired nurses. They tended to her until the ambulance arrived and took her to the hospital. The woman suffered a five inch gash on her knee and possibly a broken bone. We don’t know if she made back on board or not.

That same day we walked back to the ship from downtown Kodiak. Going into town the guide warned us to walk on the side of the road with the paved sidewalk if walked back to the ship. We did. Another woman and her companion didn’t. She stepped in a hole and down she went. She was able (with help) to get up. Fortuitously, the next shuttle bus came by just at that moment and she got on. No further word on her.

Then last night as we were about to depart from Dutch Harbor, we watched a couple disembark the ship with their suitcases. Viking personnel obviously arranged a ride for them and were with them as they got off. They didn’t appear injured in any way, so we surmise that some family emergency came up and they had to get home.

Cocktails in the Living Room. Yesterday I showed you two of our favorite bartenders. They were both from Bali. This is the third one from the Living Room – Igor from Macedonia. We also see him in the restaurant where he doubles as a wine steward,

Dinner was in the Restaurant. I had Alaskan Rockfish while Elaine had Chicken Breast. We finished up in the Explorer’s Lounge where it was pretty quiet.