The Tasman Crossing

Feb 24th Somewhere between Milford Sound and Hobart

We are in six meter seas at the moment. Not six feet, six meters. I’ll do the math for you; that’s 20 feet from top to trough on these big rollers. And they don’t just roll. They shift and bang and spin too. Someone came in yesterday and covered our window with a storm shutter. So now our deck 4 stateroom has become an inside cabin set atop a 20 foot roller coaster where it will ride for about 36 hours before it can get off. Good times. But we’re not stuck in it. Life goes on around the ship. The ‘one hand for the boat’ sailing rule applies as we move about, but for those like us who aren’t feeling seasick the show must go on. My art classes are still happening, although the crowds have thinned considerably, and there are people playing bridge and doing trivia games in the lounges around the ship. Food is being served, both room service and in the restaurants. We sat up in the Living Room on Deck 10 for a while today trying to catch the perfect wave on video. In that spot, as high up and far forward as you can go, you get the full effect of the movement. And like kids on a rollercoaster, we vie for the forward-most chair. You feel the moment; there’s a bang, the ship shudders, hovers, then slams down creating a spray so big it momentarily wraps our entire window up here in the 10th floor with a sheet of water. I kind of love it.

I have to say I’m happily shocked by the heartiness of my fellow passengers. Not only did people make it to class, but some stayed right through the break and painted for more than two full sessions. We were doing a watercolour of the Sydney Opera House, and they were able to not only paint something complicated, but did a really nice job of it to boot! It did wear me out, hand bombing myself around that room on the 10th floor for two and a half hours. We went back to our cabin, read books and ordered room service for the rest of the night.

I’m reading The Larnachs, which is set in the castle we toured in Dunedin the other day. The castle is a prominent character, which makes it extra fun having just been there. The book itself is well written, but the subject matter is a bit uncomfortable. The story is told in the voices of William Larnach’s third wife Conny and his son Dougie, who, if you know enough about their story to be interested in the book you probably already are aware, were lovers. Most assume that that’s what did the old guy in, and it’s hard to climb into and be sympathetic with their perspective and not feel complicit, but it’s still a good read, especially if you’re interested in Dunedin and the castle.

Tomorrow we’ll be in Hobart. I’ll be glad to be off this roller coaster, but for anyone heading toward the Tasman, I can tell you that 6 meter seas are totally tolerable. These ships are strong. The crews know what they’re doing. If you see that in your weather prediction don’t worry. Even the people who do get seasick are bearing it well. I suspect these ships and crews see this as just another crossing, probably a  relatively easy one. They can take a lot worse. So, grab some ginger candy from the front desk, or meds from the ship doc if you suffer more than most, buckle up and ride it out. Our original booking for this world tour was 133 days, and about 50 of those are at sea. That’s a lot of days just floating on an ocean. People asked me, and I wondered too, how is that going to be, will I be bored? We’re deep enough in now I think I can safely answer with an emphatic no. We need these sea days between adventures to recharge, process what we’ve seen and done, and just live life onboard. It’s fun here. For me of course it’s a bit different than most. I’m teaching. But my students are there faithfully, some for both classes, so their schedule isn’t that much different than mine. So here’s a pretty typical day:

Thanks so much for reading. Don’t forget to sign up for updates and I’ll keep you posted on our adventures