Crossing the Equator

We crossed the equator at approximately 6:30am this morning and late this afternoon there was a 'Commemoration of Crossing the Equator' event.

According to tradition, any ship crossing the equator must pay their respects to King Neptune to gain his acceptance. As part of the ceremony, King Neptune comes aboard the ship to exercise his authority over his domain. Nobody knows how or when this tradition started but it dates back over 400 years in western seafaring.

The ceremony also marks the rite of passage from slimy Pollywog (a person who hasn’t crossed the equator) to a Shellback (a person who has crossed the equator).

Here are a few pictures of the ceremony. In this case Pollywogs had to kiss the fish!

King Neptune and his wife

Kissing of the fish!


Lots of people came out to watch the ceremony!

One more sea day and then we'll be in Pago Pago, American Samoa.

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Dakar, Senegal / Wed Mar 27

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Busselton / Tue Feb 19

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Parting Thoughts and More ...

It didn’t take too long to re-enter our normal lives. Although I did miss having our linens changed daily, Larry was delighted to get back home so he could eat dinner wearing shorts (not long pants) ... which he couldn’t do on the ship. Because I get sea (and motion) sick I used the scopalomine patch on this cruise. Usually Bonine is enough but the cruise started in rough waters (crossing to Hawaii from LA) so I decided to use the patch. It worked really, really well with no side effects so I continued using it. When it was prescribed (by two different doctors) I asked each if using it for almost 3 months would be an issue and both said 'no.' Well, I should have done more research as it turns out you can get addicted and experience withdrawal .... and I did. I wasn't able to get off it until the 3rd time I tried and even then it took about 3 weeks to be free of all symptoms. After going online to find out how to withdraw, I saw that some people have much more trouble t

Opals and Romeos

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