[Edit+ pics 12-oct-14]
Air and water temperature 30 deg C. Tropical! Depth 5000 m. Rain
After the usual excellent buffet breakfast we assembled for Peter’s daily talk & position update.
Next was talk by naval historian Bill Cougar on the Columbian exchange. Very interesting.
That night was a gala show put on by the crew and passengers.
We arrive Barbados Sunday and disembark. We’ve been doing brief posts while at sea we because it has been a very slow and unreliable connect (when we could connect at all). We should be able to add some “meat” to the posts in Barbados and maybe even some photos!
Depth 3500 m air 28 deg water 30 deg 214 nm last 24 hrs 8.6 knots avg
Since Las Palmas 2080 nm
To Bridgetown 639 nm
We’ve been unable to connect for a few days but are back in (slow) contact again.
Yesterday’s position 16 deg 31′ N 41 deg 3′ W
Sunday 03 Nov – eclipse 17 deg 00′ N 37 deg 92′ W and yes, through skill of ship’s captain, we did see the eclipse. More on this when we have a better connection.
We get to Barbados Sun 10 Nov. 2 nights there, one night in Miami visiting family, and then WHOO HOO home.
We awoke the morning of 3-Nov aboard the Star Flyer anticipating the total eclipse of the sun at about 10:30am. The problem was that the sky was cloudy with a few patches of blue sky here and there. We reached the center of the eclipse path at 17’00’00N / 37’11’9W but then Captain Yuriy Slastenin started maneuvering the ship to try to get under one of the cloud openings.
The eclipse began at9:13a (First Contact) and all eyes were skyward. The early part is hardly noticeable, but the overall light was beginning to dim. At about 10:25a the clouds started opening up and we had a view of the sun with the moon as the only obstruction. As the eclipse approached totality the sky darkened with just the small ring of light showing. Then it started brightening again as the moon & sun began to separate.
As the daylight emerged everyone on board headed to the main deck for champagne drinks and a party of very happy voyagers. And the Star Flyer unfurled her sails and turned once again towards Barbados.
Daybreak 3-Nov-13
On the Go with John and Jessie 