Tag Archives: Mid-Atlantic

25 Oct 2013 Star Flyer At sea heading for Las Palmas

Our fourth day at sea without any hint of land. We are heading due south for Las Palmas with the four square and 9 of the 16 sakes up. The sea has quieted substantially so we have just a gentle roll. We arrive at Las Palmas around 7 pm tonight and most are planning to test their ability to navigate on land again. We leave for our excursion “Las Palmas & Bandera Crater” tomorrow at 8:30 am. About 21 passengers will disembark and about 15 new passengers will come aboard.

Today’s talks:
0930 Peter on ship’s position, weather, and events on this day in history
1015 Dr. Tyler Nordgren on the Milky Was, light pollution, and dark sky legislation and designation
1500 Dr Viktor Kuzenavos “Botanic gardens & Lake Baikal”
IMG_3483Las Palmas, Gran Canaria Las Palmas, Gran Canaria
Las Palmas, Gran Canaria

Las Palmas

 

23 Oct 2013 Star Flyer At sea, Cadiz to Funchal.

Talks today:

0930 Peter  Kissner, cruise director. Ship’s position, weather conditions, etc.

1015 Dr. Tyler Nordgren “A power of 10 walk through the night sky”

1500 Dr. Bill Cogar, “The Portuguese and the route east”
I spoke with an interesting person this day. There is on board a Catholic priest with a British accent who is based in Texas. This seemed incongruous so I was bold (or perhaps rude) enough to ask how this combination transpired. It turned out that a number of the more conservative Anglican priests had become Catholic priests recently due to the sex questions in the Anglican church. Those Anglican priests who were married were given celebicy waivers by the pope. This priest and his twin brother, also a priest, worked in the area of marriage encounters, weekends spent helping couples strengthen their marriages through counseling on communication and related techniques.

22 Oct 2013 Star Flyer at sea – Cadiz to Funchal.

IMG_3472

On board the Star Flyer.  We had a very rocky night, on our first night after leaving the European continent.  What an introduction to sea travel!  A storm was brewing to the north-west of us and we were running along its edge, with deep swells and strong winds.  We were rolling around the bed and holding on as best we could as the ship was pitching and rolling through the night.  Things not properly secured within the cabin were crashing onto the floor and rolling around, including toilet items on the bathroom sink and a bottle of champagne & bucket which had been provided to us when we first boarded.  We survived the night with nothing broken and were even ready for a hardy breakfast the next morning.  It should be mentioned that the food for all meals has been delicious and plentiful.  Many people, however, were not nearly as enthusiastic about food that morning as we were.

0930 Peter  Kissner, cruise director. Ship’s position, weather conditions, etc.
1015 Dr. Bill Cogar. The age of exploration and discovery.
1200 Lunch buffet
1500 Dr. Bob Rowland, “Introduction to marine geology & Alfred Wegener and continental drift”
1845 Peter Kissner, Maritime history, “The first sailing voyages of mankind”
1930 Dinner