Fifty Foot Waves and Stowaways

“The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.” -  Jacques-Yves Cousteau​
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Greetings from just off the coast of Japan! After ten days at sea, I have a new appreciation for the sky. While I have always been a big fan of sunrises and sunsets (who isn’t?), I never experienced so many opportunities to see unending darkness turn gradually to light, or the light of day fade magically to dark. The blackness fills with stars and I imagine early explorers in their little boats – how did they do it? I am not so brave.

The ocean has been kind to us and our captain is an experienced mariner with a great sense of humor and an even better sense of navigation. He has steered us around huge storms, so my title, Fifty Foot Waves, was something we averted (I just used it to capture your attention). We have had a few rain showers and cold weather. Eating and working on the deck now find us all with our Semester at Sea sweatshirts and hot tea, and computers carefully anchored so they don’t blow away. As for stowaways, we occasionally see birds, which means there is land out past the horizon or these friends are hiding somewhere in the upper decks.
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Tomorrow, land. More adventures await.
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