08/04/2014
It’s been smooth as polished glass these past few days,
allowing for our easy passage past the steep and rugged cliffs of the
Portuguese Azores, and continuing onward to the middle of the Atlantic. We are the only
floating island on this calm sea, with not a glimpse of another mass of land in
any direction – although discussions have often turned to the ocean territories
beneath our feet. Flying fish leap ahead of us regularly, and a few cadets on
bow lookout have even spotted an occasional blow from a whale!
Taking advantage of the sunny weather, our enthusiastic
caterers from Chartwell’s decided to host a barbecue not once, but twice
yesterday, dishing up an endless supply of tasty burgers, hot dogs, corn, baked
potatoes and more than half a dozen barrels of mouthwatering ice cream.
Needless to say, our Sunday-at-sea was spent rather lazily, with cadets and
faculty sprawled out across the decks to catch some z’s, or hanging out and
playing music from each of the ship’s sunny hatches.
There has been quite a bit of excitement lately around on
our upcoming stop in Norfolk, Virginia, where we will pick up members of MARAD
(the U.S. Maritime Administration) for a test of the ship’s capabilities while
at sea. Although the Empire State has regular “dry dock” inspections to make
sure its propeller and attendant parts are working effectively, these “sea
trials” only happen once every couple of years. The main reason we find this so
exciting is because the test involves a speed-trial, during which we will get
to go fast! Although our typical speed runs between 8 and 12 knots, rumor has
it we may push 20 during the trial and hopefully catch some ‘real’ waves.
For the mean time, we will continue our calm pace
slightly northwards in the direction of the Canadian Maritimes. We are keeping
this northerly course to avoid any encounter with tropical storm Bertha which
is heating up along the Gulf Stream; for us now, it’s nothing but bright and
cloudless skies!
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