10 May 2007:

OK, I lied. I said I would find something other than our dinner companions to talk about, but I’m going to toss out one more little comment. My strategy for dinner last night was to change seats....just by one person....so that I would not be next to Secret Agent Man and perhaps he would focus his attention on someone else. That strategy did improve the situation, but it was still not good. Secret Agent Man has come to dominate the conversation completely. He never stops talking. I am suspicious that he is an alien life form and has the ability to generate acoustic waves without pausing to breathe. When dinner finally arrived I thought we would get a little respite...even an alien shouldn’t be able to eat and talk at the same time....I was wrong. He could chew and speak simultaneously. At one point he became so amused with his own story that he began spewing food.....looking and sounding very much like a wood chipper.  However, in my new position closer to the Ohioans I did discover that they too had contemplated bailing out on the dinner table. They said that this is the worst set of dinner companions that they have ever experienced. So, we are not alone....others share our torment. I feel better already. We will give it one or two more days and then we may have to pull the plug and exit the assigned dining area....now I WILL STOP TALKING ABOUT BAD TABLEMATES....for a while.

It’s a beautiful day in the middle of the Atlantic today. We are experiencing smooth water....the sea conditions are “Slight” (1.5-4 ft waves), the temperature is 63 degrees we have sunshine with patchy clouds. So, it’s a great day to be sailing. A pod of dolphin came over to investigate the ship this morning and spent a couple of minutes frolicking off the starboard side. But we couldn’t hold their attention, so it was a very brief encounter. Once again I notice how the open ocean has a hypnotic effect on me. In the late morning I started walking and jogging on the track located on the Sports Deck (deck 15). I had an unobstructed view of the Atlantic with nothing on the horizon. I just kept walking and jogging. After a while you just zone-out on the waves and the wind and the sun. By the time I noticed I was tired, I had been at it for over 2 and a half hours....which is good, because I am losing my resolve to avoid the after dinner desserts.

Having now traveled 2443 nautical miles from Fort Lauderdale and with 393 miles to our first port of call; we are scheduled to arrive in Ponta Delgada, Azores at noon tomorrow.

Not having much new information for a travelogue today, I have taken a little time to finally upload some photos to the website. If any of you are truly bored feel free to go to:

www.ricklongbrake.com

and click on the link on the left of the page that says “May 2007 Transatlantic-Baltic Cruise”.

I’ll try to post a few pictures with each email that I upload. I am having a little trouble configuring the right size and resolution since I am using a laptop with a very small screen....but I’ll keep working on it and hopefully the photo quality will improve as we hit more ports of call.