This is just a picture of a Humpback whale. It has nothing really to do with my diary except it shows the ocean.

On with my diary---

Wednesday, February 14, 2001---

We are at sea today. It is Valentine's Day. 7am. We are in huge waves. you can feel this huge ship rock and creak. It is warm. Already it is 78 degrees. We are on our way to Aruba. The report from the deck says we are in a full gale. The waves are 8 to 13 ft. It is so windy on the sun deck you can barely stand up. The water is going up one side of the swimming pool and going back the other way. I didn't stay very long on the sun deck because I couldn't walk without hanging on but I wanted to feel that gale wind.

What an experience to be in this gale. Our ship is like a toothpick on this ocean of huge waves. I had watched the video on how this ship was built and what good ballast it has. Still you can hardly walk without hanging on inside the ship and the ship creaks. Now I can imagine how terrible it must have been for the sailing ships that got caught in a gale.

1pm. Report from the deck says winds are4-6 miles. Waves are now 13 to 20 ft. Sea is very rough. I went up to the 5th deck so I could watch the waves out the big windows there. It really takes an effort not to fall down. I hung onto everything in my path.

We went to dinner at 6pm. What a balancing act the waiters had to do. I admire them for being able to stand up with trays and dishes in this storm. The closer you get to the bow of the ship, the harder it is to stand. The show had to be canceled for safety reasons.

Diane had to go to the clinic to get some bandages for Frank's leg when he fell on the Myan Ruin Tour. She said the clinic was packed with people getting pills for sea sickness. Not just the passengers, but crew people too.

We are supposed to arrive in Aruba at 8am tomorrow. The Captain announced that we should have calmer winds by afternoon.

5:30pm. The sea still hasn't calmed down. We have to go up right now and get a group picture for Valentine's Day. We had this group picture (50 of us) taken on the stairs. More people are getting sick. It has not bothered Clayton, me, Diane, Frank or Donna and Laif. Donna said it started to bother her when she tried reading in bed. I think it is great. What an experience. I may never be in another gale in my life. The biggest problem is trying to find the floor when you go to take a step. I was thinking that David knows all about this stuff. 50 years ago I was sick all day on Valentine's Day and David was born the next day.

10:00pm Still in a full gale according to the report from the bridge. I never knew waves could get so high. I am confident the ship will get to Aruba so I am saying Goodnight and going to bed.