I’ll get to day 5 in the next post, but a bit of interest first.
This morning I arose, showered, etc, and prepared to head up to the Great Outdoors café on deck 12. As I grabbed my computer bag, I looked at my camera. I knew I was too late for the exact sunrise, but we’d still be in “golden hour” when the sun lights up the cloud cover with its early morning yellow hue.
Naw, I thought. I don’t need a camera. I’d rather just enjoy the view than thinking about where the best photo would be. Besides. After half-a-dozen other cruises, I’ve got plenty of sunrise and sunset photos. I’m graduating, I told myself, to experience cruiser instead of photo-cruiser. I’m here to enjoy the sea. So I left it behind and headed upstairs and after for coffee and a big plate of bacon to enjoy the view with.
Wife showed up about half an hour later. Her ritual is to walk laps on deck seven (promenade) and get in about five miles of exercise before the maintenance crews start working out there. She plopped down on a chair at my little table.
“I got in one lap before they put up ropes for the maintenance crew,” she explained. “Then I did about three more laps back and forth, hit the ropes, turn around and go the other way until I got to the other side of the ropes. THEN, they closed down the other side of the deck.”
We sat and enjoyed the view while grousing and grumbling about her inability to get an hour’s walking in without clogging up the jogging track on deck 13. It’s too narrow too often for joggers and walkers to coexist peacefully.
Then she looked up and asked, “Are we going back to Cabo?”
I turned and looked over my left shoulder. “Looks like it. Must be a medical emergency.”
That explained what one of the roped off areas on deck was. If we were pulling into Cabo unplanned, they needed to get someone into medical care.
The crew lowered a lifeboat and tendered a passenger and the doc into shore. I asked a security crewmember what was up. The official story was that someone had taken ill, and needed to go ashore for medical attention.
I’m sure there’s a nice boring unofficial story. But we can only speculate.
So I will. 😉
This person is probably not feeling their best and is very disappointed in missing out on the rest of the cruise while being sick. So they deserve a tale of adventure and daring-do. A bit of bravado in speculation.
If one were to wonder as to why someone might need to be transported in for medical attention after a stop in Puerto Vallarta, one need only realize there is a Pirate Ship adventure excursion in that port.
Our Hero was probably on that adventure, living the life of a pretend pirate, eating pirate food, and saying “Arrr Matey!” and “You Scurvy Dog!” as often as possible.
But then, as the ship was anchored far offshore, and the pretend pirates were doing pretend pirate things, a giant tail – a white tail – breached the waves and slapped down hard on the sea. The smack threw a cloud of spray high into the air as the great white whale set course for the ship.
“Avast ye, Tis the son of Moby Dick. Back for revenge!” The pretend pirate captain bellowed. “Raise anchor! All ahead full! Put all canvas to the wind, we’ve got to outrun him!”
But, the small vessel wasn’t fast enough, yet. The mighty white whale slammed into the side of the vessel. The boom of the impact sent lads and lasses flying about the deck. Our hero was knocked off their feet and was scrambling to right themselves as the ship rocked from the impact.
“My baby!” our hero saw a woman pointing out to the water below. The hero spied a young lass bobbing in the waves, as the great white form moved toward the ship again, rising and falling in and out of the waves. Coming in for another hit as the ship slowly started to move.
Lines were being tossed over, with life rings attached, but the small girl had no hope to reach them.
Our hero, of course, would have seen this, and instinctively dove into the waves. Snaking an arm through a life ring, the hero’s strong strokes quickly closed the distance to the child. Sticking the ring over the girl, and swimming one-armed back to the pirate ship as crew pulled in the rope, helping them back through the waves.
The great form of the white whale breached the waves again, the mist from its breath sending a geyser of mist high into the air. Our hero, now at the side of the ship with the child, clung to the rope and the small girl as crew and passengers heaved at their line to pull them aboard. The hero glances over their should at the approaching behemoth and realizes they’ll still be dangling along the side when the great white form rams the vessel again.
“Hold on tight,” our hero told their young charge. The frightened girl nodded grimly and squeezed her arms tighter around the life ring. The hero released the life ring and girl. The sudden drop in weight allowed the crew to pull the girl over the railing before the collision.
Our hero braced their feet against the ship and angled their descent to impact the huge white shape surging toward them. The hero’s impact, right in front of the blowhole, caught the great creature by surprise. It instinctively dove and passed right under the fleeing ship.
With a parting shot, the great creature pivoted as it dove, flinging its great tail up, sending our hero flying. Exhausted from the swim and battered by the whale, our hero had just enough strength to grab some of the riggings on the ship and slow their fall before passing out.
Even though this flight of fantasy has no bearing in reality, I offer it as the tale to tell for our fellow passenger. If their story is not as interesting, they may feel free to tell this one.
Either way, they have the best wishes for a speedy recovery from all of us back on the Jewel.