Sailing our way north
Easter Sunday starts with a calm morning; the sun is rising slowly from the horizon with orange light lighting up the ship. What a dawn to start another sunny calm day at sea. During the night shift, the sails were taken down, and the engine was started up. Now the wind conditions are better, and we start the operation of setting them again.
With the sails set and the engine off, we can enjoy the calm movement of the ship through the water, seabirds are flying in the distance and a fur seal is porpoising several times, making a show for us. On our starboard side we have the Chilean coast in sight with its ranging mountains and volcanoes. A snow-covered volcano catches our eyes. The two pointy peaks on top make it look like the devil. This is the Corcovado, with peaks reaching heights of 2300 m above sea level.
Some whale blows are spotted in the distance. We get our binoculars out and scan the area to observe several blows, dorsal fins and flukes. This is a group of humpback whales. We enjoy the sight, although far away, and later on we see them again behind the ship. As we leave them we go back to admiring the various albatrosses and other seabirds flying around the ship.
Coffee time means coffee and cookies, but now also some exercise organised by Becky and Ines. "Bring Sally up, bring Sally down" is blasting on deck as we all gather to do some planks. Afterwards, Jordi is ready in the deckhouse to give us a lecture on pinnipeds. The activities continue with the first bird survey of the day, and then the smell of freshly made bread and soup fills the air. For everyone's enjoyment, lunch is waiting for us out on the main deck where we can enjoy our meal and the amazing weather.
Since it is Easter Sunday today, an Easter egg hunt is organised by the crew, but first, we all need to participate in painting the eggs. Pens of different colours are brought out, and we all decorate an egg each. The tradition of decorating them is an ancient one found all the way back to the Egyptians. Eggs in general are a symbol of fertility and rebirth and were later incorporated in the Christian tradition celebrating the resurrection of Jesus. Eggs were not allowed to be eaten during Lent and were therefore decorated and then eaten on Easter Sunday marking the end of the fast.
When all the eggs are creatively decorated, the crew get on with the task of hiding them around the ship, and afterwards all of the voyage crew start the search. Some of them are very well hidden and take a while to be found, but eventually all are back in the basket. Well done, everyone! And what a day and place to celebrate Easter Sunday.
Later in the afternoon, after another round of planks and Sally, we gather in the deckhouse for a lecture on large-scale ocean circulation by Johanne. We learn about the processes generating ocean currents and their pathways through the world oceans, connecting the world and regulating our climate. Right after our last bird survey of the day, we notice some whale blows quite far out to our port side. Glenn manages to observe how the blows are quite far from where the dorsal fin surfaces. It is hard to observe this far away from the ship, but with this observation, we think these are blue whales. We enjoy the last bit of the orange evening sunlight filling the ship before dinner and the clouds are moving in, covering the skies. After a long and very nice sunny day, we calm down with a movie down in the lounge. With "Master and Commander" on the screen, another day at sea in the Pacific Ocean is coming to an end.
