Nov. 2-11th

A Coruna, November 2nd-6th

The time in this port was most enjoyable; Claudia was visiting for two days and after her departure the students and staff had an overnight visit to Santiago de Compostela, an hour's train journey away. This town and its cathedral serve as the western terminus of a well known and popular pilgrim trail. The weather was terrific, low 20s in the afternoon and cool overnight. I did lots of walking, and casual exploring, communicating as best I could with my ten words of Spanish!

A Coruna to Cartagena, November 6th-12th

The sun shone as we left a Coruna and, with a favourable wind from the north-east, we put up lots of sail for our 'scamper' down the Spain-Portugal coast. And we will be buying some new glassware for the galley soon as most all that was on table was smashed with the rolling of the ship during supper. It is all I can do to retain my purchase at my desk in front of my laptop as I write this. We are going to test
the limits of our stomachs tonight with this motion! (Three students were suffering from a bout of food poisoning acquired in town last evening when our sail began - how green can you get with this combination.)

Today (November 7th) the winds have lightened, to the point where we have no sail up at the moment. (We are now wondering if the food poisoning diagnosis was in error. Several more individuals, including the medical officer and the cook, have the symptoms.) We are out of sight of land, along the coast of Portugal. It will take us several days yet to reach the entrance to the Mediterranean.

Another sun-filled day is our lot (November 8th). Between classes I have been out on deck as much as possible. We passed the mouth of the river leading to Lisbon in the forenoon. The coast is just a smudge on the port-side horizon. We are making 9 knots, motor only, as there is little wind. A Portuguese high speed patrol boat buzzed around us around lunch time. They just took a look, waved, and were off again. There is very little shipping traffic in evidence at the moment. A few
fishing boats can be seen between us and the coast. I expect that the traffic will pick up as we approach the entrance to the Mediterranean.

I am finding it necessary, as the journey progresses, to stock up on certain food items while in port. For instance, before leaving a Coruna, I bought some figs, dried apricots, oranges, cherry tomatoes, peanut butter, crackers, canned fruit and almonds. Our meals are not devoid of fruit (taste, perhaps) or protein, but supplementing makes for increased variety and is the only salvation in the case of some meal offerings. As I joked with Claudia during our recent time together, I wish never to see couscous again, and no stir fries or white rice until 2010 or so. Also, I favour eliminating salt as an ingredient in anything served at table once returned safely home.

The fair weather, light wind conditions continue (November 9th). We are out of sight of land at the moment. It is estimated we will reach Gibraltar around 11 PM. I was hoping for a daylight passage into the Mediterranean. We'll be able to see the lights of course.

Two developments over night of consequence: the wind has freshened and is blowing a stiff breeze into our teeth, and three more students have gone down with the intestinal virus. So far so good for me. So I emerge from class, summoned by the noon time galley bell, in heavy seas, to be welcomed by pots of grey liquid with diced hotdogs bobbing on the surface, and bread and water. My grandmother taught me to say nothing if I cannot find something constructive to say. Here follows several minutes of studied silence dedicated to my suppressed recollections of lunch on the 10th of November!

Today is Remembrance Day and we suspended classes to allow for a short program at 11:00 AM. "On Flanders Field" was read and we had a minute's silence.

We are on schedule to arrive in Cartagena tomorrow morning. It will be a relief to have a few days of shore wanderings, and a break from seven straight days of teaching. The weather is pleasant - a lot of the students are sunning themselves up on the mizzen deck. The dolphins are sporting about and a whale has sounded twice in the vicinity of the ship. We can see the coast of Spain through the coastal haze. The ocean surface has hardly a ripple at the moment (4:00 PM, November 11th). My 5:00 PM Macro class was punctuated by a "man overboard" drill. One can appreciate the importance of such simulations, although the students hardly need more distractions!

This is a port to which parents have been officially invited and about a third of the students on board will have a family member or two. The intestinal woes experienced by some have now receded. No new cases have developed in the past 24 hours.