Noon- Crossing the Equator in the Pacific
750 Miles Northwest of Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands
French Polynesia
Good morning. Someday someone will explain the measurement of swells at sea. It seems the swells rock the boat, which in turn makes one seasick. Over the last couple days swells of anywhere from six to fourteen feet have been reported by several people. Yes, sea sickness was experienced. Today, the captain said, during the noon report, the sea swells were now running about 2 to 3 meters. He’s Italian.
Looking outside the sea seemed very placid this morning. There were no white caps on the waves. During the period of sea sickness, the waves were WHITE! Winds, logically, effect the rocking of the boat. When we left Hawai’I the wind was “blowing” at thirty-five or forty miles per hour. Today, it was reported they were blowing at twenty-five mph.
It appears we have outrun the storm which is now hitting California with such force. That was until this afternoon when the sky got cloudy again, the winds picked up, and we were apparently entering either a new or different storm front. The sea still looks calm, but the ship is still rocking along. No sea sickness. The pills distributed at reception seem to have quelled that side effect. From now on they will be taken at the first sign of any discomfort from now on.
Apparently in oceanography, sea state is the overall general condition of the ocean. How “bad” it is depends on the wind, waves and swell at a certain location and moment. There are a number of different statistics to measure this, including the wave height, period (the length between the peaks of the waves) and spectrum. The state of the sea is constantly changing. Two experienced and trained mariners will probably agree as to the state of the sea, if they are both observing it as the same time and place, ask them fifteen minutes apart and they will probably have different opinions of the sea state. The sea state can be assessed by mechanical things like weather buoys, wave radar or satellites. However, even readings with “scientific devices” fifteen minutes to a half hour apart may be different.
Obviously, when trying to find out what the sea condition at various points on this voyage, there were differing opinions. Simply put the large number of variables involved in creating and describing the sea state cannot be quickly or easily summarized. The bottom line is that the Mariner was at the edge of a storm from as it left Hawai’i. The result of this was the winds and sea were high and the swells caused a great deal of discomfort. There s a scale called the Douglas Sea Scale, copied below, which seems to reasonably quantify conditions.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) sea state code largely adopts the 'wind sea' definition of the Douglas Sea Scale.
WMO Sea State Code | Wave height | Characteristics |
0 | 0 metres (0 ft) | Calm (glassy) |
1 | 0 to 0.1 metres (0.0 to 3.9 in) | Calm (rippled) |
2 | 0.1 to 0.5 metres (3.9 in to 1 ft 7.7 in) | Smooth (wavelets) |
3 | 0.5 to 1.25 metres (1 ft 8 in to 4 ft 1 in) | Slight |
4 | 1.25 to 2.5 metres (4 ft 1 in to 8 ft 2 in) | Moderate |
5 | 2.5 to 4 metres (8 ft 2 in to 13 ft 1 in) | Rough |
6 | 4 to 6 metres (13 to 20 ft) | Very rough |
7 | 6 to 9 metres (20 to 30 ft) | High |
8 | 9 to 14 metres (30 to 46 ft) | Very high |
9 | Over 14 metres (46 ft) | Phenomenal |
The condition the Mariner has been experiencing over the last couple of days would be considered 5 and 6 on the scale above, or rough to very rough. Now, the feeling of being a complete wimp is beginning to dissipate! Although now that the sea sickness has passed, it seems more on the slight to moderate scale.
The day been another leisurely day at sea. The motivation to get up and go to the Sit & Be Fit class just wasn’t there. Mary did go to the cooking class which was on tropical fruits. The captain’s noon update was short and sweet. Although he did say the sea was about 3 or 4 meters. It certainly didn’t feel like it.
The Coffee Connection with its small sandwich selection and fresh fruit was the choice for lunch. There were massages at 13:30 in the spa. Mine was nearly two hours, and it included aroma therapy and scented oils. Afterwards there was a little time in each the steam room and sauna. Mary was already back in the suite by the time of my return.
Mary was working on the Daily Mensa quiz. Getting the phone, iPad and FitBit to display the correct ship’s time was proving to be a Mensa worthy challenge all by itself. Apparently, there aren’t any Mensa candidates in our suite. Mary got one out of five Mensa questions, and I managed to get the iPhone and iPad to display the correct time, the Fit Bit is proving a little more difficult.
Dinner was at Sette Mare. We do like getting ready for dinner, putting on dress pants, a dress shirt, time and jacket for me, and a nice evening dress for Mary. It may seem silly, but it is fun. Tonight, we were among the first guests to arrive. The room is set beautifully with white tablecloths and napkins. Three nice glasses; One of white wine, one for red wine and one for water. The silver wear glistens in the light. They have nicely decorated plates on the table. All very fancy.
There was a tribute to Ray Charles in the Horizon Lounge, but neither of us remember it until we were sitting down to dinner. Sad because we had wanted to go. Ray Charles was a great entertainer, song writer and musician.
To go along with the atmosphere created by the formal table setting, is the maître d'hôtel or maître d'. The maître d'hôtel at Sette Mare is Raymond. A very handsome gentlemen, who greets you with a cheery good evening and address you by name. You very quickly feel a sense of pride that he remembers you. His manner is professional without being snobby.
He turns and hands the table manager, dress is a black tuxedo, two menus, and says to him or her, please take Mr. & Mrs. Falk to table 16. You then follow the table manager to your fully dressed table, where your seat is held while you seat yourself. Your napkins are unfolded and offered to you. The head waiter, for your table, comes over and welcomes you, again by name. He asks you if you want anything to drink.
There is a waiter to attended to your bar needs, how after an appropriate time brings your drinks. Shortly there after the tuxedo clad sommelier comes to offer you this evening selection of either red or white wine, or as in Mary’s case prosecco. Another waiter comes and takes your order, entering it carefully on a tablet. Reading it bask to just to make sure they have it right.
Heck, it is an experience all by itself. It is nice to feel that you are one of the beautiful people, once in a while. We are more of the hoi polloi class. But it is a good feeling to be fashionable once in awhile. The biggest issue with the beautiful people is we are simply too old to eat three four or five courses. All of which are available here. For us dinner is a simple affair.
Appetizers are offered to you without even asking. In Sette Mare this means bruschetta, black olives, Parmesan cheese, and a couple other things. More than that we simply don’t need. The entrée for both of us was Pasta Carbonara.
The origin and history of pasta carbonara is obscured by history. Lazio, la provincia in vicino d’Roma, is generally where most sources trace the dish’s origin. Undoubtedly it has been an Italian staple for a long time, however it didn’t become cucina italiana until after the liberation of Roma in World War II. The American GI’s loved the Spaghetti mixed with fluffy scrambled eggs, fatty cured pork, hard cheese and black pepper.
They key to really good carbonara is in the combination of the ingredients. Anyone put fine things in a bowl and serve it. But choosing the right ingredient, and preparing it properly is key in the production of a superior product. The pasta can be spaghetti, however it can be made with any pasta. Pasta which has been cooked Al Dente. Perhaps mixed with just a little olio d'oliva to keep it from sticking together.
You need a good hard cheese. Given that the dish is from Lazio it seems appropriate that you should chose percrino romano. You could also choose from other fine italian hard cheese such as Parmesan, Grana Padano or others, and you could even use a combination of cheeses. In the last couple decades the Italian peasant dishes, like polenta have become the dishes in fancy restaurants. It is probable that this was also once a dish of the peasants. There is even one school of thought that the very name, pasta carbonara, is derived from the Italian word carbonaro, or a man who makes his living burning or making charcoal. Pasta carbonara would have provided a good hearty midday’s meal for a hard working man.
The choice of meats was originally probably guanciale. Guanciale is a cured pork jowl. This would be the part of the pig or wild boar available to the peasant class. One of the keys to a great pasta carbonara is the introduction of fat. Over time, and not longer a dish for the man working hard burning charcoal, the scrumptious guanciale has been replaced with pancetta, small cubes of lard from the belly or commonly smoked bacon. Each substitute imparts a different flavor to the dish.
The combination of ingredients tonight include the spaghetti, a hard cheese. Probably not percino romano, the flavor of the cheese isn’t quite sharpe enough to be percino. The fat seems to be american style bacon, probably apple smoked bacon. Not quite the same as pancetta however. There were some scrambled eggs in the dish, just maybe not in the proper quantity balance with the other ingredients.
The ingredients were properly combined. The spaghetti was properly swirled clockwise in the bowl to present the diner with a beautiful mountain on spaghetti, topped every so gently with some board leaf italian parsley. There is just a slight hint of garlic in the perfume from the dish.
The dish was good, but having been to Roma and having the dish there, sorry, but it isn’t the same. Leonardo Da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa. Many have copied her, few have achieved what Leonardo did. American style bacon isn’t a substitute for guanciale or Panchetta, they just aren’t the same thing. Of course, there wasn’t sufficient garlic, but to anyone who knows me, there never is.
Our after dinner routine is fairly well established. We headed back to the suite, changed from our formal duds, and then I was off to the cigar lounge, while Mary watched those political shows. We did get our Certificate of Crossing of the Equator in our rooms tonight. So that makes it official. We have both been across the Equator before. Once 40-41 years ago when we went to Papeete in French Polynesia. This will be my third or fourth time crossing the Equator, although it is the first time at sea.
Looking forward to another nice day tomorrow. Have been looking for and expecting the infamous doldrums around the Equator that the age of sail sailors were so afraid of. It doesn’t appear we will be experiencing them on this Equator crossing.
Buonanotte e Ciao, Enrico
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