7:48pm- 4:51am Est. - Well last night started off with us crossing the International Dateline, which led to us skipping January 26th. I had scheduled an appointment at the spa to get a massage for my 21st Birthday today. Little did I know that my whole day and world was about to be turned upside down. Here is a timeline in which the events unraveled:
1:24am- I am woken up by the ship violently rocking and rolling back and forth. I am also pulled back and forth in my bed.
2:30am- More violent rocking and rolling. Things began to fall down off shelves in the room. Drawers open and close even though we have taped them shut.
3:00am- Josh’s night table breaks off of the wall and tumbles (cartwheels) down towards the door. The beds also begin to move around the room. Captain Radican comes over the loudspeaker and assures us that everything will be all right and to hang in there. He also explains to us that a 500lb safe is now on his desk, which flew on top of the desk in the night.
5:25am- Beds and furniture continued to move around the room and Josh falls out of his bed.
6:00am- We are then told to put on our life jackets and either stay in our rooms or in the hallway.
6:30am- We along with most everyone in our hallway are in the hallway. Girls are crying, people are getting really upset not knowing what is happening. A frantic message then came over the loudspeaker and told people who were on Decks 2,3, and 4 to move up to Deck 5 (in order to get above the water line).
We all sit together tightly in tiny hallways not knowing what is going on. Many people were hyperventilating and getting worked up. The only thing we know is that the waves continuously pound our ship and we roll really far to both sides. We ended up staying on Deck 5 until about 1pm, a full 7 hours away from our rooms with nothing. They did however, break out food like bread, fruit, candy, and water to help take care of us and it was very much a bonding experience as we passed everything from person to person down the hallway of people.
Eventually Captain Radican again came over the loudspeaker and informed us that this storm “snuck up on us” and that a wave had been high enough to hit the bridge (where the ship is steered from) and it knocked out a window soaking everything in water. All the water ended up wrecking the navigation controls so we don’t have them anymore. We then had to wait for the Coast Guard ships, helicopters, and planes to come and lead us in the right direction. At 10pm this evening there is supposed to be a merchant marine ship that is supposed to help guide us along also to our new destination, the Midway Islands. Now we have changed course and turned around to go back over the International Dateline. We were told that we were going to the Midway Islands instead of onto Japan because the Captain said that we need to get refueled and that the ship is damaged a bit, including an engine (we only had one engine at some parts during the day).
What was kind of annoying during the day were the people spreading rumors and the people who had satellite phones. It is those people who jumped to conclusions and told their parents incorrect information which then gets spread through the Semester at Sea webpage and then onto other parents. Sometimes I think that these parents and students are equally as dumb because now they cause other people to wrongfully worry. Yes it has been a horrible experience today and everyone didn’t know how it would end up, but parents cannot do anything for the student when everything is happening. And I’m sure some of you who may read this may think that I don’t know what I’m talking about because I’m not a parent. Well my answer to that is, is that I am a son and I know that there is no reason to upset my parents over something they or I have no control over (As always your entitled to your own opinion).
2nd Thursday, January 27th, 2004- Pacific Ocean
5:40pm- 2:41am Est. - Well, I just came back from the community meeting telling us what is going on. The Captain has two options:
1. Take 2 ½ days to get to the Midway Islands.
Problem: There is no pier so we can only anchor there. Also, there is not a real way that they can accommodate us.
2. Take 4-7 days to Honolulu.
Problem: There is only enough gas for ideal conditions with wind pushing us from the back. Also, who knows what kind of storms may pop up on the way?
Captain Radican will make his decision as we go along. Two Coast Guard ships, one from Alaska and one from Hawaii are coming to help monitor the weather and help us out if we need it.
I wasn’t going to call home but there were so many rumors on the ship about what was being put on the news at home (ex: CNN, ESPN, MTV- a lot of which I did not believe). So at breakfast while I was sitting with a group of friends, they were all talking about how they called home on one of my friend Ari’s satellite phone. I wasn’t going to ask him to use it but he offered to let me use it at no charge. I first called home, but of course my mom doesn’t answer unless she knows the number and the fact that my answering machine didn’t pick up I was unable to get through. I then called Candi (my girlfriend) and I was surprised to see that she didn’t pick up since she had said “I’m never going to turn my phone off.” I ended up leaving her a message and told her to call my parents to tell them I was okay. I eventually get through to my mother later in the day and she informed me that our incident had been on CBS Radio and somewhere else. I ended up calling Candi again and giving her another chance to pick up, but still to no avail, I went straight to her voice message. I hope she didn’t get too mad that she didn’t pick up.
Some other stuff:
- “And without further wait your Captain. He’s been busier than a one toothed man in a corn on the cob eating contest.” – How Captain Radican was introduced to us at yesterday’s meeting.
No comments:
Post a Comment