The Daily for Tuesday Mar 30, 2021

[ger_77]

@USN59-79 - congratulations on 58 wonderful years together; may the love and laughter continue!  What a great photo of the 2 of you!

 

Isn't it great to be able to thumb your noses at the nay-sayers who predicted a short shelf-life for your marriage?  Ours was also, not because of racial difference, but because of age; DH is nearly 14 years my senior and I was accused of being a gold digger.  Little did they know he had more debt than I did!  Our son married a beautiful Japanese girl and they have 2 sweet little boys - we regard her as our daughter, no matter what race she is.

 

@Suslor a very Happy Birthday to you - love the photo!

 

Smooth Sailing!  🙂🙂🙂

Gerry

[Red Haired Lady]

5 hours ago, Mtn2Sea said:

We visited Townsville, Australia two years ago while on the Amsterdam.  We took an excursion to the Billabong Sanctuary, which is just outside of Townsville.  We saw many animals including a wombat, koala bears, a dingo and several kangaroos. We were lucky that it did not rain on us (the morning had rain showers), but we experienced high temperatures. We had a brief panoramic tour of the city before returning to the ship.

 

 

 

 

 

You’ll never catch me in a photo like this, but DW thought it was pretty cool to have a snake wrapped around her.

 

 

An overview photo of Townsville.

 

Thanks for the pictures!  I  hope to be there on Nov 23, 2021, on the Oosterdam. It is the circumnavigation trip. And since "I am NOT in control," time will tell if this happens or not.

[bennybear]

Hello and thanks!  I obviously had no control as cc shut down mid post and I couldn’t get back in.  
 

Congratulations to those celebrating anniversaries and birthdays!  I’m glad our world has come a ways!  We too were told our marriage wouldn’t last,  maybe it’s the kiss of life for a marriage!  We will celebrate 40 plus years next month.  
 

@fatcat04love the quote, made me tear up!  So missing being at sea.  
 

We had a special visitor yesterday! 
 

 

[smitty34877]

@USN59-79,  A  very  Happy Anniversary to  you!  @Suslor,Happy Birthday  to You.

We  have  quite  a  few  mixed  race  couples  in  our  family  and  these  present  times  have  been  a  challenge for  them  as  well  as  their  children. It is  a  beautiful  thing  when  the  negative  people  are  proved  wrong. Thank  you  for  the  beautiful  pictures.           Terry

[Copper10-8]

So we had two sea days as Amsterdam was sailing southbound from Shanghai to Hong Kong in the East China Sea, an arm of the Western Pacific Ocean That East China Sea is located directly offshore from East China (hence the name), covering an area of roughly 482,000 square miles. It is bounded in the east and southeast by the middle portion of the first island chain, including the Japanese island of Kyushu and the Ryukyu Islands, and in the south by the island of Taiwan aka the Republic of China (ROC). It connects with the Sea of Japan in the northeast through the Korea Strait, the South China Sea in the southwest via the Taiwan Strait, and the Philippine Sea in the southeast via gaps between the various Ryukyu Islands. During the early morning hours of sea day #2, we would be sailing in between mainland China and Taiwan, a distance of roughly only 112 miles across the Taiwan Strait from the southeastern coast of the People 's Republic of China.

 

One of the most important 😉 pieces of equipment, as far as the navigators are concerned is the automated coffee maker located in the small pantry aft of the bridge on the starboard side across from the hotel manager's cabin. As I mentioned before, every morning (schedule permitting) at 10:30 is coffee time, a Dutch tradition, when all officers assigned to the Nautical/Deck Dept. (the security officer is part of this dept., remember the "Nelson loop?") gather on the bridge. This is both a social event, as well as a business meeting as coffee time segways into the BRM or Bridge Resource Management meeting in which the details of the next port are described in a power point presentation, complete with charts and pictures of that port 

 

A look inside Amsterdam's main galley where, everyday around 4:00 PM, the COM (culinary operations manager), and ACOM (assistant culinary operations manager) join the executive chef outside the latter's office (you can see the exec chef's office door in the 3rd pic) for food tasting of that night's dinner menu. That particular deck is heavily travelled by the culinary staff and was in need of painting

 

The East China Sea has areas of modern day pirate activity so Amsterdam's "R2D2's" were set up, the tarps removed, rigged and deployed. Both LRAD's (one port and one starboard side unit below the bridge) on Amsterdam are unique in that they are remotely operated based on instructions from the bridge via portable radio and a computer screen. The LRAD operators sit elsewhere out of view

 

  

Edited March 30, 2021 by Copper10-8

[cruzn single]

@Suslor, happy. Birthday.  @USN59-79happy anniversary.  Festive day.   Thanks to all for birthday wishes.

 

it is a cleat, but chilly day.  Wish Spring would decide to stay around.  And I know those further North are wishing the same.

 

Love the drink of the day, but only on a BHB.  I would love to be on one today.  I have celebrated several Birthdays sailing in Caribbean.  Was always so simple when we lived in Florida.  Short trip from Orlando to FLL or TPA.

 

Have a great day everyone.

[ger_77]

35 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

 The East China Sea has areas of modern day pirate activity so Amsterdam's "R2D2's" were set up, the tarps removed, rigged and deployed. Both LRAD's (one port and one starboard side unit below the bridge) on Amsterdam are unique in that they are remotely operated based on instructions from the bridge via portable radio and a computer screen. The LRAD operators sit elsewhere out of view

 

I recall while on our SE Asia cruise, on the days we were sailing to and from Hong Kong, we were told we were not allowed to take any photos of the area.  It was suggested that we keep our cabin curtains closed as well.  We looked out a couple of times and saw that we were being monitored by a few official looking vessels, and that they were observing us with binoculars.  I don't recall there being LRADs on the deck, but I'm sure there was heightened security.   It was interesting being watched like that.

 

Smooth Sailing!  🙂🙂🙂

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

@Suslor HAPPY BIRTHDAY,  🎂🎈 Great picture of a great looking couple.

 

Lenda

[bobpatj]

Thanks so much for the Daily, Rich, and so glad it’s back to normal!

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

Finally, it seems like we are settled and can start living.  We pretty much finished all the chores that needed to be done after five months in Arizona.  The cars are washed, the tires aired, the grass is mowed and we finally got the last of the stuff off the motorhome and put away.

 

This afternoon, we also fixed the refrigerator.  It seems there was still a little water in the line to the ice maker when the winter storm hit.  Our best guess is froze when the power was out and caused a hole in the line. Of course, we did not discover it until we turned the water on Saturday.  After turning the water to the fridge off, and cleaning up the mess, we just used the ice from the motorhome fridge.  
 

Today, we pulled it back out and fixed the hose.  Basically, we just had to remove the lower back panel and shorten the line.  There was a short line between the main line and the connection in the fridge.  We just took the short line out and connected the main line to the fridge since it was long enough.  For once I was the one on the floor and DH was getting the tools.

 

Behind and under the fridge is cleaner than since we got it.  And we also cleaned the lint out of the inside “works”:  

 

To celebrate, we went to Sonic for supper.  While we were in town, we also drove by the city park.  You can’t rely on information on social media.  Not only was the park open, but there were several youth baseball games going on.  It seems the person who posted the town had closed and sold the park was wrong.

 

Lenda

  

[Suslor]

3 hours ago, Quartzsite Cruiser said:

@Suslor HAPPY BIRTHDAY,  🎂🎈 Great picture of a great looking couple.

 

Lenda

Thanks everyone. Our picture was taken on the Zuiderdam by the ship photo studio. 

[Copper10-8]

3 hours ago, ger_77 said:

I recall while on our SE Asia cruise, on the days we were sailing to and from Hong Kong, we were told we were not allowed to take any photos of the area.  It was suggested that we keep our cabin curtains closed as well.  We looked out a couple of times and saw that we were being monitored by a few official looking vessels, and that they were observing us with binoculars.  I don't recall there being LRADs on the deck, but I'm sure there was heightened security.   It was interesting being watched like that.

 

Smooth Sailing!  🙂🙂🙂

 

Sounds like something these dudes would do 😉 

 

[garlictown]

5 hours ago, Red Haired Lady said:

Thanks for the pictures!  I  hope to be there on Nov 23, 2021, on the Oosterdam. It is the circumnavigation trip. And since "I am NOT in control," time will tell if this happens or not.

😊You will love "going around" Australia! Such a wonderful country and its people. We were able to stay in Port Douglas two different times and experienced snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef. We already have plans for November or we'd be joining you!! 😉

[Horizon chaser 1957]

Good evening, all! I’m not a morning person AT ALL but I was up at 5:00 AM to pick up a friend, take her to the ferry, and drive her to her oncologist appointment in Victoria. So you decide what won our - I’m In Control Day, or National Doctors Day.😏

But it was worth it - he told her she had been cancer free for a year now, and doesn’t need to see her for another year. He was stunned when she reminded him that when she started her treatment, she had a 26% chance of surviving 5 years. This Friday is her final chemo treatment. He said that the past 18 months was the period that made her odds low, and being alive and cancer free at this point means the odds are hugely in her favour!

Today’s port of Townsville was our second last stop before the pandemic was declared. Since Cairns was rained out, this was our last enjoyable port. We went to Magnetic island, on our own arrangements, with the idea of looking for koalas in the wild. It was rainy enough that the koalas sensibly stayed hidden. It was still@ great day, and at Horshoe Bay we had the best fish & chips I’ve ever eaten! Back in Townsville, we ran into friends from the ship and had a drink at a local bar. It was our last fun and carefree stop of the cruise, and I cherish the memories!

The ferry to Magnetic Island.

 

The Forts Walk Park - home of a large population of Koala Bears, all of which were sheltering from the rain, and none of which we saw.

 

Home of the best fish & chips I’ve ever had!

 

Beach break at Horseshoe bay.

 

Here comes the rain again!

 

Back to the bus across the island to the ferry.

 

Sign on the UPPER deck of the ferry. Someone, sometime, did something to make this sign necessary!

 

With friends at The Taphouse in Townsville. The final happy, easy going shore moments of the 2020 GWV.

 

The craft market inside the cruise terminal.

 

The Amsterdam welcomes us home.

 

And finally, I hope you had a Happy Tuesday!

Edited March 31, 2021 by Horizon chaser 1957

[DeeniEncinitas]

1 minute ago, Horizon chaser 1957 said:

Good, I’m, evening, all! I’m not a morning person AT ALL but I was up at 5:00 AM to pick up a friend, take her to the ferry, and drive her to her oncologist appointment in Victoria. So you decide what won our - I’m In Control Day, or National Doctors Day.😏

But it was worth it - he told her she had been cancer free for a year now, and doesn’t need to see her for another year. He was stunned when she reminded him that when she started her treatment, she had a 26% chance of surviving 5 years. This Friday is her final chemo treatment. He said that the past 18 months was the period that made her odds low, and being alive and cancer free at this point means the odds are hugely in her favour!

Today’s port of Townsville was our second last stop before the pandemic was declared. Since Cairns was rained out, this was our last enjoyable port. We went to Magnetic island, on our own arrangements, with the idea of looking for koalas in the wild. It was rainy enough that the koalas sensibly stayed hidden. It was still@ great day, and at Horshoe Bay we had the best fish & chips I’ve ever eaten! Back in Townsville, we ran into friends from the ship and had a drink at a local bar. It was our last fun and carefree stop of the cruise, and I cherish the memories!

The ferry to Magnetic Island.

 

The Forts Walk Park - home of a large population of Koala Bears, all of which were sheltering from the rain, and none of which we saw.

 

Home of the best fish & chips I’ve ever had!

 

Beach break at Horseshoe bay.

 

Here comes the rain again!

 

Back to the bus across the island to the ferry.

 

Sign on the UPPER deck of the ferry. Someone, sometime, did something to make this sign necessary!

 

With friends at The Taphouse in Townsville. The final happy, easy going shore moments of the 2020 GWV.

 

The craft market inside the cruise terminal.

 

The Amsterdam welcomes us home.

 

And finally, I hope you had a Happy Tuesday!

🌺I have been home for about an hour ! Took a shower a glass of wine in hand and David has made dinner! First I am so thrilled about your friend! Thank God! Brings back memories for a dear friend which I did the same thing helping her👍
Still cancer free after 15 years! You are a beautiful dear  friend!! Thank you for your pictures! I saved your other pictures so I can look at them and hope 2023 we can go to Australia!  Tomorrow is my last day

in helping with vaccines and am happy with how well we are Doing!

Thank you for your contributions I so enjoy them!!

Denise😊

[Horizon chaser 1957]

11 hours ago, USN59-79 said:

Kind of a cool morning here in the Pacific Northwest.  This time of the year it is either warm and wet or cool and dry.  Should be a good afternoon.  Today is our 58th Wedding Anniversary.  This is us in 1963.

Happy Anniversary, and Congratulations!

[Horizon chaser 1957]

11 hours ago, USN59-79 said:

A little background on interracial marriage.  In 1963 it was a felony in 19 states.  I spoke to a Navy legal officer in Taipei and he explained the law to me.  Said that if we married the Navy would ensure that we were not transferred to one of those states, like Virginia.  We were transferred to California.  In 1967 the U.S. Supreme Court struck down those laws in the case of Loving vs Virginia.  We had to get permission from the Navy to marry and go thru some interviews.  For example the Navy Chaplain told us "These marriages seldom last very long, but if you insist on marrying you should get married in the Navy Chapel".  I told him "No thank you, sir". and we were married by an Episcopal missionary whose church I attended.

Ray

And because of people like you and your wife, couples like my daughter and SIL can marry now without concerns bigger than the guest list and venue, and who’s furniture to keep,for the new apartment. Thank you both.

[Sharon in AZ]

The day got away from me and here it is almost bedtime. Thank you for the Daily Rich !  Thank you for your lists Roy!  Thank you everyone for your pictures and comments!

 

My favorite cocktail is a Martini. I’ve worked for doctors my entire working career. 
 

We have not been to today’s port but love all the pictures and comments. 
 

Have a good night everyone!

[kazu]

8 hours ago, Horizon chaser 1957 said:

But it was worth it - he told her she had been cancer free for a year now, and doesn’t need to see her for another year. He was stunned when she reminded him that when she started her treatment, she had a 26% chance of surviving 5 years.

What wonderful news 🙂. So happy for your friend and for you 😄 

[cat shepard]

8 hours ago, Horizon chaser 1957 said:

Good evening, all! I’m not a morning person AT ALL but I was up at 5:00 AM to pick up a friend, take her to the ferry, and drive her to her oncologist appointment in Victoria. So you decide what won our - I’m In Control Day, or National Doctors Day.😏

But it was worth it - he told her she had been cancer free for a year now, and doesn’t need to see her for another year. He was stunned when she reminded him that when she started her treatment, she had a 26% chance of surviving 5 years. This Friday is her final chemo treatment. He said that the past 18 months was the period that made her odds low, and being alive and cancer free at this point means the odds are hugely in her favour!

 

Laura, what a good friend you are! So happy that your friend had such great news. 

[Himself]

10 hours ago, Horizon chaser 1957 said:

Happy Anniversary, and Congratulations!

Happy Anniversary!