Captain's Blog 1/26/12

DATE 1/26 THUR
TIME 0700 LT (ZD +5), 1200 GMT
LAT 0-10N
LON 83-13W
C 180
S 7.5 K
RPM 30
DEPTH 3474 METERS
WIND S FORCE 4
SKY 1/8
PRES 1011
AIR 76/74
SEA 79
158NM NW OF CABO SN LORENZO, ECUADOR

Shellbacking Day - The Pollywogs and Tadpoles were awoken at 0600 and served a sumptuous breakfast from the sea; all with names that were nastier than the real food such as fried kelp, fish eggs and Octopus Juice. Then off to their quarters where, while sequestered, the loyal Shellbacks set the stage for the grand initiation into the Deep.

King Neptune's Royal Court, with the Queen and Royal Baby, lead the entourage to the Helo Deck. 630 Pollywogs were initiated and I believe that every single one of them did so with the biggest smile on their faces even when standing in torrents of saltwater flowing over their heads, crawling to meet King Neptune himself, and to swim with the creatures of the sea. King Neptune was so pleased with the response by the Pollywogs that he asked me to give them a special privilege so I have suspended Captain's Inspection tonight.

Hundreds of cadets are now lined up to start chowing down on the cook-out on the Helo Deck. Meanwhile a small army of Cadets and crew are hard at work bringing the ship back into a presentable condition before we enter port tomorrow morning. Next port is Guayaquil, Ecuador, which MMA has not visited in over 40 years. That’s the sea term - one adventure after another. More tomorrow….