Yesterday was a superlative day off for most everyone. The Puerto Rico daily
rain showers did not materialize and the passing scattered clouds only served
to give the people brief breaks from a powerfully hot sun.
Our food service provider did a wonderful job of feeding the crew - lighting
grills at 1000 hours, they served food continuously until about 1830 when they
brought out the tubs of ice cream. Let's put the day in perspective for
everyone - we're feeding 700 people. They prepared 1,200 burgers; 600 Italian
sausages; 400 hot dogs; 375 pounds of spare ribs; 260 pounds of beef brisket;
Fish Taco that included 25 pounds of cod fish and ten pounds of shrimp;
Jambalaya with 20 pounds each of shrimp, scallops and sausage; six sheet pans
of brownies and 96 dozen cookies; all topped off with 15 3-gallon tubs of ice
cream! Please note that all this is served on the Helo Deck that is two decks
above the galley, and three decks above the reefers. The steward's crew worked
relentlessly, and the end product gave us an excellent day.
Last evening we had the climax or the Wounded Warriors fund raising campaign -
with the actual 'Mayhem in Mayaquez'. Our FTV reported Alicia will provide a
complete match-by-match description of the jousting that entertained hundreds
of crew crowded on the Helo Deck and the aft house railings. The final
contributions are still being computed, but we easily exceeded our past efforts
- topping $7,000 for such a worthy and noble cause.
We weigh anchor in about thirty minutes, heading east toward the Virgin
Islands, then we take a 130 degree right turn towards the Dutch West Indies. In
three days we will dock in Oranjestad, Aruba. The sea term is waning
quickly…yielding a mixed emotion in most of us.
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