20231002 AAAA Trip - Bering Sea to Pacific Ocean - Red sky in morning...

2023 Alaska, Asia, Australia, Arabian Peninsula Trip 
Day 16/105 - Bering Sea to Pacific Ocean - Day #4 to Japan

...sailors take warning.  The predicted rocking and rolling didn't happen much overnight.  We're in perhaps six to seven-foot waves as we sail down the east side of Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula.

We gained another hour last night so we are now UTC+12 or 16 hours ahead of the US East Coast.  This has our sleeping all screwed up so we get to see sunrises. This morning definitely had a little red in it, a harbinger of what will likely come later today. Shortly after this, the sun went behind thick clouds.

Here is a screenshot of predicted wave heights for later this morning.

You can see our destination, Sapporo, on the lower left.  We are in the blue area, heading into the pink, purple, red.  The weather picker tool indicates 16-foot wave heights around 2PM this afternoon, or in about five hours.  Just another day at sea.

Arlona headed down for crochet lessons today.  I distracted myself by shooting a few photos of a bunch of black-legged kittiwakes that were following the ship. The sun behind the clouds made for a low-contrast photography day.

I don't think this is the recommended flying position

You can recognize kittiwakes from their wings – it looks like someone dipped the tips in black ink

Here’s another one doing something weird with its head

There were several dark birds out there as well, but they remained low to the water and far from the ship.  At a distance, they resembled shearwaters.

One thing I forgot to mention yesterday was Japan Immigration.  We received a customs form and two immigration forms. Everything had to be filled out and submitted to the Explorers' Desk along with our passports.  We will have a face-to-face immigration process before we are allowed to step off the ship in Japan. One of the many joys of international travel - government paperwork.

Day #4 of progressive trivia was, in a word, brutal.  We only hit on 9/16 (there was one bonus point available today that we didn’t get), and that will plunge us from the third-place position we enjoyed before today’s round.  The misfires:

• The Merlion, a mythical creature with the head of a lion and the body of a fish is a symbol of what country?
• We guessed Japan – it is Singapore
• What South American country has Dutch as its official language?
• We reasoned it would be in the north as the south Caribbean islands are controlled by The Netherlands – we were on the right track with Guyana, but it was its next-door neighbor, Surinam
• What is the only country with a flag that is not a quadrilateral (square, rectangle)?
• We guessed Indonesia – it is Nepal
• How many Harry Potter books were written by J.K. Rowling?
• We thought five – it is seven
• Name the world’s smallest ocean?
• We thought it was the Indian, but it is the Arctic Ocean
• What part of the brain controls movement?
• We guessed the hippocampus, it is the cerebellum
• What country won the first World Cup (soccer), and for an extra point, who did they beat?
• We knew it was Uruguay, but thought they beat Brazil – they beat Argentina

The promised heavy weather arrived late in the morning, bringing much heavier seas, thick overcast, and a pretty solid rain. Going from blue skies and fluffy clouds to dark, dreary, and damp isn’t fun, but it is what it is, and we continue venturing south and west.

Here's a look at the waves outside our window.

I enjoyed more therapy time in the hot tub and a dip in what amounted to a wave pool.

We attended another seminar from our friend and Travel Consultant, Hâmed, on Viking’s Antarctica sailings.  Then, it was time for the Explores’ Bar followed by dinner in the World Café.  It was an Indian-themed night, so we opted for steaks.  Indian isn’t our thing.

We noted that the crowds were down, most likely due to the weather.  We saw many room service trays outside rooms on the guest room floors.  I think the 16-foot waves sent many guests to their rooms for the evening.  I’m sure it will have some impact on the singers and dancers in tonight’s show.

We returned to the Explorers’ Bar to finish this blog and enjoy a nightcap.  Tonight, we set the clock back another hour.  It is definitely impacting both of us as we’re waking up in the middle of the night.  Three more sea days and one-hour adjustments until we reach Sapporo, Japan.