The Gulf of Aden

15 Nov. Today is the first day we will have the black out situation on the ship after sunset.  Well, it’s not exactly a total black out but diming of lights so the staff can see out better at night.  We seem to have a Naval ship, we think Italian, as our companion off and on.  Better to be safe than sorry I guess.  The day is uneventful so far, other than John is not feeling well, sick to his stomach I hope this will pass quickly for him.

Around 12:30pm we heard a helicopter.  It came along the port side, hovered, circled the ship and then left I guess since it did not land and we no longer heard it.  Interesting!  I thought maybe someone was sick and had to be taken off the ship but since it didn’t land, that was not the case.  It said “Marine” on the side so we thought maybe it was the a local Coast Guard keeping watch over us.  That military looking ship comes and goes.  George told us at dinner it was a German helicopter, there was a German flag near the back, which apparently we did not see.  Earlier in the day, when the captain addresses the guests at noon, he said the waves were 3-5 feet so we had no concerns since a pirate ship could not come aside in that water as it would be crushed against our hull or side.  He called it anti-pirate waters/weather and that he was sorry to disappoint all the folks with binoculars that hoped to see a pirate. Anyway, we haven’t seen anything but freighter-type ships passing by and only a few of those.  John thought a couple were oil tankers.  

Hmmm, we had big intentions of doing “something” today but honestly it felt good to simply read, rest, and walk a bit, a state of relaxation.  After dinner we really enjoyed the first show we went to, a Broadway tribute by the staff cast.  It was really good.  I love the ABBA music from Mama Mia, which was part of it along with other selections.  John is feeling fine now.  Must have been over indulging on something... I can’t imagine… Maybe tomorrow I will actually go take a look at the gym.  No need to rush into these things! There are a couple eating venues we have not even looked at so I do want to at least see these before we disembark.  It’s hard to believe our time is passing and we will be home in just over a week!  Clocks ahead again tonight! I tried to call Mom tonight from the ship on my cell phone but it said I had no service on the world phone, which seems odd since it is a brand seen a lot around Europe. I wonder if Verizon would work but I was too tired to try it. Per the ship paper it supports 390 phone services.  Since we are now 10 hours earlier it is a challenge to find a time.  We’ll see.