Friday April 14, 2023
At sea for another day while traveling the 3.842 nautical miles from Namibia to Santa Cruz de Tenerife. A full day as we went to two lectures, a Lunch and Learn and the Pollywog / Shellback King Neptune Ceremony. We are now between Ascension Island (British) where there is a Royal Air Force and a Royal Naval base used during WW2 and the Falkland war. We also crossed the Equator from south to north as we head back to Europe and North America.
The first lecture was by the European Historian Dave Wright who spoke of the downfall of the French Monarchy with Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette who acceded the throne as teenagers and were not prepared to rule France as he was the 3rd grandson of Louis XV, and as such it was his father and two elder brothers that were supposed to be in the line of succession. However the three of them died before the sitting king died, so Louis XVI became the king and Marie Antoinette spent all of France’s money that was left after his grandfather had spent so much in the creation of Versailles, and he continued. This led to the French Revolution and both were beheaded in the main square.
The second was the Royal Astronomical Society Fellow – Paul Fellows talking about other life in the universe. He explained about wave lengths and the use of radio waves to send out messages that go through the ionosphere and hopefully will be heard and replied to by other beings. There are several observatories that are looking out for any sounds from other worlds. One of these in Arecibo Puerto Rico, which I have visited on a couple of occasions some 50 years ago, apparently collapsed and is no longer usable at some point during the COVID lockdown years. There are others, a 500 meter diameter parabola in China that indicated a few days ago that it had received a message and was withdrawn a few days later. Others in the USA and UK have received signals that thus far cannot be explained or interpreted. Pulsars regularly give off signals, which he played for us as well as other regular signals, but once in a while there is some “noise” that has been picked up that cannot be explained. Of the 400 billion planets in the Universe, it is estimated that some 10,000 have the possibility of having intelligent life that could make a transmission. However these are so far away that for a signal to get to us or them many decades / centuries must pass. On Earth radio messages have been beamed out for the past 100 years, but the early ones likely faded out before reaching even the closest planet. However today, a signal could reach another planet outside of our solar system in 45 years, then if they “hear” it, interpret it and send it back it will be likely another 45 years. However serious work is being done on the subject and the overall bottom line is that there is likely to be other planets with intelligent life that exist. Another point he mentioned which I had not thought of was that it actually takes 23 hours and 46 minutes for the earth to rotate once relative to the sun and not 24 hours. The reason for the other 4 minutes is that the earth is actually rotating around the sun roughly 1 degree a day (360 degrees in 365.25 days) and this 1 degree rotation accounts for the other 4 minutes.
We enjoyed the Lunch and Learn hosted by Dinesh – the Head Sommelier who came back from his time off, during which time Paneer had taken his job. We prefer the explanations of Paneer and hope he will be given the head job on one of the Cunard ships. Today’s selection was USA and Canadian wines:-
- Caesar Salad
Chardonnay Norman Hardie, Niagara Peninsula, Canada which was really good. AND Valravn Chardonnay Sonoma County California.
- Grilled Filet of Lemon Sole
Pinot Gris (US equivalent of Grigio) A to Z Wine-works, Oregon AND Riesling Kung Fu Girl, Charles Smith, Washington State
- Aged USDA Angus Strip Steak with Pepper Sauce
Merlot, Bonterra AND Bake-stone Cabernet Sauvignon
- Artisan Cheese with Quince Jelly
Pinot Noir, Norman Hardie, Niagara Peninsula, Canada AND Pinot Noir A to Z Wine-Works, Dundee Hills USA.
The Pollywog to Shellback / King Neptune ceremony took place just outside the Verandah restaurant so we saw the first part while we were seeing the enjoying the end of the Lunch and Learn, before heading outside to see the last of the event where those of the crew had not crossed the Line (Equator) before, got slop put all over them and then dunked into the pool, to appease King Neptune of the Seas. Always an amusing event and part of naval tradition for many years. Given the amount of wine, a siesta seemed to be the order of the afternoon. The evening show was Electra two young women One Irish and one from Bulgaria that played the violin covering Classical, James Bond, Musicals and Pop. They were excellent.
Roger & Anne Travels 