Day 17: 1/26 Crazy Waves

                Today we have experienced the most intense waves since the beginning of the trip.  Before we arrived in Hawaii, the waves tended to make the ship rock right to left like a baby’s cradle.  Since we left Hawaii, the motion of the waves has been a bit more sporadic.  The motion was no longer back and forth, but rather like standing on a flat board that is balancing on top of a ball.  The motion could potentially be described as circular which was extremely hard to adjust to, especially when walking up and down the long hallways. 

                Tonight, however, was wild.  Hopefully I can find a video that someone took with a GoPro showing the magnitude of how much the ship was moving.  People were flying all over the place, the drawers in my room were opening and slamming shut on their own, someone’s TV fell down, some people’s drawers came off the tracks and out of the dresser completely, things were flying off shelves, and it got to be so bad that they cancelled all activities (including classes) after 1655. Dinner time was especially interesting.  Trying to walk through a maze of tables, chairs, and people with a full plate of food in one hand and a drink in the other while the waves are rocking and rolling was very difficult.  I thought I was going to spill something on someone a good 10 times in the 20 feet that I walked to get to the table where we were sitting.  During dinner there were people who fell or almost fell out of their chairs, dishes falling off the tables, and lots of sliding around for everyone.  If I weren’t as sea sick as I was earlier in the day, I would probably have had a great time during this storm.  Maybe next time there’s a sizable wave I’ll be able to enjoy it more than this one.