Today was the first sea day that the wind was almost non-existent. For the first few hours of the morning after we had eaten breakfast we sat outside on deck 17 in front of an empty Sanctuary. There was glorious sunshine and it was more like what we were expecting the weather to heading north up the west coast.
The wind was still there but much milder and now with some warmth. However by 10:00 it had clouded over and normal service had resumed. There were 600 new passengers that got on in Fremantle yesterday so there have been a lot of new faces exploring the ship
At around 2:36 pm and in conjunction with Remembrance Day, the captain diverted our course so that we could sail directly over the wreck of HMAS Sydney which was Australia’s greatest naval tragedy. On 19 November 1941 the ship got into an encounter with the German Raider HSK Kormoran and was lost without trace losing all 645 crew. It wasn’t until 2008 that the wreck was located. HSK Kormoran also sank but their loses were minimal by comparison. As we passed over the site, the ensign was lowered to half mast and the ships horn sounded.
The afternoon weather was cloudy with sunny intervals and was really quite pleasant compared to previous sea days. All the outside areas of the ship were busy apart from where we were up on deck 17. Having so many aged passengers sometimes has its benefits as you need to go up two decks externally using the stairs and the lift up there is out of order so only the more mobile have ventured into that area. It also kept us away from all the noise and shenanigans going on poolside.
Late afternoon we returned to the cabin and sat on the balcony for 1 ½ hours and as the previous sea day, did 6 laps of the prom deck for some exercise.
Fitbit Steps 13,096
Thank you for the history lesson about the sinking and loss of life. It’s really quite touching that they made such an effort of commemoration. And thanks also for the hint about Deck 17 – that will come in useful for me!