Crossing the Golden X – Royal Diamond Shellback

As yet I’ve seen a lot of sea life: dolphins, sea turtles, whales (of an unknown breed), orcas, etc. Whales were the kicker for sure, they aren’t a guarantee on any voyage. I guess none of these things are, but whales? RARE. Even more rare? KILLER FLIPPING WHALES.

I’ve never seen those in the wild, and there was a whole pod swimming nearby (but just far enough away that my iPhone caught 0 pixels of them). The captain of our majestic vessel has mentioned that he’s seen fewer and fewer flying fish over the years, so those could fall into that ultra-rare category soon too. This would be sad, as flying fish are A) something you don’t really believe in until you see, and B) one of the coolest staples of being at sea.

They’re also super difficult to photograph with the iPhone, so I’m excessively proud of the following shot (as you can tell by the overuse of arrows):

You know that I’ll have sailed over 10k miles after this voyage? That’s a lot of miles at sea for someone who grew up surrounded by wheat fields. I’ll also be crossing the equator for a second time. In the maritime world, someone who has yet to cross the equator is known as a Pollywog, and then once they do they become a Shellback. I’m currently a shellback, but today we’re crossing the equator and the prime meridian AT THE SAME TIME. Here’s a little graphic I tossed together to mark the occasion:

You can follow along on Twitter and Instagram with the #SailWithUs hashtag.

Anyways, this will give me the glorious distinction of becoming what is known as a Royal Diamond Shellback (or an “Emerald Shellback,” as the US Navy would call it). How many Royal Diamond Shellbacks do you know? I feel like I should get a tattoo to mark the occasion like a real sailor. Sadly we don’t have a berth (bed space) for a tattoo artist on board, despite my repeated requests. I’ll write more about the ceremony and significance of all this on my blog dedicated to my time with Mercy Ships later.

In any case, I’m enjoying what we call “the sail” so far. Most sailors outside of the Mercy Ships world call it a “voyage,” and instead of sailing they say they’re “under way.” It has something to do with a total lack of sails on board the ship, but I saw fit to do something about it:

Now we can sail with impunity. Assuming we don’t get blown overboard in the process.

I also just hosted a Pirate Dance Party on board last night (and dare to say I may be the only person alive who’s ever DJ’d one on the Golden X) – let’s just hope it doesn’t attract the real thing. Have you sailed (or gotten “under way”) before? What was your favorite part?