Picto Diary - 22, 23 September 2017 - Tracking Maria
Above: Wheel chair bound Bishop and Penthouse "A" butler, Gayatri, from (now flood beseiged) Mumbai. 22 September 2017.
Port side companionway, forward, 11th deck. Regent Seven Seas Mariner. Caribbean Sea.... in the wake of Hurricane Maria.
The wheel chair is more difficult to move on the carpets. I can hardly do it on my own. The tireless TIMDT can get it going OK. She seems not to mind pushing... says that it is good exercise.
From forward, where Gayatri and I are pictured, we negotiate the carpets to the elevator vestibule, then, we cross to the restaurants aft, on the wood pool deck where the pushing is much easier. We use the elevators at either end of the ship to get to the right deck.
Exiting to the pool deck is difficult when we are on our own, because, we have to open doors, and keep them open, while wheeling the chair backward, over a threshold hump. More often than not, however, there is someone nearby always eager to help by keeping the door open.
I'm pretty much self sufficient in our cabin now. I can shower on my own, dress on my own, and do the bathroom drill, and toilette on my own. I have used the walker throughout. The only use of the crutches, so far, has been on the aircraft, between getting off the wheelchair in the jetway and moving to the seat on the plane... the walker is too big and unwieldy to negotiate that passage.
I have four spots in the cabin where I reside during the day. The desk, where my computer is located, the divan, across the cabin from the desk, the right side of the king size bed, and the chair on the outdoor deck, when weather permits.
Moving from place to place I carry my phone, the TV remote in my shirt and shorts pocket, and the book I'm reading, between my teeth.
TIMDT seems gratified that she is needed less and less for the assistance that I seemed to require earlier. I continue to depend on TIMDT getting my clothes to wear and pushing me around on the ship.
With our butler service (see butler Gayatri in the image) everything is pretty much at your beck and call. Ice for the leg? Comes in two big plastic bags within five minutes of a request. For icing sessions, I recline on the divan and use narrow divan pillows, leaned against the back of the divan, to elevate my leg.
The leg seems to get better from day to day. There is still a minor amount of swelling, when I'm upright, that occurs below the knee. The swelling problem, though, seems to lessen day by day.
Three times we have eaten in the room. Room service sets up a white table cloth dining experience on the table by the divan. When I eat in the room, I usually default to comfort food... a burger and fries or spaghetti Bolognese.
While it is too early to pat ourselves on the back for taking this cruise given my condition, the benefits, so far, seem to outweigh the difficulties. Though TIMDT has had to work hard to see to my movements, she has benefited from not having to prepare meals or keep up our living space. She has had time to join Montage and SpaGo on the central American shore excursions and go to lectures or exercise classes.
Seeing the 'bucket list" Panama Canal was a home run. The hired car and guide stop at Cartagena, with me exiting the ship and joining the sightseeing, worked well and served as a great introduction to Colombia for our first time visit there.
Each day, the vista out of the cabin window is new.... one could argue that a new daily scene alone is superior to having to look out of our bedroom window day after day during the recovery period. To top that off, we've missed, happily, Park City's early season snow... good if you're anticipating the ski season... but, not so good if you are recovering from broken leg surgery.
If an argument to go on a trip like this, considering my condition, was to make the time pass more quickly... well, that has worked to a tee.
Knock on wood. We have a hurricane to bypass and have to negotiate the transfer from the port in New York City, to JFK, to a four hour flight, and then home... but, so far, the trip has been a great experience.
Above: TIMDT. Caribbean Sea. Regent Seven Seas Mariner. 22 September 2017.
Relaxing on cabin deck, at Sea.
Making way, cranking at 21 knots, towards the Windward Passage (between Cuba and Haiti).
BISHOP UPDATE: 8:00 AM EST 24 SEPTEMBER 2017
Overnight we (Regent Seven Seas Mariner) headed almost due west to get out of the Maria induced chop. We are now ten miles or so south of Freeport, Bahamas, entering the Florida Straits. Calm Waters! We were rockin' heavily last night when we were further east. West Palm Beach is due west from us, about eighty miles.
Since we did not stop at Nassau, we have ten hours of slack. Cap'n strategy is to head north from here, bypass the storm on its west side... still expected to be about 220 miles to the east when we go by. Chop, Cap'n forecasts, will be there, but, hopefully, since we have delayed our passage north by this westward veer, the storm will have weakened in the colder waters.
Problematical, though is that Maria is a very slow moving hurricane. Five MPH. It might not be far enough north, hence stronger, when we have to pass it.
If we're going to get to NYC on AM of 27th, we're going to have to overtake the storm. If she trends, as expected to the NNE, we'll be fine. If she veers to the NW, beeline on NYC, we may be planning a new way home.... from Charleston.
CAP'N UPDATE 5:00 PM EST.
Mid course correction #2. We're now going further west, up through the Florida Straits. Beeline north via Bahamas, original plan, choppier than expected. 15 foot swells. New route means more time, more distance, smoother sailing, but delay getting by Maria, expected to be 220 miles east of us when we pass her. That's OK because we have extra time by skipping The stop in Nassau. The further north Maria gets, the more she weakens. If she trends unexpectedly too far northwest, all bets are off. We could end up in Miami or Charleston. Otherwise, pass her to the west and beeline to NYC. Rockin' and Rollin' now.
CAP'N UPDATE NOON EST.
Sunday 10 hour stop Nassau cancelled. Maria trending NNW closer to east coast. Must get around it, and ahead of it, staying 200 miles to the west of the storm.
This is 2nd time on this cruise that hurricane dodging has eliminated a cruise stop. First time over a week ago. Missing Acapulco to dodge hurricane Max.
9:00 AM EST:
Regent Seven Seas Mariner is 25 miles north of eastern Cuba heading for Nassau, Bahamas at robust 18 knots. Nassau arrival Sun AM.
Rocking and rolling on 15 foot swells.
Cap'n says he'll leave earlier than planned from Nassau direction NYC on Sun eve and chart a longer course to the west, closer to the US coastline.
As of now...that is.
We're still not outta the woods.
Saturday update: HURRICANE MARIA has finally left the Caribbean Islands and the Bahamas behind and is heading north into the coastal water off the Southeast U.S., leaving behind a stunning path of destruction and tragedy in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Dominica, and the other islands it touched.
Maria is no threat to Florida and Georgia.
The latest model trends continue to show that Maria might come uncomfortably close to the North Carolina coast the middle of next week. Odds still favor that the worst of the storm will stay offshore, but that continues to be less than a 100% certainty.
Maria is expected to slowly weaken as it moves north toward cooler water – made extra cool when Hurricane Jose trod the same patch of ocean last weekend, stirring up the cold water below the surface. In addition, upper level winds will, on average, become less favorable. At the same time, Maria is expected to grow somewhat larger, so its strong winds spread a bit farther from the storm’s center.
Maria’s path will be guided by a variety of weather systems. Currently, the path north is around the western end of the large high-pressure system, which is spread across the Atlantic. As it reaches Florida’s latitude, the remnants of Jose might deflect it a bit to the east away from land. But Jose is dying, so the high-pressure system that trapped Jose will have a chance to take over and direct Maria a bit closer to the North Carolina coast around midweek.
Maria may slow down briefly in the general vicinity of Cape Hatteras or the Virginia coast before a strong dip in the jet stream comes along that should pick up the storm and fling it out to sea by late week.
We can’t know exactly how strong these various influences are going to be and their timing, so we can’t be precisely sure of the impact on the coast. The highest threat would seem to be in North Carolina, Virginia, and the Delmarva Peninsula, with some fringe effect on the Jersey Shore, but timing is everything. A change in Maria’s forward speed would change exactly where the hurricane zigs and zags.
Strong swells causing dangerous beach conditions will reach the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic Coast well in advance of the bad weather, and the hazard will continue even after Maria moves away.
The low-pressure system that was JOSE is dying and limping away from the Northeast. Some minor residual effects continue in the agitated ocean, but for all practical purposes, Jose is dead.
Here are the KEY MESSAGES on HURRICANE MARIA from the National Hurricane Center:
1. Swells from Maria are expected to increase along the coast of the southeastern United States and will likely cause dangerous surf and life-threatening rip currents for the next several days.
2. Maria will likely move between the east coast of the United States and Bermuda by the middle of next week. While the forecast track has moved closer to the U. S. east coast, it is still too soon to determine what, if any, direct impacts there might be in these areas.
3. For more information on the flooding and rip current hazards in the United States, please monitor information from your local National Weather Service forecast office atwww.weather.gov.
Above: Brian Norcross report on Hurricane Maria, and Bishop Commentary, 23 September 2017.
Addendum:
Nice history review with your travelogs...
Semper Fi,
Cabo San Lucas, Baja California
Glad you enjoyed Cartagena! It is one of the places that I have visited and wish to return.
Lianne,
Miami, FL