Rough weather

It's bad almost wherever you are. A case to point is of course the havoc wreaked by the weather conditions in Mumbai a couple of weeks back. However, the effect is rather more alarming when you are on a ship which in turn is in very cold waters, far far away from any land.

And that's exactly where I have been for the last two days, on board a ship in the very cold waters of the Sea of Okhotsk, wallowing in extremely rough weather. Yesterday morning when I woke up, the Trident (a friend of mine says the name conjures up images of some fantasy expedition!) was surrounded by dense fog. And the reason why I woke up in the first place was the banging of the cupboard door thanks to the insane pitching and rolling of the ship!

Now the Trident, at 8,000 tons, is not a small ship, but the sea kept buffeting it every which way it felt like. When later in the day I went out to the deck, I was greeted by a fairly terrifying sight, the sea all around was white foam! Waves swelling to well over 10 feet were thrashing against the hull and sending spray high into the air.

One day later, things have improved, but only just. Chairs are still sliding all over the place making it rather difficult to work or eat. Now I'll have to try and get some sleep, and the rolling is way too strong for comfort, especially since I have been assigned the top bunk in a cabin for two!! Please God, let there be some nice sunny weather with calm seas!