Day 02 - 10/03/22 - At Sea to Hawaii - Day 1

 We were woken up with a start at 7:30am with the Captain's announcement over the PA system that we had a medical emergency onboard that couldn't be dealt with onboard and that we had turned around in the fog and were headed back to Port Angeles where the cloud conditions were better and a helicopter medivac could be accomplished off of the 9th floor Lido pool area. He cautioned us to not go to that area on the outside decks.  I quickly got dressed and headed out with my camera.  

HAL's emergency crews in full fire suppression gear and water hoses were in position.  I found a location on the starboard side and soon we could hear the US Coast Guard helicopter arriving.  It circled the ship about three times. I found a better location for photography on the port side and watch the entire operation which took about a half hour.  First, a Coast Guard Rescue person was lowered to the Lido Deck and he was followed by the lowering of a rescue gurney.  The helicopter then continued circling the ship while it continued eastbound at a reduced speed.  It took about 10-15 minutes to load the passenger in the gurney and then I watched them lift it up into the helicopter.  The line was then dropped back down to the deck and the rescue person was hoisted back up into the helicopter.  While being hoisted, he waived at us onlookers.  The helicopter's side door was then closed and the helicopter began its emergency flight to a hospital.  I don't know which one, but in his noon message the Captain gave praise to the Canadian and American marine traffic controllers for clearing the 6 hour route back to Port Angeles in the fog and for the US Coast Guard's assistance in the rescue lift and transport.  Later we learned from the local news that 73 year old lady needed cardiac monitoring that the ship could not provide.

With that excitement behind us, I enjoyed my first breakfast on this voyage.  After breakfast on my way to the Main Stage I happened to be behind the captain and I told him this was our first time on the Westerdam and that it was the last ship in HAL's current fleet we had not yet sailed on.  He wished me a pleasant voyage and was on to his destination.

We attended the Port talk by Rachael, our Cruise & Travel Director.  It was a basic introduction to Hawaii and she was followed by the Shore Excursions manager who talked about excursions in each port.

Lunch in the Lido was good.  We had Asian food once again.  

At 1pm I hosted a large Meet & Greet for Cruise Critic members.  It was well attended and we connected people with one another.  It was especially good that I got to meet the wife of a passenger who is in quarantine after contracting Covid on the last segment of this cruise in Alaska.   We had a good chat about their experience and CPAP matters.  

The rest of my afternoon was spent updating my blog.  I ended up downloading a version of Google's note taking program, KEEP.  I did this because I got frustrated with Microsoft's ONE NOTE which required I have an internet connection to start a new Notebook.  Google's solution is simple and works well.  Microsoft doesn't seem to appreciate that there are times when internet access is not available and that shouldn't be a stopping block to completing tasks.  End of rant!. 

I also started the biography of Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow.  I also noted we were sailing at 23.5 miles per hour which is pretty fast.  It remains to be seen if we can sustain this speed because of the higher fuel consumption.  By the way, on previous cruises I have computed the fuel economy and it's around 60 feet per gallon.

We had another Asian Lido meal.  We ate with Erik & Marilyn before watching most of the comedian, Jason Blanchard, on the Main Stage and then a couple sets of classical music at the Lincoln Center Stage.  The second show was selections from American composers. 

We raided the Lido buffet at the 10:30 feeding before retiring for the night.