Day 5 Passing thru the Aleutian Islands

This morning we passed through the Aleutian Islands sailing out of the North Pacific into the Bering Sea. The wind here is just relentless. It makes finding a little corner to yourself to tan about impossible. Anyway, we crossed through the Unimak Pass around 10:00 am this morning. We did have some nice sunny periods but it was still brutally cold. In addition the seas are churning pretty well. Look at the ship we passed just after we got into the Bering Sea....a little sea spray? I saw lots of whales along the way....very nice. We will sail along the Aleutian chain for a while on our way to the Kamchatka Peninsula of Russia and the town of Petropavlovsk. Some friends from the World Voyage, Bill & Mary Ann, asked who the Captain & Hotel Director are aboard the ms Amsterdam. The Captain is Dirk van den Berg, a very personable and funny man and the Hotel Director is Henk Mensink. I guess I'll go back outside and see if there any rays to be had......

There are definitely rays outside but, they are not to be had..... It is so windy it is ridiculous. As I was packing up the Captain came on the intercom to give his navigational and weather updates. My level of discomfort now makes sense.... we are going to experience 50 kt winds, Force 10, for the next 24 hours. That's one big breeze. May have to become a mole for a couple of days. We go back another hour tonight. We have the crossing of the international dateline coming up tonight at 0200. That means tomorrow is Thursday, September 27th. We also turn the clocks back another hour tonight. Confusing....