Jan 8 - At sea

This was the day I was supposed to put up pictures of Exmouth and the Ningaloo Reef.  Didn't happen.  But here's what has been happening.   The captain arranged for something to make up for the lost port.

But first, on the way from Bali to Australia the chefs had buffet breakfast in the Grand Dining Room where they put everything out on display.

Yet another golden sunset on the ocean.

 We arrived at Exmouth at 7am, ready to tender ashore and explore this remote area of Australia, particularly the Ningaloo Reef on the western coast.  But the first tenders heading for shore faced very rough conditions.  The bow goes up....

...the bow goes down.  According to the captain's announcements they were taking water through the open doorways.  And they feared damaging a tender, which also serves as a lifeboat.  Such a problem would mean having to reduce our passenger count to match lifeboat capacity.  I'm not sure Exmouth could handle 150 tourists suddenly needing food, shelter and transportation.

 As we headed for Geraldton, our next port, with the prospect of an early arrival, the captain announced a medical emergency requiring the ship to turn about and head back towards Exmouth for a helicopter evacuation of the emergency.  We went back for 3.5 hours when the helicopter arrived.

 This operation took about an hour, not just a simple "scoop and dash" sort of pickup.  The copter lowered a medic to the ship, then took position off the ship.  A half-hour later it returned to hover above the aft of the ship and raise the basket and the previously dropped caretaker.

Impressive flying by the pilot who held station on the ship for about an hour.  Not as nice as going ashore in Exmouth (especially for the rescuee) but an interesting diversion.  We're now back to the published schedule, with Geraldton arrival in the morning of the 10th.