Day 74 South China Sea

Sunday, overcast, changing to partly sunny, then rain and fog when we reach the intersection of warm water and cooler wind. Last night: Enjoyed the last one fourth of the last bottle of merlot, which I had been hoarding since last month. Departed Ho Chi Minh City at 0500 with the outgoing tide.

The channel is through mangrove swamps. Got to the coastal waters about 0800. The chief officer patiently corrects my pronunciation of my 6 Chinese words. At 1100 I see an oil platform. The headwind is strong. Coming in from the pilot deck, I use one hand to keep my sun glasses from blowing away, and have difficulty pulling the door open with my other hand. Midday, during a break in the rain, I walked to the focsl. The air temperature is still comfortable for Bermuda shorts, but is cooler each day we move north. A sea eagle soars beside the front of the ship for a long time, diving into the water when it eyes food. Its recovery is fast and it is back in the air quickly after each catch. It is black with a white underside, and its body is sleek and streamlined.

At 1430, I saw the Gerd Maersk, probably still the largest container ship in the world, at 367 m long, 42 m wide, 25 knots. That is about the length of an aircraft carrier, but not as fast. My first ballpoint pen ran dry today. This evening, we are in the open ocean and experiencing a little more roll. There is another time zone change tonight. We will be 14 hours ahead of cst again, for the next 3 weeks, until we leave China.