Neptune Day-February 9th
At about 0800 the ship’s crew marched thru the passageways, summoning all polliwogs to the Pool Deck for our initiation into Neptune’s World. This ceremony began as a seafaring tradition sometime around the 16th century and was originally intended as a test for new seamen to determine their seaworthiness. This strikes me as a bit odd because by the time they got around to testing their fitness at the Equator, it was too late if they failed the test and proved to be unseaworthy. In any event at the crossing of the Equator, the ships of yore would heave (hove?) to, which meant that the sails would be set in such a way that the ship would be stationary. At that point the polliwogs were hoisted on the mainyard and dunked in the ocean some 40 feet below. This was followed by other sorts of hazing and as well as rowing if the trade winds were not available.
Here’s what happened on the MV Explorer. King Neptune and his court presided over the activities on the pool deck. At 0900 all Equatorial newbies, myself and Jackson included, lined up and two members of the crew who looked like they were enjoying themselves, proceeded to pour an iced concoction on our heads one after the other. Even at the Equator it can be cold…and it was. After that we had to kiss a dead fish which happened to be a mackerel. Then we had to set our kissing lips upon King Neptune’s (played by none other than our illustrious Captain) ring, and you guessed it, give it a kiss. After bowing to Queen Minerva, we jumped into the pool to rinse off the cold concoction and when we climbed out we were dubbed true Shellbacks by a member of the King’s Court. As part of the ceremony some voyagers shaved their heads including a member of the 
faculty and a woman in her 70’s who is a lifelong learner. Since this was optional, I declined.
Neptune Day was declared a free day with no classes and so after the ceremonies, students sunbathed or studied. We had a day of rest and it was used for catching up. For the professors, it meant finally having time to write quizzes and grade papers. We had a barbeque on the pool deck and watched the full moon rise over ocean.
Tuesday, Feb. 10th
Actually we did not cross the Equator until today around 3:20 PM. Before we arrived at zero degrees latitude we reached a cruising speed of 28 knots with all four engines running at full capacity. We had a rooster tail of ocean spray rising up off the stern. It was quite dramatic. No one volunteered to try the water skis.
The Captain announced over the loud speaker that when the ship actually crossed the line, he would give a long blast of the ship’s horn. He warned that we might feel a slight bump when we crossed the equatorial line and the ship would probably vibrate due to the fact that the drains would all be reversing the direction of flow. But he assured us that no harm would come to pass.
It’s summertime!
At about 0800 the ship’s crew marched thru the passageways, summoning all polliwogs to the Pool Deck for our initiation into Neptune’s World. This ceremony began as a seafaring tradition sometime around the 16th century and was originally intended as a test for new seamen to determine their seaworthiness. This strikes me as a bit odd because by the time they got around to testing their fitness at the Equator, it was too late if they failed the test and proved to be unseaworthy. In any event at the crossing of the Equator, the ships of yore would heave (hove?) to, which meant that the sails would be set in such a way that the ship would be stationary. At that point the polliwogs were hoisted on the mainyard and dunked in the ocean some 40 feet below. This was followed by other sorts of hazing and as well as rowing if the trade winds were not available.
Here’s what happened on the MV Explorer. King Neptune and his court presided over the activities on the pool deck. At 0900 all Equatorial newbies, myself and Jackson included, lined up and two members of the crew who looked like they were enjoying themselves, proceeded to pour an iced concoction on our heads one after the other. Even at the Equator it can be cold…and it was. After that we had to kiss a dead fish which happened to be a mackerel. Then we had to set our kissing lips upon King Neptune’s (played by none other than our illustrious Captain) ring, and you guessed it, give it a kiss. After bowing to Queen Minerva, we jumped into the pool to rinse off the cold concoction and when we climbed out we were dubbed true Shellbacks by a member of the King’s Court. As part of the ceremony some voyagers shaved their heads including a member of the 
faculty and a woman in her 70’s who is a lifelong learner. Since this was optional, I declined.Neptune Day was declared a free day with no classes and so after the ceremonies, students sunbathed or studied. We had a day of rest and it was used for catching up. For the professors, it meant finally having time to write quizzes and grade papers. We had a barbeque on the pool deck and watched the full moon rise over ocean.
Tuesday, Feb. 10th
Actually we did not cross the Equator until today around 3:20 PM. Before we arrived at zero degrees latitude we reached a cruising speed of 28 knots with all four engines running at full capacity. We had a rooster tail of ocean spray rising up off the stern. It was quite dramatic. No one volunteered to try the water skis.
The Captain announced over the loud speaker that when the ship actually crossed the line, he would give a long blast of the ship’s horn. He warned that we might feel a slight bump when we crossed the equatorial line and the ship would probably vibrate due to the fact that the drains would all be reversing the direction of flow. But he assured us that no harm would come to pass.
It’s summertime!
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