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Kaua’i to Vancouver – day 3 at sea

Saturday, Oct 14, 2017 – Kaua’i, Hawai’i to Vancouver, BC

Hawai’i Cruise 2017

I’m feeling a bit down this morning, probably because the cruise is coming to an end in a few days Reviewing my bill, they are showing a Hotel Service Charge Promotion which means the gratuity that is normally charged every day is credited.

Captain Cook, 1770
Captain Cook, 1770

Lawrence Tartaglino’s talk this morning: Captain James Cook – Four men on a beach: how a great navigator and cartographer influenced the development of the Hawaiian Islands and the world beyond. What I learned:

  • Sailed from the Arctic to Antarctic
  • Mapped the Gulf of St. Lawrence – helped Britain win the 7 Year War with the USA
  • His Great Voyages
    • Transit of Venus in Tahiti
    • Around the world from England to Cape Horn, Tahiti, New Zealand, Australia, Cape of Good Hope – 1,074 days, mappied Terra Australis; tested the Harrison Chronometer to accurately determine longitude for the first time. His Tahitian translator Omai is taken back to England, and eventually returned to Tahiti
    • Discovered the Northwest Passage, which was a secret mission
    • England to Cape of Good Hope, Tahiti, Hawaii, west coast of Canada, Cape Horn, and returned to England
      • Landed at Kealakekua Bay and is taken as the Hawaiians’ god Ono. Cook decides to kidnap the Hawaiian King, where he is clubbed to death. Both William Bligh and George Vancouver on board.

Captain Scott gives the always-popular talk Ask the Captain – We learn what it’s like to captain Eurodam in a virtual bridge and engine room tour. He started his passenger ship career with the Cunard Princess, the same ship I cruised on in the 1980s from Vancouver to San Juan, Puerto Rico. He then commanded the Queen Elizabeth II before being recruited by Holland America Lines (HAL). He has been involved in the procurement of the new HAL ships at the Italian shipyard in Venice, but has also been master of the Eurodam for the last three years.

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