Pacific Odyssey - Leg 5

Today has been a very windy day; Skipper continues to monitor the weather, waiting for a window of favorable winds to get us across the East China Sea to Shanghai.  The ship was quiet today with Karen and Skipper ship keeping and most of the trainees exploring town.  The bathhouse seems to be the highlight of our Japanese experiences so far and crew and trainees have returned repeatedly.  Sara R. enjoyed traveling on the monorail that covers the central part of the city. Jordan and Sarah B. took a combination of buses and taxis to visit the Aquarium about l 1/2 hrs. from Naha.  They said it was fantastic; they saw pigmy killer whales, whale sharks, manta rays, sea horses etc. all enclosed in a huge tank.  Noah, Simon and Jacob learned how to knit today and have big plans to knit scarves; Noah has stuck with it the longest so far and is still sitting in his bunk listening to music and knitting.  Crew and a few trainees held a small Sunday service tonight. Today was Drew´s 35th birthday and we finally made a cheesecake for Noah, Bonice, and Drew to celebrate their birthdays.  Tomorrow at 0900hrs a bus is coming to take about 20 trainees to the Aquarium for the day.  The crew is hoping to paint the hull in preparation for our visit to Shanghai, but the weather will have to be better than it was today for that to happen.  This is it for tonight, until tomorrow, good night, Bonice.