Cruising The North Atlantic In Winter

On Wednesday the master of the Queen Mary 2, Commodore Christopher Ryan, announced that he had taken the ship some 300 miles south of it’s regular great circle route across the Atlantic Ocean so as to avoid even more severe high winds and rough seas than we were already experiencing. At the time of his announcement midday Wednesday we had winds of gale force 8 (30-40 MPH) and seas from 18 – 27 feet. All outside deck areas except for two areas on the stern of the ship are closed. Unfortunately, this means that Dan and I cannot take our daily walks outside. Dan walks around the interior of the ship and I walked two miles on a treadmill machine in the well-appointed gymnasium on board. I get the impression from talking to other passengers who have made wintertime crossings on other occasions that these conditions are not unusual for the North Atlantic at this time of the year. The QM2 speeds along in spite of it all, making 18 knots, slicing through the swells. As the Commodore put it: “remarkable given these weather conditions.” Everyone seems used to the pounding of the bow and the quite noticeable up and down motion of this entire massive vessel! - Jim