Travel Chapter 11 Neptune

Travel Chapter 11
February 10, 2009

Neptune celebration.

Yesterday as we approached the equator, an age old maritime rite was celebrated on board this ship. The crossing of the equator has always been a big even when sailors go through a rite of passage. This celebration goes on all ships crossing with passengers or crew who have not made the crossing. At 0730 some 25 crew members walked the cabin decks awakening the pollywogs informing them that they must report to the aft deck to meet King Neptune. Most of the adults had volunteered for roles in the court. I was the royal barber/butcher. We then paraded from the lounge forward of the ship to the aft deck 7 where there is a swimming pool. We were royally welcomed by the assembled students. They then had to be covered with oatmeal, go into the pool for cleansing, come out and kiss a great ugly dead fish and then kneel in front of the King. The king was covered in green color and had a long flowing wig. Under all that was the British captain of the ship who put up with all this for hours.

You can see pictures of this event at http://picasaweb.google.com/akeyserlingk/NeptuneOnTheExplorer2009?authkey=jXoqRnayQZA&feat=directlink

Part of the cleansing on such an occasion is to shave the hair from the head. This is voluntary but 4 of us spent the whole morning shaving heads. I am not sure what the final count was but certainly more than 50 including adults students now have bald heads. This includes our own grandson Emmett who sat down in my chair and I shaved his head. How many grandfathers get to shave the head of their grandson who submits to this voluntarily?
Emmett is now part of an elite group around the ship who run around with bald heads. There will be a group photo taken tomorrow and no doubt that will be a cherished souvenir of the voyage for Emmett.
Cheers 


Alexander NIcolas Graf Keyserlingk,
Aboard the good ship Explorer
Somewhere going around the world in 104 days.
See my blog at:sandersstoryline.blogspot.com
Time of my email Greenwich Mean Time