Aboard the Crystal Symphony-South Pacific
Position: 34.06.278 South Latitude, 175.59.312 West Longitude 2g
My original plan was to put some of Birgitta’s ashes at the deepest place possible in the South Pacific on my way to New Zealand. Bad weather caused a change in the routing and so I had to choose a place that was close to my goal. 5926 mies from Honolulu we passed over a deep spot on the charts, 4479 meters. (14,694 Ft.) The wind was fierce at 44 Knots off the Starboard Bow, the swells high at 22 Ft. The boat with some movement and the dining rooms were not so crowded. I found a relatively quiet place at the stern and saying a small prayer deposited some ashes. New Zealand was almost in sight. In less than a month Birgitta was placed at the highest point I could get to in the Alps, Jungfrau Loch at 3454 meters high and here in the pacific at 4479 Meters deep. She deserved the extremes for that is the way she lived taking every advantage of the possible opportunity to do something different.
I thought of out many hours together on the water. Months, weeks and days we shared sailing on boats both big and small, Vasa II, Vasa III, the Queens: Mary and Elizabeth plus several other cruise ships and our homes in most places with a view of the water and even when not living directly on water we made pilgrimages just to see and feel the beauty we always associated with the sea. There were our homes In the Keys and New Zealand where we could lie in bed and see the water, In landlocked New Hampshire we had the romantic rhythm of the Pemi River outside our open window singing us to sleep, and on our boats were always aware of the constant movement and wondrous sounds of the sea lapping at the sides of the boat. Music to dream by. If there is a heaven it must be within sight and sounds of the sea. The other sound I associate with water is the muffled sound of bells from the movement of the buoys with the rhythm telling us our exact location as we passed on our boats. The church bells on he shore of Lake Zurich where the bell ringers sequence the timing so it is a continuous peal of different tones from one church after another and the hourly chimes of Spain and animated clocks of Switzerland with their hourly performances. Is there a more beautiful sound? A free concerto to brighten up our lives. You really have to listen so it all becomes the sounds you love best and not just background to be ignored. Live every moment, savor every sound we are surrounded by beauty if we learn to look and listen.