"Crossed the equator a little after midnight last night. I didn't wait up, but I did loan my GPS to some of the students who wanted to do a countdown. Started the morning with warm hazy sun, but it was clouding up by noon and we've had off-and-on sprinkles this afternoon. We could certainly hit thunderstorms any time now.
"My Energy and the Environment class had a tour of the engine room today. One of the ship's engineers came to talk yesterday, not only about the engines but about how we make water, what we do with sewage and wastes, etc. Then today we descended into the depths to take a look. It's extremely noisy in the engine room, you have to wear earplugs, and since I was bringing up the rear of the group I could hardly hear anything John was shouting at us. But I could figure out most on my own. Engine "room" is somewhat a misnomer. We're talking the whole center of the ship, going down about 4 floors and extending from midships back to the stern. Not only noisy, also hot. And they were only running one of two engines today. Maybe I'll have John give me a private tour later.
"Schedule for the coming days: Arrive Golfito 8 a.m. Saturday to clear into Costa Rica, but we don't disembark. Sail back out to Cocos Island late Saturday. We're at Cocos all day Sunday, but they'll be taking us to shore and back in groups. I think each group is only going to get 4 hours ashore. Maybe faculty can get away with more. Back to Golfito Monday, then we're there Tuesday-Thursday. Golito itself seems to be about a 2-block town. A marina, a gas station, and about 3 bars and cafes. Used to be a United Fruit dock for their banana plantations, but they pulled out 10 years ago. This is the most wild and rugged part of Costa Rica, but the interesting places are not things you can visit on a quick day trip. It's the rainy season, transportation is mostly 4-wheel drive vehicles over muddy roads, and nothing happens quickly. We may have to wait until we get there before we begin to get a sense of what all we can do. Other than visit the 3 bars. It will be hot (probably 90), steamy, and rainy. Otherwise, it's supposed to be beautiful, with toucans and parrots hanging around town."
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