Three Skeleton Key

On Saturday, Captain Moore and Jeff cooked up a feast-a roasted chicken stuffed with garlic and onions, baked purple yams mixed with coconut butter, green beans and acorn squash with honey and butter.

It was cold and gray outside and we’ve all begun to get a bit restless. I used to get “exercise” by walking around the ship a few times, but the seas are so rough, it’s impossible to do without getting soaked.

So the dinner was a perfect end to a long week. After dinner Jeff whipped up a huge pot of Mexican hot chocolate and Moore pulled out his Bedside Book of Sea Stories. With Bill at the helm, Jeff, Bonnie and I gathered around the kitchen table where Moore leafed through the yellowing pages.

With all the lights off and only the sound of the waves crashing against the ship he told us the story of “Three Skeleton Key,” making sure to change voices with each new character. The story revealed the fate of three lighthouse guards after they’d been ambushed by a swarm of hungry rats. Luckily, (spoiler alert) the narrator survives the attack.

After Moore went to bed, Bill, Bonnie, Jeff and I stayed awake savoring our hot chocolate and enjoying the lingering effects of the story. And then, of course, Bonnie and I were back working on our respective blogs.

We only have one full day left on the ship and there’s so much left to do and write about. We’re expecting to dock at Catalina Island tomorrow afternoon before stretching our legs and maybe grabbing our first dinner back on dry land.

On Tuesday morning we’ll make the final trek back to Long Beach and have a welcome back party at Algalita’s headquarters on Tuesday afternoon. If you’re reading this and are in the L.A. area I hope we see you there.