Tuesday 4^th August

A bit of excitement late in the afternoon at dinner time. We had just started dinner when the ship slowed down dramatically. Soon after the captain announced that a fishing boat was missing and had been adrift for 48 hours and that we were on the lookout for it off the coast of Costa Rica. About 5 minutes later it’s flare was sighted. It’s motor had broken down and their radio was not working. Our ship came to a stop and sent out the rescue boat. We spent about two hours there, supplied the floundering boat with necessary radio, battery etc so that it could regain contact with it’s fleet which was about 100 miles away. We left when that contact had been made and one of their own fleet was on its way to tow them or repair their engine. They were offered passage on board the Princess but they chose to stay with their vessel. The earlier part of the day was as usual, cards, trivia, etc.

Wednesday 5^th August

It would appear that the delay yesterday has altered our place in the cue for the Panama Canal on Thursday. The time keeps changing and we are not really sure what time we will be navigating through the Canal. Last night we went through a storm and today it’s wet, miserable and hot outside. We are about 100 miles off the coast and moving closer as we travel in a south easterly direction. A few large sea birds are keeping pace with us, probably gliding on the slip stream from the boat.