A Few More Thoughts About Crossing the Atlantic

First off it's a blast!    Just the departure from New York alone makes it worthwhile.   Secondly, it's historic--Cunard has been making the run since 1840.  The fact there is a ship built in this century for the very purpose of crossing the Atlantic is in my mind nothing short of remarkable.    It took us six days to cross but in the heyday of liners it took four days--going slower now to save fuel.    The tank  on Queen Mary 2, by the way,  holds  1.4 million gallons of heavy diesel fuel and it takes all day to fill her up.   That powers four massive diesel generators, supplemented by two gas turbines that are fueled by a higher (and more expensive)  grade of marine gas oil.    This altogether produces 150,000 horsepower that is delivered to 4 Rolls Royce electric motors inside pods that are attached to the hull.   On each pod are four stainless steel propeller blades, each weighing 9,900 pounds.  Each pod weighs as much as a 747!     The ship carries eight spare blades ,  and a spare anchor,   all mounted on the forward area of deck 7.   They are cool to see,  and touch--over nine feet tall, very graceful and finely crafted.    QM2 is the first liner to be built with four propellers since the s/s France was built in 1962 (at the same shipyard, by the way--Chantiers de l'Atlantique at Saint-Nazaire, France, where also was built the great liner s/s Normandie.   She has a fine lineage!      A few more notes about the crossing:   we didn't see another ship the six days,  we passed 14 miles north of where the Titanic sank,  each day was 23 hours long-- the effect of which surprised me.  You wouldn't think you'd notice much,  but  each morning I woke up later til Thursday I woke at noon.   I couldn't believe it!    The days seemed to just fly by,  as they still do.    We are deep now in the Mediterranean and I've got a lot of catching up to do.   Today, January 17, is  my dad Morris' birthday.  He'd be 96.    We plied these very waters together just over two years ago on the Queen Elizabeth 2.  He liked to tell people on board that he was on his third Queen, as he had been transported during the war on the Queen Mary to England and the Queen Elizabeth home.   Well now I am privileged  to be on the fourth great Queen.   I brought his coolest tie along (the dark green one with martinis and geisha girls) and I'll wear it in his honor tonight to the Commodore's  cocktail  party and dinner.