Friday 6 March 1953 (cont) spent day securing ship awnings on bridge deck down. There is a hurricane crossing path of ship S. of New Caledonia. May cross tail of this in a day or two. We receive weather reports from New Zealand now; also send reports. Read: Life Science—M. W. de Laubenfels. 3rd Ed. 1946 Prentice Hall, Inc. 70 Fifth Ave., N.Y. 11 Saturday 7 March 4:00 A.M. Swells from SW & NW. Wind S. Running at slow speed. No rain. 8:15 A.M. course 248°T. Wind S 4-5. Raining. 1:45 Course 250°T. Lat (d.r.) 25°20'S; Long (d.r.) 175°26'W; course—various. Dist 288 mi. St. T. 24 hr Av sp 12 K. Wind—var. 7-5. Sea—moderate NW to SE. T.T. 16 d 19 hr 35 min. To Brisbane 1705; Balboa 6030. Course of storm track ESE. Ship has resumed full speed & we are now running out from under (to SW) a few big swells coming in from SSE. Ship on hand-steering. It is Sunday in Australia & evening services are coming in strong on radio. Also news broadcasts. In Chief officer's cabin most of evening. Laughing so much that Captain complained he couldn't sleep. Tonight we go to sleep on Sat. & wake up on Monday. 5-6 Petrels during day. Almost impossible to get good observations. Birds. blown down wind so fast as they bank out of troughs of waves. "White birds" reported roosting on mast by look-out. Not seen. Could be tropic birds (Sunday 8 March 1953—dropped) Monday 9 March 1953 Lat 26°07'S; long 177°57'E. Course 248—268° Dist 366 mi. St.t. 25 hrs. Av sp 14.64 K. Wind ESE 7-9 Sea ESE rough T.T. 17 d 20 hr 35 min. To Brisbane 1339 mi; Balboa 6396. Flying fish (#3) —d.r. position midnight Lat 26°00'S; Long 178°45'W. Could have come aboard anytime from 6 to 7 P.M. yesterday to same time this A.M. Spray blowing over ship most of day. Rain off & on. Waves look steep as they roll in our port quarter, but when seen broadside on, they flatten out. Not over 20 feet from crest to trough. Sea moderating rapidly in P.M. Captain invited men to bridge. 2nd mate (navigation officer) showed us around and explained devices & charts. Then Captain had us down to his cabin for cocktails. (I had Australian Port—terrible!) Read most of evening in mate's cabin. Talked with 3rd engineer until 1:00 A.M.; with 3rd mate on bridge until 2:00 A.M. Lovely night—sky—stars bright—Southern cross almost overhead—moon on the wane. Still blowing strong. 6-7 petrels during day. Crossed International Date Line early this A.M. Longitude changes from West of Greenwich to East. Tuesday 10 March 8:00 A.M. Course 268° Temp: Wet 67°F. Dry 74°F. Wind brisk (Beaufort scale 6). Stratocumulus cloud cover. Sun out occasionally. Ship riding easily—following sea on the port quarter.