I'm a little late writing this post,
but decided I needed to do it before going on to the accounts of more current exploration. Two days ago, the ship treated us to a wonderful brunch (decorated as shown above) to celebrate being inducted into the Realm of the Golden Dragon, better know as crossing the International Date Line. Geographically, the 180th Meridian, half way around the globe from the Prime Meridian in Greenwich, England, is the place assigned to demarcate the change from one day to another. However, the line gets a little crazy down here in the South Pacific as it dances around several island nations who have made their own decisions regarding the placement of that line. So far, we have set our clocks back a total of four hours from Mountain Standard Time as a result of our travels in a westward direction. If we continued to do that as we entered into each new time zone, when we got back to Utah in May, we would be a day ahead of everyone else. Instead, when we crossed the date line, we lost that day, which had the temporary affect of putting us a day ahead of you at home, to be made up for, an hour at a time, on the rest of the journey. So now, if you want to know what time it is where we are, instead of subtracting four hours from your time in the MTZ, you will need to add 20 hours. It will still be the same time on the clock, but you'll know what day we're in as well.
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| This is the certificate given to members of the U.S. Navy. |
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| Here is our certificate, signed by our captain. (They didn't do a detailed drawing of the line in the South Pacific.) |
P. S. We've been told we need to set our clocks back one hour before arriving in Fiji because they have ended Daylight Saving Time on Jan. 14. Apparently, surrounding areas haven't, so we need to add the hour back when we leave Fiji! This is not a trip for those who complain about the time changes twice a year for DST.
I'm a little late writing this post, but decided I needed to do it before going on to the accounts of more current exploration. Two days ago, the ship treated us to a wonderful brunch (decorated as shown above) to celebrate being inducted into the Realm of the Golden Dragon, better know as crossing the International Date Line. Geographically, the 180th Meridian, half way around the globe from the Prime Meridian in Greenwich, England, is the place assigned to demarcate the change from one day to another. However, the line gets a little crazy down here in the South Pacific as it dances around several island nations who have made their own decisions regarding the placement of that line. So far, we have set our clocks back a total of four hours from Mountain Standard Time as a result of our travels in a westward direction. If we continued to do that as we entered into each new time zone, when we got back to Utah in May, we would be a day ahead of everyone else. Instead, when we crossed the date line, we lost that day, which had the temporary affect of putting us a day ahead of you at home, to be made up for, an hour at a time, on the rest of the journey. So now, if you want to know what time it is where we are, instead of subtracting four hours from your time in the MTZ, you will need to add 20 hours. It will still be the same time on the clock, but you'll know what day we're in as well. 
That food looks incredible!!!
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