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By Larry Ullrich, SCNA member
August, 2008 - I just returned from a rather unusual vacation, as the cruise ship I was on got chased around the Caribbean by three different major hurricanes: Gustav, Hanna, and Ike. Our ship, the Carnival Glory, was supposed to journey between Florida, the Bahamas, and St. Martin, but we had to change course several times to avoid the periodic bands of heavy rain and high winds, so several of the planned ports of call were missed. Nevertheless I managed to get in quite a number of fun days around the storms as the ship’s crew kept a full schedule of activities to keep us occupied on something besides the weather.
I should first explain this was not a nude cruise but a regular Carnival ship. However, there was a “topless deck” on one side, which I managed to turn into a “clothing optional” deck within days. I did not come across any negative responses for being completely nude there, and I made sure to ask others who were there before I dropped my trunks. The deck sign didn’t actually say “topless,” just that entry there was restricted to those over 21. But that “rule” was not enforced.
While at sea, the captain set what seemed to be a meandering course to keep us in as much sunlight as possible. But on a number of days, the rain could not be avoided, especially when in port. While in St. Thomas, for example, we were hit by what was called a “feeder band” from one of the storms, so we shopped on shore in our rain gear. At least it was a warm rain, so it didn’t feel too bad, but the humidity remained high and was a little stifling at times.
One day we heard that the rough seas from one of the hurricanes had sunk a boat about 100 miles away. Since we were the closest vessel, under Maritime Law we were diverted off our course to about one hundred miles southeast of St Thomas to the site. As we approached, I spotted a Coast Guard C130 circling the vessel wreckage with smoke tracers, marking the spot. We learned all those on board has survived the sinking and were being rescued. They were transported by helicopter to a hospital on the mainland, but we never heard anything about the incident in the news..
Our last port of call was the island of Saint Martin. I had visited there several years ago, and I knew where I was going when I got ashore: Club Orient. Many on the ship had heard about the nudist resort there and decided to come over also for the day to “check it out.”
I must admit it is often very funny when textile people meet nudists for the first time. I especially got a kick out of two girls whom I recognized from the ship, who also came over to the Club Orient side of the beach. They remained clothed, however, and they seemed content just to take pictures of the people on the beach and of themselves standing in the sand with the turquoise-colored ocean as a background. Then suddenly they seemed shocked because they realized they knew me from the cruise ship, and I was nude on the beach. They had a laugh about it and asked me to pose with the two of them so they could show off the photo when they got home. No, they didn’t join in, but they thought about it.
I can't wait to take a nude cruise next time around. Hopefully my weather timing will be better.
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