It is a maritime tradition, when a sailor crosses the equator for the first time, that he/she transforms from a greenback pollywogs to a seasoned shellback on one glorious day: Neptune Day.
The ship receives a visit from King Neptune himself, and the pollywogs earn their stripes by paying homage to his highness and his royal court.
Normally, I don’t write about much that goes on while we are at sea (mostly because we are all in recovery mode from time spent in-country), but this day was just too funny to leave out.
We all gathered around the pool on Deck 7:
And awaited the arrival of King Neptune (aka Captain Jeremy):
(Who was looking quite ravishing in green, might I add). Then we each took a turn of initiation… I believe fish guts were involved. I’d rather not thing about it:
Then we dove in!
And one kiss of the fish to seal the deal (Molly got up close and personal here to demonstrate):
And then, just when you thought you’d see it all… the ceremonial shaving began:
So many bald heads! Even some ladies too!
Not me though… obviously.
Then we spent the rest of the morning celebrating our newfound awesomeness.
Shellbacks unite!
Great tradition. Great day. Great friends.
Just pure greatness.
Question of the Day: What crazy rites of initiation have you experienced?
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