I saw the bird again, this time up on deck 5 forward. I got a good look at it this time, as it was standing right down on the deck – in a way I thought looked unnatural for a bird like this. When I came near he (she?) hopped away a bit and eyed me warily, but did not fly off. Maybe it's afraid to fly. Or too tired. It's a yellowish little thing, with a beak that appears designed to suck nectar out of flowers. No flowers around here, though.

This week two of our orchestra members, alto sax and trumpet, were replaced. Their contracts were up, so a couple of new guys came in. One of them didn't work out, so Vern had to send him back home – to Poland. That's the part of the musical director's job I would hate.

This week coming up we will be without the alto sax, but the part is recorded on a digital multitrack that we play along with. All the parts are on this digital multitrack so that if a musician can't perform, for whatever reason, his part can be played from the multitrack. On land you would just get a sub when you have to miss a gig, but subs are a little difficult to find out here in the Devil's Triangle.

It's been a slow week. No more injuries on the ice rink. Last night, in rough seas, the acrobats called off their show, which includes highwire and balancing routines. So no accidents there to report. Oh! We did have an “oscar oscar oscar” (man overboard – it's always a man, don't know why). That's the first one since I've been doing this. I heard the emergency call, but nothing about who jumped, or fell, or why. We were in port at the time, so it might even have been someone falling off the pier. I don't think someone would jump to commit suicide while in port. That would be stupid.

Well, that takes us to the end of week #3. We'll see what happens in week #4.



Two musicians and a dancer before the good-bye parade