At sea, "steaming" south from Devil's Island to the mouth of the Amazon in Brazil: The DrsC did not go ashore at Devil's Island, we've been here before on a prior cruise. This time our ship anchored much closer to the island, probably because this is a much smaller ship which has a shallower draft.
We get a sea day tomorrow and enter the Amazon sometime on Wednesday. It will take us a week to sail upriver to Manaus, stay there two nights, and sail back downriver to the South Atlantic. This leg of the trip has been on our collective bucket list for some years.
Cruise ships distill fresh water from sea water picked up in the open ocean. The result is very pure water but it's also "soft" as it lacks minerals - thus rinsing off soap can be a challenge.
We got an announcement today that beginning day after tomorrow we will be on restricted rations with regard to fresh water. This is the case because we cannot process river water. It will be so hot and humid we'll want two showers a day, but will have to limit ourselves to one, for example.
Amazon water is simply too dirty to distill and would clog the filters, etc. So the laundries will be closed and we are asked to reuse towels and curb water use to some extent. As Californians-by-birth, the DrsC know how to conserve water.
