WE'VE BEEN DIVERTED

This morning was not your average morning aboard the Explorer. Last night at the Captain's dinner I asked the captain if there was a special reason that we were traveling at over 27 knots, a much faster than average speed for this voyage. He replied that we had three passengers (two students and one crew member) on board who needed medical evacuation and we were en route to Diego Garcia, a British Indian Ocean Territory where the U.S. has a military base. It is apparently quite difficult to obtain clearance to go there, but somehow we managed to do so. At around 7:30 this morning we were in sight of the island. A tug and several armed small vessels and hard-bottomed inflatables came alongside and a number of Marines, Navy SEALS and a dog came aboard. We were then escorted into calmer waters in the harbor in the lee of the island. From outside deck 7 we were able to see all of the activities. After we reached the harbor a dock was lowered to the water level, one of the boats came stern to our starboard side, and the three were taken off of our ship, two walked and one was on a stretcher. Throughout this time the small boats maneuvered fore, aft, and along both sides of the ship. There were Royal Navy sailors in addition to our men. All were friendly, and several boats were happy to be given Semester at Sea t-shirts. Although we were not allowed to take any photos they were all busy taking pics of us and the ship!! This whole activity took over two hours. We hope all will be O.K. They are all being flown to Singapore, which is our next port after India, and maybe some will be able to rejoin us.