At the Rainbow's End
Unfriendly clouds loomed as the Star Breeze eased out of the lagoon. The wind and the swells picked up, and the seas turned a milky blue. I was chatting about the impending weather with some other passengers when Captain Simon Terry’s voice came over the P.A. “The tropical storm has developed into a cyclone,” he announced, adding that it would soon lash the Society Islands—exactly where we were headed. “It’s going to be very windy, very wet, and not very pleasant,” he intoned. “So we have taken the decision to head for an inaugural call in the Marquesas.”