The Coronavirus Cruise Ship Has Disappeared From Our View. Why Does That Make Me Sad? — Sheltering in Place Week 4

Sheltering at Home Week Four

It’s gone. The famous coronavirus cruise ship, the Grand Princess, departed its anchorage in the middle of the San Francisco Bay last weekend. And now we can’t see it anymore.

It headed briefly out to sea for exercises, and is now berthed at Pier 35 in San Francisco, just blocks from Fisherman’s Wharf.* A nice sight for San Franciscans out for a stroll along the Embarcadero, keeping their social distances, I trust. But gone now from our view from the East Bay hills.

I miss it.  But why?

It was a pretty sight, anchored in the San Francisco Bay in a spot identified as Anchorage 9. But I’m not a fan of cruises. I’d rather not take a trip on a ship like the Grand Princess with its 17 decks and  3,100 passengers. Way too many people.

The Coronavirus Cruise Ship — We Couldn’t Not See It

But there it was, smack in the middle of the view from our kitchen sink. You couldn’t miss it.

The ship was white and stately on the water — a pretty sight, yes. But there was something else about the coronavirus cruise ship that kept us checking on it every day, several times a day. Something

companionable. Quietly, patiently it floated there before our eyes, a link from us to another congregation of people, also in isolation.

Our house is one of those no-porch hillside California houses that look away from the street and away from the neighborhood goings-on — and out instead onto expansive mega-views, with no people.

Standing in my kitchen, I thought about the crew of the Grand Princess down there on the Bay, doing whatever they had to do to feel sane and useful. While Jon and I, here in our house on the hill, did what we could to feel sane and useful.

Over the weeks, I had liked to imagine the crew looking for ways to alleviate the tedium and isolation. Enjoying gourmet chocolate desserts, maybe, from the passenger menu, while Jon and I, up here, entertained our granddaughter on Skype, did crossword puzzles, and tuned into Andrew Cuomo’s fireside chats from the the crisis that is New York.

For the Crew, Things Are ‘Not So Grim’

Much of the crew has been taken off the Grand Princess, reports my friend Carl Nolte, a San Francisco Chronicle colleague and a maritime expert. But some are still on board, probably doing maintenance. They have their own mess and a bar on the lower decks, he tells me. “Not so grim.” And there’s a good chance they are permitted to stroll the promenade on Deck 7.

As for the crew’s health, Carl suggested I look for a yellow flag on the ship, which would indicate that it’s still under quarantine. But neither our cameras nor our binoculars picked up anything yellow.

And, at our house, so far, so good. No need to hang anything yellow by our garage door. Not yet.

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Read about Pentwater, Michigan, where the water is fresh and the boats are more my size at “Pentwater — A Small Town on a Big Lake.”

* Since this writing, the Grand Princess has set sail. According toa map on this cruise info site, she’s heading south, toward San Diego, maybe?