Yesterday we crossed the exact middle of the earth at 0 degrees latitude and 0 degrees longitude. According to tradition we went from being a Pollywog to an Emerald Shellback (USA nomenclature), or a Royal Diamond Shellback (British nomenclature) in status. There is usually a ceremony for sailors crossing the equator for the first time, and there are rituals that go along with this celebration. On the Semester-at-Sea the tradition is to shave one’s head – both men and women. Many of the students are planning on honoring this time tested ritual. Once the ceremony is complete, a Pollywog receives a certificate declaring his/her new status as a Shellback. A rarer status is the Golden Shellback, a person who has crossed the Equator at the 180th meridian (International Date Line). The rarest Shellback status, the one that we now hold, is that of the Emerald Shellback or Royal Diamond Shellback), which is received after crossing the Equator at the Prime Meridian. When a ship must cross the Equator reasonably close to one of these Meridians, the ship's captain will typically plot a course across the Golden X so that the ship's crew can be initiated as Golden or Emerald/Royal Diamond Shellbacks (more information on the Pollywog to Emerald Shellback can be found in Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line-crossing_ceremony. This is what happened yesterday as our Captain was persuaded to deviate a little from his planned course to cross at exactly 0o 0o 0o latitude by 0o 0o 0o longitude at 12:30 PM ships time (not sure what time zone we are really in).
In parting, I wanted to let all of you know that as part of receiving our new status as Emerald Shellbacks (we prefer the term Royal Diamond Shellback), neither Julie nor I plan to follow the tradition of shaving our heads. The thought did cross our minds of just using Photoshop to make it appear like we shaved our heads, but the ships honor code and my lack of skills with Photoshop has prevented us doing so.
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