At noon our position was 3deg, 53min South, 137deg, 43min West. Yep, last night we crossed the Equator. Only the second time for me; the first time was in 2006 when I visited Kenya.

So, of course King Neptune held court this afternoon at the pool deck. The stage performers gave a silly skit where any new crew who this was the first time crossing the Equator had to pay King Neptune a fee to be allowed into the southern hemisphere.

• For jokes the lead singer had eggs “shampooed” into his hair and his face “poofed” with flour
• Three newbies had to kiss a fish
• One had surgery to repair his unrepentant soul. In true pantomime fashion, the “doctor” started throwing noodles all around
• Mrs. Neptune gave birth to a volleyball. PS: Mrs Neptune was the most heavily bearded guy on the performer team.

It was goofy fun, with the crowd shouting “guilty” and getting into it.