Passing in the night,

It's 0350 and I can't sleep. The hum of the airconditioner and quiet rattle of the awning flapping in the wind aren't enough to keep me in bed. Outside there's a cruise ship passaging south. I'm estimating her to be 12-15 nautical miles out. Twelve and beyond would make sense. At that distance off-shore she can still discharge. Even though the image of the sewage from a small town being dumped in Mother Ocean is upsetting to many "greenies", it is a really big ocean out there. But it's not the human effluent that causes problems. Anything discharged from us is seen as a great treat by the fish population. It's the plastics and oils that cause trouble. I have to admit that laws on dumping have really cut down on all the jetsam on the beaches. In the 70's I remember the tide lines were full of plastic bottles and smashed styrofoam junk mixed in with Japanese fishing floats and nets. Some folks made artistic displays of the junk at their houses. This beach is clean. Except for the glass. Bottles cast over float in and break on the hard bottom. Eventually, the shards show up mixed in the sand. Met an older couple walking the beach and just clucking away about all the glass and the danger to kid's feet. They'd collected a handful or so.
I can see what appears to be a stylized blue anchor 60% aft in the binoculars. You've just gotta love great optics and electronic stabilization. I think that's Royal Caribbean. No matter. Just a glittering, sleeping, landlubber's casino making turns for Key West.