VACATIONER HANDLES ADVENTURES LIKE AN OLD SALT.

Byline: BETTIE RENCORET

Most people who take a cruise sing praises about their shipboard experiences, but Mary Ann Knight can add an adventurous twist or two.

Cruises for Knight have meant a fire in the boiler room, an explosion, a hurricane, standing around a lifeboat muster station, lengthy cabin confinement and miserable mal de mer (seasickness).

Her first voyage, in November 1975 to the Caribbean, was ``a little bit scary,'' she said.

On the 13th day of the 14-day cruise, as the ship skirted the coast of Cuba, she was in her cabin preparing for the next day's home port docking when the trouble began.

``I had just had lunch and was packing when a friend said it smelled as if something was scorching. For some reason I looked up and saw smoke pouring out of the vent in my room.''

A fire had ignited in the boiler room. Knight grabbed her handbag, locked her cabin and dashed to her station.

Only then did she realize that she had arrived without her life jacket. Back she ran to her cabin and made a second trip to her assigned place.

``We were lined up, ready for anything except what we got. All of a sudden we heard an explosion. It wasn't long after that the ship started to tilt. We were all pretty scared, but there was no panic. We all just waited for instructions. We waited there for four hours in those restrictive life jackets.''

Fortunately, there were no injuries to any of the 1,333 passengers on board, but 34 cabins were damaged as were the boiler room and a corner of the dining salon.

``I was really glad that I had taken those lifeboat drills seriously. I knew the routine exactly, so I did what I was supposed to do without thinking.''

Quick repairs, which put one boiler back into operation after about eight hours, enabled the ship to limp home.

Undaunted, a year later, Knight boarded another ship for a 21-day cruise to Panama and the Mexican Riviera.

``Our first stop, Acapulco, was marvelous, but I must be an albatross or something,'' she said. ``We never made it to Puerto Vallarta. Just after getting under way again, a hurricane battered us so furiously we were forced off course. We were confined to our cabins for four days while they tried to go around it. But most of us were so seasick we couldn't raise our heads up anyway.''

Eventually they circumvented the storm and sailed into the port at Zihuatanejo, Mexico, where the passengers were lodged in a luxury hotel.

``That hurricane was truly frightening,'' she said. ``If you haven't ever been in one, you can't know how horrifying it is. But our trip through the locks of the Panama Canal compensated for all our hardships. It was an amazing experience. You just can't believe the genius that was at work in engineering that canal.''

Knight was born in Sunnyvale, but grew up in Los Angeles wanting to be a musician. For about a year she had a private piano teacher then continued her studies for four years through high school.

Her father objected to her obsession with music and insisted she concentrate on academics, so she did not pursue her desire. ``I still loved my music, but we were old school then. I couldn't go against my father's wishes.''

After graduation from George Washington High School, she studied accounting in adult night school.

She came to Lancaster in 1947 and worked for about nine months in a Lancaster Boulevard drug store.

Eventually she went to work at Edwards Air Force Base as transcriber for test pilot Scott Crossfield. She worked there for three years before moving on to several construction companies, finally settling with the firm of Head and Conkle. When Norm Conkle bought out the late James Head, she remained with him until he moved the business to Phoenix, Ariz. She then was employed by Herman Mohling, local oil executive and community activist. Knight was office manager and head of accounting and retired in 1981.

Her husband, Rex Knight, died in 1974.

She plans to move within the next year to White City, Ore., to begin a new life near her only child, Charlene Devorr-Courson.

Is she going to take any more cruises?

``No way!'' she says.

This column is devoted to activities and news of interest to all senior citizens. Those with any information pertaining to that age group are invited to contact Bettie Rencoret, 943-2998 or leave messages at the Antelope Valley Bureau Daily News offices, 267-5741.

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Photo

Photo: Mary Ann Knight's ocean cruises turned out to be mor e than she bargained for.

Bettie Rencoret/Special to the Daily News