An Audience with The Captain
Today, we have been at sea, heading Northwards towards the Bay of Biscay and Ireland.
I was on afternoon shift again, which meant we were able to get up at a reasonable time and enjoy a leisurely breakfast.
After breakfast, at 10am, we went into the Show Lounge to enjoy an on-stage talk with The Captain, the Chief Engineer, The Hotel Manager and the Head Chef, presided over by the Cruise Director. It’s a format that we’ve seen many times before on other cruises, and one that can be very entertaining, as it was today.
After the ‘Life at Sea’ show, we went out on deck to enjoy the fresh air and the sunshine; at the front of the ship it was a little breezy, but not cold at all. What was amazing was just how flat the sea was; not a white breaking wave to be seen anywhere, and barely any swell to the sea at all. It was so nice up on deck, and the sea was so smooth, that we decided to spend what remained of the morning there, looking out for life. When the sea is that smooth, the surface is so unbroken that if there is anything to be seen, then providing you’re looking in the right direction, there’s a high probability of seeing it. As it was, we saw very little; there was a bird that Tracey thought might have been a young gull, and on two occasions, the surface was broken by something that we assume was probably dolphins, but could just as easily have been porpoises or even large, jumping fish.
The wildlife count did improve throughout the day, however. After running my penultimate class, in which I gave them the Composition Checklist and had them painting simple figures, we spent some time down in the cabin, and saw some dolphins passing right outside our cabin window. Later, it being Formal Night, we were up on deck to watch the sunset and take a few photographs in our posh garb, and saw a whale break the surface of the sea behind the back of the boat.
Clocks go back tonight, so we’re back in line with the UK. This gave us an extra hour, which we spent drinking tea and watching M*A*S*H in the cabin (we know how to have a good time).
