Category: Iceland

Today, we arrived at our first port-of-call; Torshaven, in the Faroe Islands. The sky was an overcast steely-grey and it was raining; not so dissimilar to North Yorkshire then (except, I have it on good authority that North Yorkshire has been sunny and clear today). We arrived at 9am, more or less on time, but due to a minor issue...

Today was our second sea-day, and the second of my watercolour workshops; a Tonal Study. Getting a group to paint a picture using only a single colour is the best way to learn about the importance of contrasting tonal values, and an exercise that always seems to go down well. Everybody seemed pleased, and the group seems to be settling...

Today was our first sea-day, and the first of my watercolour workshops in the Lookout Lounge, located right at the front end of the ship. First workshops are always a little chaotic, and today was no exception. I was up against a lecture on the Eclipse and Northern lights, though, so numbers were inevitably a bit down. I’ve been allocated...

Portsmouth isn’t my favourite starting point for a cruise; it’s a little disorganised, and getting on board isn’t as smooth an experience as at most other ports, but yesterday’s embarkation went through more or less without a hitch. Having had an uneventful drive South on Sunday and a pleasurable stay in Portsmouth over Sunday night, we were one of the...

  In Just a few days time (Monday to be precise), I will be boarding MV Voyager (Voyages of Discovery) for a two-week assignment to Iceland, and hopefully to experience a total solar eclipse off the coast of the Faroe Islands on the 20th of March. This is a new ship to me, which fills me both with anticipation and anxiety...