DAY THREE AT SEA

It’s our thIrd day at sea. and we’ve already slipped into a routine of sorts. The alarm is set to go off at 7:30am; getting up at that time is hard – not what we’re used to at all… but it’s the only time that works.

By 8am, we’re out of our cabin, hauling the suitcase full of boards for the painting class, stopping off at the craft room to pick up buckets and new painting kits, and dropping them all off in the ‘Coast to Coast’ restaurant on Deck 6.

From there, we head up to Deck 12 (via the lift) and eat breakfast in The Grill. In the three days we’ve been doing this, we’ve learnt that there’s really no point in rushing things. It turns out that the chefs hold a meeting right where we hold the art classes, starting at 8:30 every morning, so there isn’t much point in getting down there before 8:45 (and possibly later).

Today, the meeting had finished early, so we were able to set things up in good time before folks started arriving from about 9am onwards.

Todays class was a wild coastline, with crashing waves and spray created with the use of sandpaper, which seemed to go down well. The morning classes continue to be slightly undersubscribed (18 this morning), and the afternoons oversubscribed (31 today). Not that it’s a major problem, but we are actively trying to encourage a few people from the afternoon class to come to the morning one, just to even things out a little.

We’re usually finished with the morning class at around 11am. Fortunately, we are able to leave everything set up in readiness for the afternoon session, giving us some free time in between.

After class, I’m generally gasping for a cup of tea, which we have in the cabin, sat on the balcony. It isn’t long before lunchtime comes around, though, and we head up to The Grill again. Fish and chips were being served on the Lido, but we opted for the Grill as per usual, enjoying a leisurely lunch before heading back towards the Coast to Coast at about 1:45pm, ready for the afternoon session starting at 2pm.

We were full to bursting; strictly speaking, we’re full at 30 passengers, but a late-comer was squeezed in, pushing the final nuber to 31.

By 3:45, the afternoon session was finished and everything packed away, leaving the Coast to Coast more or less as we found it.