GETTING A LITTLE ROCKY

Our second day at sea has been what you might call a little rocky. As the day progressed, so the sea has changed from having a gentle swell to sporting horizon-to-horizon wild, white horses. The ship’s clocks also went forward by one hour last night, all of which has contributed to a slightly reduced turnout for the art classes… that’s my excuse anyway, and I’m sticking to it.

Today, I had them painting a Lake District scene with a single colour – also known as a ‘Tonal Study’ in Paynes Grey, which seemed to go down well.

Once again, we had to clear everything away after the morning session in the Amalfi so that they can serve a fish and chips lunch. I had hoped that it might just be an occasional thing, but it would seem to be a daily event. The knock-on effect of having to be up early, shifting stuff from one end of the ship to the other (twice) in order to facilitate two classes, all taking roughly six hours in total, means that both Tracey and I are finding ourselves to be quite tired by late afternoon, and needing a power nap or two to keep ourselves functioning properly. It’s all good for us, I’m sure.

With the deterioration of the weather and the rough seas, the Captain has had the pedal to the floor and managed to get us into Bergen by 10pm this evening instead of having to wait until the morning. The weather is constantly changing, of course, and he has told us that they are monitoring it and will report on any changes. For now, we can ride it out in the relative shelter of Bergen Fjord.

I should also mention that this evening was the first of three formal nights, and an opportunity to enjoy the second performance in the theatre of our guest comedian/ventriloquist, a young man (24) by the name of Max Fulham. Both performances were an absolute knockout, with Max demonstrating his amazing ventriloquistic skills via a whole host of funny characters. He had some great call-backs and interacted with the audience in a smart way. Very refreshing!