PENULTIMATE SEA-DAY

Today was our penultimate day at sea. We’ve sailed the length of Portugal and, at the time of writing, are well into the Bay of Biscay, heading North. The weather is sunny and not too windy, and the sea, despite having quite a notable swell, is relatively flat and calm. These are ideal conditions for spotting wildlife; basically, if there’s anything to be seen, then it will be seen. There have been reports of dolphins; I’ve seen a few myself, both from The Grill at lunchtime and out of the ‘Coast to Coast’ window, as I’ve been teaching today’s lesson.

Sightings have become less frequent now that we’ve crossed over the shelf at the bottom end of the Bay of Biscay. The forecast for tomorrow is looking promising, though, so we’re all hoping for a pleasurable last day’s sailing.

After lunch, we were heading back to our cabin when we spotted a chap in front of us carrying a box pf 25 Twix chocolate bars. When I queried it, he explained that he’d just bought it from the shop downstairs, where they were selling them off at 10 for a £1, due to them having a short sell-by date. Needless to say, we dashed to the shop to claim the last full box of 25, for £2.50. At 10p each, I think we’ve got ourselves a bargain!

Both classes went well today; I had them painting a snowy sunset that incorporates the lifting out of the sun, and also explores the concept of transforming a scene from an unpromising photograph by being creative and using your imagination. The results were largely good, providing us with lots of work in readiness for tomorrow’s exhibition. In fact, as I was teaching the class, Bradley the Assistant Cruise Director popped in to confirm the times for tomorrow. There will be just the one class in the morning, and the exhibition will be advertised in the programme as being 1pm – 2pm.

Hopfully a fitting end to what has been a great cruise.