October 7 2012 At sea

Conversations

Another day at sea and I’m not tired of them yet – in fact I love them as it gives me time to spend outside in the wonderful sea air or catch up on reading and napping!

I’ve also been meeting a lot of interesting people, especially at meal times when I usually share a table with a variety of people. Today for instance, I had an amusing conversation with a charming elderly lady at breakfast which just put a smile on my face for the rest of the day. Another woman I met at afternoon tea mentioned that she had been seasick for the first two days. When I said how calm I had thought the seas had been she asked if they got rougher than this! Obviously my idea of smooth sailing might not be quite the same as a novice sailor’s. I still think though that the seas have been very kind to us. And then at dinner I shared a table with others who had show business connections and had met some of the past movie greats and related some anecdotes

The walls of the cabin hallways are lined with framed images of historic black and white photos of Holland American ships and each time I walk back to my cabin I’ve been enjoying looking at them, both from a photographic point of view and an historic point of view. Some remind me of the ship I first sailed on, the SS Australis, from Southampton to Sydney back in the 70’s. The Australis was pretty basic and even in the 70’s it was old – I shared a 6 berth inside cabin with no facilities and a communal bathroom down the corridor. With no stabilizers, coming around the Cape of Good Hope in high seas was a real adventure and we had one death and many serious injuries on board directly resulting from the rolling and heaving of the ship. The cruise was more about getting from A to B (as I had too much luggage to fly home) but it did give me a love of being on the water. It also makes me appreciate how much cruising has come along since then – and how calm the seas can be.

SS Australis - only 3 years after I sailed on her (I didn't notice the rust at the time)

Tonight’s entertainment was Matilda, Jamaica’s No 1 Comedienne. Matilda was ‘supported’ by her partner, ventriloquist Patrick Murray. This was without doubt the funniest comedy show I have seen at sea – the whole audience were laughing themselves silly and in the hour show there was only one joke I had heard before.