Friday, 26 October 2012

Day 9 - en route to Antigua


Day 9 – en route to Antigua  3 October 2012

8am and it was 29 degrees!  Our world is blue – ocean blue, sky blue and turquoise wake, each intensified by contrasting white of fluffy clouds and foam from the wash.
 
I have seen just one ship during our crossing, and that was several days ago.  On the 360 degree horizon there is just water with Oriana at the centre. Today I saw our first sea bird since Madeira – a flash of white against the blue of the sky. Comparatively few people experience transatlantic passages and I feel privileged to be one of them – they are truly different from normal cruising, which will resume tomorrow when we reach Antigua. There was a dramatic storm last night. I woke around 4am to a rattling sound. Although I am in an inside cabin, the left hand side is superstructure out onto open deck and the rain was so torrential it was beating against it. I heard the thunder and switched on the bridgecam on my cabin TV to see great flashes of lightning. I couldn’t resist getting up and peeping out of my cabin door through the glass door next to my cabin that leads out onto the Terrace Deck to watch. It certainly cleared the air this morning, although everyone woke to a new problem. One of the engines had shot out black soot all over the aft decks which had to be cleared and cleaned.

The Peninsular lunch was at noon. There were not that many people there, nor at the Ligurian and Baltic one which was yesterday.  I was on a table for 8 with the Accommodation Services Manager, who was very entertaining, as was everyone on the table. I now feel overly stuffed and too hot and have returned to my cabin to rest and cool down. It is our last formal night tonight until we start our return journey on Tuesday.

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