The train strike made the journey down to Sussex a little more difficult than it might otherwise have been, but with a succession of a taxi, National Express coach and a very welcome rendezvous with my son, Ben, at Victoria, I made it to Horsham, on Wednesday afternoon.
Thursday’s trip to Portsmouth was much easier, thanks again to Ben & Tanya, and by 1pm I was in my cabin.
The afternoon seemed a little chaotic. The combination of a complete change of crew and the boarding of a full complement of passengers all with luggage to last nearly three months and with outfits to suit the extremes to be encountered from the Equator to Antarctica, stretched the ships logistical resources to the limit, and when a suitcase hadn’t arrived by 6pm I started to worry.
Was my case aboard the Brittany Ferries ship on its way to France? Would this one shirt see me through? But thankfully all came good in the end and after returning from dinner, my case was in the cabin.
We set sail about 8:30pm. The bright lights over Portsmouth provided a spectacular departure as we passed the warships in the Naval Dockyard. There was no band playing on the quayside but a bunch of onlookers outside a pub cheering and waving their phone lights provided a poignant moment as the adventure began.
It’s Friday morning and we are on our way to Ponta Delgada in the Azores.
After rushing down to breakfast thinking I was a bit late, it dawned on me that my phone had updated to French time as we passed Brittany so after adjusting back to GMT there was plenty of time for that full English.
An amusing talk this morning provided by Marty Kristian, a founder member of the “New Seekers”, brought back some happy memories of the days of the swinging 60s and “flower power”.
The captain has just warned us of some rough seas ahead. Gale force 9 tonight and tomorrow. Oh what fun!
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