Sad day as it’s our last one at sea. Having sailed all night we headed into Aberdeen at 12 noon. Our beautiful ship was dwarfed by the huge tankers in the port. All the people in the tankers were waving as we went passed. Lunch was a lovely fish platter with various different fish (see yesterday’s entry for the crab). Then it was time to finish Polly the pirate ready for the captains EGG CHALLENGE. We also decided to dress up as pirates, so Mary and Fran took a trip ashore and returned with various pirate accessories. We got the most marks for presentation and Lizzie managed to throw the egg so it landed on deck and was second furthest. Unfortunately when Captain Barbara unwrapped the egg from Jen’s stinky socks and all the jelly there was a tiny hole in the egg so we lost some points and ended up in 3rd place. But, we all had a lot of fun taking part and the whole thing was the source of many giggles.
So now its 2.30am and once again we are on harbour watch. Mary and Fran are taking the second part of our harbour watch and all seems to be quiet, although there are still people out in Aberdeen and another huge ship has just reverse parked (moored) next to us. We are busy sewing badges on to second mate Jon’s new camp blanket, which we hope will keep him warm and cosy. It’s certainly keeping our knees warm at the moment. Last night we had an amazing barbeque which the engineers cooked. They were trying to look very manly but their singing meant that they didn’t quite pull it off. The pudding was chocolate-stuffed bananas. Did they know this is a traditional guiding pudding?
So here we go with our final feelings about our leg of the voyage:
High points
- Sailing across the Moray Firth with the sun shining
- - The constant supply of fresh cakes (and the bowls to lick – thank you Colin!)
- - Everyone going aloft, and many going right to the top of the mast who thought they were too scared at the beginning
- - Our day trip out in Orkney
- - Sunny weather
- - The permanent crew, who have been constantly encouraging and full of good humour
Low points:
- - Lack of wind
- - Cleaning the heads while the ship was pitching and we all looked a little green
- - Thinking about going home.
Best quotes:
- (Kirsty to Mary) “Don’t bang the corner of your head!”
- (Fran to Jon) “I prefer two long sleeps to one short one”
Best dressed:
- Charlie – the only person on board to wear a dress
- Captain Barbara – the only person on board whose clothes have been ironed
Worse dressed:
- Alec (2nd Engineer) – High viz jacket, grey trackie bottoms rolled up at the ankles, bright orange crocs. Beautiful!
Highest climber:
- Jess – a bosun in the making we think
Most organised person:
- Mary and Amy – thank you for organising our hoodies and badges
Loudest person:
- Any member of Forward Port watch (especially in the middle of the night)
Best pirate:
- Rachel – still wearing her costume long after the others had put some warmer clothes on.
Best cake:
- A very difficult category but we think that carrot cake just topped the rocky road
Hardest crew member to wake:
- Robyn – just falls asleep immediately
Easiest crew member to wake:
- Lizzi – tells everyone the wrong bunk number so is repeatedly mistaken for other people
Best homemaker:
- Jess – constantly sewing badges onto her camp blanket
Worst Hostess:
- Abi – asks her watch what they would like to drink then gives them something completely different
Most hardcore:
- Lou and Trish – for wearing shorts whatever the weather
Best wannabe captain:
- Jen – for planning course alterations and sail trimming then convincing the mate it was their idea
Best hat:
- Fran – pink, doubles as scarf
Best wakeup call:
- Eileen and Emma – beautiful singing (which failed to wake half of the crew)
Best colouring:
- Jos – drew almost all of our track chart
Best power napper:
- Martha – asleep even when on watch
Worst chocolate addict:
- Becky – is seeking help regarding her crunchie habit
Worst alternative bunk:
- Sophie – for deciding the floor is more comfy than a nice mattress and duvet
Most motherly watch leader:
- Sandie – always ready to assist
Guide uniform rep:
- Sarah – you name it, she owns it
Spelling champion:
- Beth – Harry the Hippo likes zoos but not menageries
Good for a giggle:
- Pam – always has time for a smile and a laugh
Walking dictionary:
- Rebecca – for using a word in a game which she then had to explain to all the others
Kindest person:
- Kirsty – for wearing a jumper with her name written on it to help us remember it!
Biggest football fan:
- Marco – forcing course changes so that we had TV reception
Best hunter-gatherer:
- Fred the fish – crabs and mackerel
Biggest girl:
- Jon – for doing hair and make-up (if only with china graph pencils) for the crew
Best applier of plasters:
- Jo applying plaster to Fran to stop her making a mess
Best baker:
- Who else but Colin. May also win ‘most caring’ award.
Biggest irritation to the captain:
- Steve – for teaching a game to everyone and she was the only one who didn’t understand
Most inexplicable meal:
- Dave’s ‘Beef Beanie Boogie Woogie’. It didn’t have the beans until some large waves made the bean pan jump off the hob and all over the galley (but also into the beef stew)
Keenest decorator:
- Marcin – constantly painting parts of the ship and odd bits of wood.
So all that remains is to say goodbye and good luck to the remaining crews. We hope they had as much fun as we did.
- From Aft Port – Trish, Mary, Lizzi, Rachel, Jen and Fran.