06/12/12 - Lord Nelson

Day 49 6th Dec

Thanks to Captain Barbara we managed to anchor off Santa Barbara Tropical Island in the Arquipelago dos Abrolhos yesterday followed by 'hands to bathe’ off the ship in glorious clear warm blue water. What a refreshing frolic. Cookie Dave took a leap off the ship fully clothed looking to those of us in the water like superchef. Some of us managed to go snorkeling in what can only be described as colorful fish & coral paradise. A moment to savor was hearing the tropic bird’s squawking above, the goats bleating on the hillside and seeing the silent water world beneath. What a privilege to be on the cusp of 2 worlds. We were then ferried ashore in the DOTI boat to be escorted on the island to look at the beautiful blue & white 150 year old lighthouse. There are only 7 houses on the island. What a place to be marooned. Glorious sunset was the backdrop to a fantastic BBQ on deck with engineers punch & invited Brazilians from the Marine Park. Like Christmas lights being turned on at home, we saw the lighthouse come alive at dusk. AS if that wasn’t enough of an amazing day, we finished it off in daft Ship’s style and all watches improvised & performed sketches in the SODS (Ship’s Operatic & Dramatic Society) event on the main mast deck. You had to be there. A blog is not sufficient to capture the crazy atmosphere of Nellie’s Variety Performance. Drag artistes were in abundance as were an incredible supply of props gleaned from the bins & cupboards & fashioned Blue Peter style. Today we weighed anchor at 7.30am, motored away southerly towards Rio on the ocean blue. During our watch we have been watching humpback whales and dolphins with babies playing around the ship. Can life get any better? Yes, if the ship wasn’t dry of beer!

Aft Starboard signing out (Sue, John T, Steve, Noel, Mick, Richard, Al & Luke)

PS, In preparation for later voyages, the permanent crew did a 'Pirates aboard’ drill. Our Royal Marines, Al & Luke role-played the pirates & tried to find any entry points to the ship, whilst all other voyage crew were locked safely in the lower mess down below. It was hot but at least the galley store is accessible. Neil clearly misunderstood the 'Pirates aboard’ drill and came dressed in his parrot costume. We are not sure if he misheard parrot drill instead of Pirate drill or if it’s because 'pirates like parrots..'