Eventually arrived in Dun Laoghiare after waiting at anchor for the gale to let up. The word Guinness was frequently mentioned by many thirsty seamen. A sing song in the bar kept us occupied. Nellie slipped gently onto the pontoon, in a superb sideways ferry glide. Gangway down, there was a mad rush to the local hostelry after a quick stop to apply lippy and take out the curlers. At the local bar we had a knees up and the Tiger came out of the Tigger. The next morning there were a few delicate heads.
There was the usual brimming from those watching as the assisted climbs took place, followed by more lippy and clean shirts for the ship's crew and watch photos. We are now on our way down the Irish coast, on the last leg to Cardiff.Thanks to our wonderful permanent crew of Captain Chris, Jon, Lesley, Ollie, Marco, Lee, the Angelic Marilyn, saintly Ali, divaesque Tracey and the dervishes Tom, Fiona and Action Man Radec, as well as the learners Aled, Jenny and Luren.
Gooooo JST!
Forward Port - Alex, Pauline,
Ian, Richard, David, Lydia and Diana.
Hey folks! I went aboard the Lord Nelson exactly 5 days ago & what an experience it's been. From setting the sails on the Irish Sea to singing the night away with the crew.
One of the best things about the week has been all the amazing and inspiring people I have met. The fact that our crew is made up of people from all ends of the UK, and with different abilities, has been really special. The individual conversations and story-sharing has been one of my favourite things - hearing how people have overcome difficult times, disabilities and life-threatening accidents has taught me a lot about making the most of each day. The permanent crew and volunteers are good fun and very friendly - we've nicknamed Radek (one of the Bosun volunteers) "Action Man" because he is the spitting image AND manages to run up the riggings and across the yards in super quick time! There have been some harder things about the voyage - for example, "happy hour", late night/early morning shifts; and none-stop things to do. But each of these have had a silver lining too. I particularly enjoyed stargazing whilst on the 4-8am night watch; and being on hose duty during 'scrub the decks' is pretty fun! But the fun doesn't end there... the best day had to be going into Dun Leary with some of crew. There were some local musicians in the pub, and together we formed a rowdy mass of song and a little dancing! We're on our way to Wales now, sailing down the East coast of Ireland, surrounded by beautiful scenery that I'm not used to (being from London!). It's great to stand at the front of the ship as she rolls over the waves - you feel like an adventurer! I've got the midnight watch this evening, and the plan is to set sails at 4am for the Eastward course to Cardiff. Hope I can stay awake!! Signing off for now :) Peace, JST Crew
Members from Aft Starboard Watch :)