T'was not a dark and stormy night … well, it was quite dark. But not too stormy. Okay, not stormy at all, and not windy. In fact, the winds were so light that at 10pm we had to hand all the sails.
Before the sails come down, however, we gathered in the bar for Captain Barbara’s general knowledge quiz. Three teams of eight people contested for the coveted first place. The winner was Tim’s Team.
Today it is Sunday, a beautiful, sunny blue-sky day. We are back on deck for the afternoon watch, and are discovering that as we go farther north, ships are like London buses: none for seven days, then three come together.
This morning there was a short service at the Church of the Holey [sic] Sail. The strains of hymns floated on the wind – unlike the ship, which is still motoring!
Everyone knows that sunshine makes things grow, so it was time to once more bring out the watering cans and water the deck. (Really!) The dousing with sea water is intended to prevent the teak from cracking in the heat. We doubt that our flower seeds will sprout, alas.
Although we managed to avoid the meteorological depression north of Mauritius, depression of a different type has settled over the England fans in the wake of the rugby results.
Aft Port – Ian, Tim, Liz, Bill, Karen, Nicole, Robin