On the Shiny Briny after Six Days at Sea Ho, Ho, Ho

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On the Shiny Briny after Six Days at Sea…Ho, Ho, Ho

Boxing Day and we are sailing easterly between the tip of Sri Lanka and Banda Aceh on the tip of Sumatra preparatory to slipping down the straits of Malacca and on to Singapore, without encountering any pirates, we hope. As PP has been known to remark, there are four main trouble spots for pirates around the world but we are only going to be sailing through three of them, first one coming up!
We are well seasoned sailors by now but of course we have only been in mild climates and calm seas, but it has proved a fine way to find our sea legs (from experience we both know it’s the land legs once one goes ashore from a stint on the briny that makes one loll around like the legendary drunken sailor but we shall see.)
A highlight was our Christmas lunch yesterday with most of the crew and officers in attendance. The spread included a whole suckling pig, roast turkey, traditional Romanian Christmas fare and lots of wine and bubbly. We were treated to a visit from Santa, who oddly spoke with a distinctly Romanian accent, and he had parcels for everyone. We were thoroughly entertained by the crew members who entered the Karaoke competition after the lunch, but I think Elton John and Don McLean could have provided some pointers on phrasing. A jolly fine way to spend Christmas!
We had been advised that as we sailed through the channel just off the southern coast of Sri Lanka we might pick up a phone signal and sure enough around one pm there was a line up of persons, including PP, with mobiles to their ears on the aft deck. As luck would have it we managed a brief connection with PP’s daughter Lisa and received a follow up text from her as well. Good to know all is well.
There continues to be a stream of vessels and we rarely scour the horizon without spotting one, invariably cargo carriers of some sort. We are in one of the world’s prime shipping lanes at the moment in relation to cargo travelling to and from the Middle East and Asia.
So far no surprises, which is very pleasing, the promos can be trusted. Any down sides? Very few and mostly inconsequential. We miss our misplaced bag because it contains all the music PP labourously downloaded and the jazzy little speakers we bought as well. That downside is our fault not the vessel’s and will shortly be rectified, we hope. The owner’s main cabin is comfortable and spacious but the temperature tends to be on the hot side, so far we have had difficulty getting it below 25 degrees, but the sleeping room is cooler. Now we are travelling east we can open the porthole (actually a sizeable window) and get a pleasant, if warm, breeze. We may remember that longingly when we are in the Pacific. The food is wholesome and there is plenty of it. Breakfast eggs are poached to perfection but the other meals tend to be a bit stodgy (not surprising given the Eastern European officers and the need to sustain a busy crew). The options to choose and/or leave out meals or parts thereof means there is still plenty of selection. Not a downside because we did not have greater expectations.
PP:
When our bag was lost, I had contemplated inviting someone “to take a long walk on a short plank” (apologies to R.L. Stevenson and “Treasure Island”), but the mellowing effect of life at sea has reduced my turgid humours - I think I’ll just pick up the bag in Singapore and get on with it! Nice wine, a bottle of nicely aged rum (with sixteen men on a dead man’s chest and a Yo! Ho! Ho!) Ah! The life on the ocean waves!!

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Photos

Christmas Aboard
A feast!

Passing Traffic
A Danish comptriot for Cruisin' Susan

Home Away
Bloody Good Ship, mate!

Comments

[Coralie]

christmas wishes
Hello Me Mateys!, A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you both! Coralie PS I would have had them up the plank and off to Davey Jones locker faster than you could say "Lost Luggage"