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Published: February 24th 2018
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On leaving Santiago de Cuba the captain advised that the winds that evening & the following two days en route to Tortola would be, to say the least, rather strong! In fact we experienced gale force 7 at times particularly at night and early hours of the morning.
The ship had to close the decks due to the high winds which during the night wasn't a problem but of course during the day it meant lots of people sitting around the various lounges.We ventured onto our balcony which was quite safe but as the wind whistled around your head it wasn't so pleasant so we too ventured inside.
Our next port of call was Road Town, Tortola. The capital and largest of the British Virgin Islands. Despite the island suffering heavy damage from Hurricane's Irma & Marta in September last year, it is currently in the process of restoration and only recently has been able to welcome cruise ships back again. So far just 3 ships TUI, Silversea & Fred Olsen. Braemar has called many times to Tortola over the years and the people of Tortola are thrilled that Braemar will be once again visiting the island.
During
Fabric necklace
Another craft day our two days at sea the ship organised various activities aimed at raising money for the Red Cross in Tortola, hoping to add to the substantial £8430 already raised on visits in January & February.The AID 4 TORTOLA activities included a Treasure hunt, A stairway to heaven where notes & coins were placed on the stairways starting at Deck 2. A raffle with great prizes but the most fun was the street market where guests were invited to play village fete style games for a nominal fee. Guess the number of sweets in the jar, aiming ping pong balls into glasses, tumble the cans, hoopla etc but the one I got most enjoyment out of was the human fruit machine! 3 crew members stood behind a ribboned screen; a drum roll as each person tried their luck, when the drum roll ended through the ribbons out popped three hands each holding a piece of fruit. A few lucky punters won a row of 3 oranges but the sheer delight on the faces of the three crew members each time was so much better than the disappointment on the guests faces.
It was time for me to head off to
AID4TORTOLA
Raising funds for Red Cross Tortola another craft class, this time with a lady we had met on a previous Caribbean cruise, Marion.Marion sadly lost her sight 10 years ago but was determined it would not stop her enjoying life, so with her husband she enjoys life to the full, plays tennis and at this time of the year takes a Caribbean cruise.
At home Marion has a guide dog, she has been on this ship many times so is familiar with the layout but of course needs another persons arm for added guidance. As we made our way to the craft area Marion was telling me how she had started knitting again and ran a craft group for the blind in Cambridge where she lived. She was hoping to learn something new at the class to take back to her group.
The item we would be making was a fabric necklace. Our components were about 20 wooden barrel shaped beads, & a length of printed Lycra fabric sewn into a narrow tube shape.Marion likes Jewel colours so we selected a print, nice and bright & colourful.The process was knot the fabric-place bead-knot the fabric-place bead etc until you reached a required length.It was
Happy ship
Captain down to the deck hand everyone has a happy face. such a tactile process and Marion whizzed along and completed her necklace long before me.The ends were either knotted or sewn, the latter I did for Marion. She was so thrilled that she had learnt a new craft and asked the tutor if she could have a go at making the decorated hessian bag that I had produced a few days earlier.So the next day we went along to the craft class again. There was another lady there who also assisted.I was amazed that Marion wanted to do the sewing & drawing up of the Suffolk puffs herself. I was mesmerised watching as Marion's hands felt the edge of the circular piece of fabric and made a running stitch all around, drawing it up into a puff.She made her selection from the tactile button box and between us decided what colour buttons coordinated with the fabric.The tutor stitched the five puffs onto the bag once Marion had decided their placement.
As we walked out of the class I just felt so humbled having shared this special time with this lovely blind lady who after so many years had now picked up a sewing needle again following her sight loss.
Proud to be british
Well we were in British Virgin Islands. Another bumpy night, this time the ship seemed to pitch rather than roll and lots of people missed dinner. We just took our time, holding on to rails, backs of chairs etc.We didn't hold onto each other as we thought if one goes down we will both go down.The waiters were always on hand to assist.
These choppy seas are definitely the worst we have experienced in the Caribbean.
The captain made an announcent during the day that he could not let us all put up with another night of rocking & rolling, as some time had been made up due to the wind and by changing course he could get us to Tortola Friday evening rather than Saturday morning.Wow, brilliant decision for sure and a cheer could be heard all around the ship.
It was a lovely approach with British & USA Virgin Islands stretching along Sir Frances Drake Channel.
Dress code for dinner was smart casual British (Red,White,Blue). So Mr. M & I pushed the boat out in our patriotic attire.
We had visited Tortola before, also visited Virgin Gorda with its lovely beaches & huge boulders so today was just an
Road Town cruise terminal
Suffered damage in the Sept 2017 hurricanes amble off the ship. The new cruise terminal was being built the last time we visited but it had obviously suffered damage in the hurricane as there were repairs going on in many of the outlets. Walking from the ship the evidence of the hurricane still obvious but strangely the small wooden huts along the watersedge where vendors sell their wares were untouched!
It was time to enjoy a cool drink & as we sat overlooking one of the Marinas it was hard to image what these people went through just 6 months prior.
We do not leave Tortola until 10pm so plenty of time to enjoy time ashore for those who enjoy the famous painkiller drink at Pussers Bar.Think we'll give that a miss.
No more days 'At Sea' the remaining days will be on islands so looking forward to St.Kitts, Antigua, Martinique & Barbados.
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