Blogs from English Channel, Atlantic, Oceans and Seas

Today we wrapped up Phase-2 of our vacation. We have concluded our visit to London and have started cruising again. But let’s take the day in order as it happened. We got up at 7:45 with most everything already packed in the suitcases. We went down for the usual breakfast and then said goodbye to the lady who has prepared the food and cleaned the room all week. There are 4 people who do almost all the work in this small hotel, so we have gotten to know her. The menu has been pretty much the same everyday, but it was better than some European breakfasts we have had, and the lady was always very friendly to us. We went back to the room and found an e-mail from Stephanie. She said they had tried to ... read more

Daylight comes a bit later in the English Channel than it did when we cruised the seas around Greenland, Iceland and Norway. Being able to turn the clock back an hour may have also helped. Sharon still had to rise to make it to mass; I took a more lethargic pace. I still needed to get up to meet up with her for breakfast. I worked some on the blog, checked the “When & Where” for today’s activities. We’ll be checking out the new speaker at the 11AM lecture dealing with the Vikings and Ireland. She replaced Stuart Sutherland in Rotterdam and has her work cut out for her. Lunch and Trivia follow, then Bingo at 4PM and then a Gala Dinner. Just another peaceful day at sea. I met Sharon in the Exploration Café where ... read more

Today is the last full day of our cruise. The ship is sailing through moderate seas today and we can actually feel the sway of the ship (at last). The weather has been great all during our trip, but David is glad that at least once we got a little “real feel” of being at sea. Janet is feeling a little nauseous so she would like the sea to be calmer instead. We got up about 7:30 and went to the Botticelli Dinning Room for a leisurely morning meal. Last night Janet had asked our Head Waiter if there was ever going to be Eggs Benedict on the menu. He said to come to his section and he would arrange for it. We were seated at a table for 6 and told the waiter that we ... read more

Idyllic at first, with an ideal weight of wind and a flattish sea. We clipped happily along with a tame 14 knots off to starboard, full sails, auto-pilot on, with mugs of tea and cake anglais for breakfast. But by late morning, merely half way across, the wind and the waves had grown. The swell, sideways on to our path, rolled us up and down again, and jostled us about as we waited more than an hour for a convoy of huge cargo ships to plunge blindly past. We stopped a second time for ships ploughing the other way, by which time the wind and waves had grown again. We reefed, and reefed once more, still four hours from any coast. This was as hard as we wanted to make it. We dug in though, never ... read more

The pilot book makes less of Dieppe than it might. The town wraps around the harbour at one end while a chateau and museum commands the hill at the other, complete with several canvasses by Sickert, Pissarro and Renoir and a fabulous collection of maritime artefacts and fine ivory. The town itself is marvellously French and a charming place to wander around between boat chores and lying about with a book. Such has been life for the past four days, except for short excursion out to sea which convinced us that it remained unpleasant out there and we should return immediately to moules frites on the quay and simple suppers on deck in the sun. Tonight we even hear jazz drifting across the quays. We needed the rest, being honest. Our break in Boulogne had enabled ... read more