We headed off with trepidation from Yorkshire to Bristol with enough luggage to sink the boat. Heading for 55 days out over the equator to South America.
It started badly. We were bussed to Southhampton. The boat had missed the tide.
We headed out across the Bay of Biscay with swells of 6 metres. The boat rocked, rolled, yawed, pitched and sprayed more than Chuck Berry. Liz succumbed to bad sea-sickness for three days. I survived but being lashed to the mast was quite uncomfortable.
The boat being old and small was part of the ocean. I thought that was good.
Our first port of call was La Coruna in Spain. This was where the Spanish Armada set off to invade Britain. It was dank and raining as we plodded around.
I love history and old buildings. La Coruna displayed all the glory of past powers. The Church and State both had their architecture in prominence. I think the Church won. They were looking for world domination (hence the Armada) and the grandeur of the churches with their lavish symbols of extravagance and power was intended to reinforce their dominance over peoples’ minds. – Similar to ISIS in that respect. The State had its forts and the Church had its ICBMs with every gilded cathedral.
All grandeur has its day and fades.
Hercules Tower was a brick-built Roman Lighthouse with an interesting spiral stairway.
Didn’t get to see the panoramic views through the mist and rain but it looked an interesting place and the weather was wet but warming up!
Quite an adventure ahead.
Much more to come. Adventures are never over! You’ve still got yours to come!
Like your Then & Now perspective …
Cheers Dave. More to come.
I intended asking about sea sickness but you answered the question here. I thought maybe on a large ship the effect would be less, than say, a ferry. I have only to look at the swell and I’m sick. I learned that on my first school trip abroad when I was as sick as a dog. On my numerous cross channel trips I always stay inside and avoid looking through the portholes. It’s that bad. That’s why I would never consider cruising on the sea. Liz has my sympathy. Sea sickness is far worse than a one-off vomit from too much alcohol or poor quality food. Coach travel has a similar effect but oddly not air travel. Why were you spending time writing books when that could have been done at home?
So just how big WAS this ship/boat???
Seasickness is obviously very nasty. Liz was very ill and wanted to go home. But the Bay of Biscay was very rough. The boat was yawing, pitching and rolling. As it was a small boat (about the size of a North Sea ferry) this was very pronounced. In the big boats the effects are much less pronounced. The size of those floating blocks of flats stabilises the motion. Liz got used to it. Once we were past Spain the seas became calmer. Through the doldrums they were as smooth as silk. There were occasions (such as out around the Horn and back through the Bay of Biscay again) when they did get choppy but by then Liz had managed to get the sea-sickness tablet regime sorted and had no trouble.
Sea travel was great for me. There were times when you had two, three or four days at sea. I went to lectures on the social/political situations in the countries we were to visit, watched the wild-life (whales, dolphins, boobies, albatrosses, seals, turtles, frigate birds, giant petrels etc), walked the decks, watched the ocean, sat in the jaccuzzi on the top deck (under the sun with a beer), took photos, read and wrote. It was ideal. There was plenty of time and no chores and no internet access. It was freedom to do exactly what you wanted. I wanted to write. I wrote one new Sci-fi book – rewrote it – and completed a second book of anecdotes and another book of poetry. Loved it. Writing is a bit of a compulsion.
The ship was about the size of a ferry. It held just over seven hundred passengers. It looked like a proper ship, not a cruise-liner. When you saw it in dock next to one of the big cruise-liners it looked tiny. I think I put a photo of it next to one on my last post.
You’re just a natural born traveler, aren’t you… You and Badfish! Two of the most fascinating folks I know! Have you ever been on one of the ships where you get to be part of the crew? We had friends who sailed on a 3-masted something or other to Tahiti and that was part of the deal. They loved it. I can’t swim and am scared to death of the water, but I do like cruising. We have just booked a 12-day cruise around the British Isles for September 2017. I hope to get to see Anna in San Francisco, but if we can’t make it, then we’ll plan to see her a day in London next years.
Hi Cheryl – Are you docking in Hull on your cruise? We could meet up! Hope things work out with Anna.
Not sure where that is. We depart from Southampton.
Ports: London (Southampton), England | Guernsey (St. Peter Port), England | Cork, Ireland (Cobh – For Blarney Castle) | Dublin, Ireland | Belfast, Northern Ireland | Liverpool, England | Glasgow (Greenock), Scotland | Inverness/Loch Ness (Invergordon), Scotland | Edinburgh (South Queensferry), Scotland | Paris/Normandy (Le Havre), France | London (Southampton), England
I’m not sure we’re going to be able to make it to see Anna in SF. I just checked the rates on the hotel where she’s staying and then those around there.. $369 per night. That’s WAAAAAAY out of our ballpark. And we need to be putting money aside for the cruise. If we don’t see her in SF we’ll make arrangements to spend a day with her in London before we leave on the cruise. Are you near any of those places?
Hi Cheryl – not near me I’m afraid. You’re the other end and other side of the country!
Well that sucks! I think Drollery would have loved you!
Perhaps you could have a word with the Captain. He might nip round to Hull for a day!
La Caruna – I’d have baulked at that bad omen! Just for the record, it was just England the Armada intended to invade and not Britain – as they had ground troops waiting (and stranded) in Flanders.
During 2009-14, I did a lot of sailing on the Med on a 42 footer. That is serious sailing in stormy weather I can tell you. Wow, it’s something else entirely when the entire vessel gets battered silly by big waves. At first it’s quite frightening then slowly becomes mildly amusing – strangely enough!
Seasickness I’ve never suffered from, thank goodness. I was told how to avoid it years ago by an old ship’s lag. It’s all about what you DON’T eat. Once on board people always make the big mistake of eating the same things as they do at home as soon as first meal time arrives. There lies the problem – all they really should have consumed was a salt tablet and water, that’s it, nothing else for 24 hours except some bread and biscuits, that kind of thing. Nothing with acid, nothing fried, nothing fatty. I don’t eat such crap anyway to it’s easy for me to say. But I’ve seen some people get into terrible states with it.
hi Andrew – good to hear from you. hope you are fully recovered.
big waves hitting the ship does get a bit disconcerting. but it was a two hulled ice-breaker so I wasn’t too worried.
we were alright on the way back.