Day 4 - Still at Sea

The First Mate had completely lost his mind. He was ranting about the endless sea and attacking anyone who ventured near. For our own safety, we had to throw him overboard. The last we saw of him he was attacking a shark. The ship’s carpenter is recovering from his wounds, but suffers bouts of delirium. The ship’s doctor is tending to him as best he can. We are optimistic that we might drift towards land in the next day.

I was up before 7, but that seems to be the way my body clock works. It was still pitch black outside, and when the sun struggled in and clocked on for the day, it revealed thick cloud from one horizon to the next. A couple of small rents in the cloud provided a bit of daylight. The wind speed was about 6 knots, and the temperature was 15°C. There was plenty of time for the day to improve, once the sun had had its morning coffee.

During the morning, we went along to sign up for the “Trek the Deck” walk, in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust. Di signed up and donated, but didn’t feel like doing the walk. She went off to attend a lecture on gemstones. I stayed to do the walk and was joined by Jane and Trevor. The route was clockwise around the foredeck. It was a short loop, and there was quite a crowd participating. This meant that, at first, it was very slow, but as people dropped out, we were able to pick up speed. The aim was to complete nine laps. We weren’t counting at first, but when everyone stopped, we assumed that was the nine finished… we then continued, and I completed a further nine laps at my normal walking speed.

We always get an announcement at the midday bell. We were told today that we had covered 1144 nautical miles since leaving Southampton, and we have a further 230 to go before arriving in Madeira tomorrow morning. I noticed that the Navigation screen on the TV now shows Madeira creeping onto the screen from the bottom.

We had a light lunch in the buffet. Trevor was late joining us, having been to a presentation on Frederique Constant watches. (Trevor likes his watches!) He resisted temptation (for now). We all had a quiet afternoon with our Kindles. Diane and Jane went off for a presentation at 4 p.m. on Coeur de Lion jewellery. Despite the fact that Di won the raffle and gained a bracelet and necklace, she was disappointed with the content of the presentation, which really imparted no value at all.

It was another formal night. There was a lot of “getting ready” to do, so we started well in advance. Once we were decent, we gave Zoe a call, just to say hello and check that Jasper was ok. Ellie had just been given a clean bill of health at the optician, and was revelling in her new football kit. She was wearing the No. 10 shirt with Messi emblazoned across the back. She’s also got some football boots and shin pads. The call was remarkably clear and we chatted for about 20 minutes.

Dressed in our finery, we proceeded down to the restaurant for dinner. The menu was another Marco Pierre White special. All four of us started with the Pan Fried Tiger Prawns in Garlic and Chilli, then the girls selected Roasted Rump of Lamb à la Dijonnaise and Slow-braised Lamb Shoulder, while Trevor and I both chose Turbot Fillet with Parmesan Crust served on Mussel and Somerset Cider Broth. We were all delighted with our choices. 

As soon as we had finished, we split up. Trevor headed for their room with the remains of the wine, Jane sought out the ladies, and Di and I headed along to the Arena to ensure we got some seats for the evening’s entertainment. Like yesterday, the theatre was filling up fast and by 20:15 it was full. We had excellent seats with a good view of the stage. The entertainment was provided by Aaron Kavanagh (who had provided the Elton John tribute act on the first evening). Tonight his show was all about the music that has inspired him. It was wonderful and we all agreed that it was the best show we had seen on any of our cruises. He was an immensely talented young man with a repertoire spanning Billy Joel, Huey Lewis, Les Mis, Bobby Darin, and even Elvis. We will certainly watch out to see if he does another show while we are on board.

Trevor and Jane went back to their suite after the show, but we headed for Havana, where the house band was playing. We stayed for about half an hour, but then we too headed back.