All my young life, wherever in the world I was, I had to find the Catholic church; couldn’t get away from it even shipboard! Hey, what would’ve happened if the sea had been rough and we’d been unable “to keep the service under control”? Pirate fight? Shiver me timbers! Re. tanning, when the sun appears, English folk whip off their clothes like strippers and splay out in their skivvies. “Mad dogs and Englishmen…” as Noel Coward so succinctly put it. I distinctly recall Miss Rowe making us retire early and the subsequent resentment. Response? Pillow fight! Not written up in my trusty log, of course. At first I didn’t join in but it was irresistible. Teenage schoolgirls in nighties and PJs. Oh, nothing feminine or sexy about it; Alison whacked me so hard about the head, she knocked me off my feet. Of course, word got out and we were duly reprimanded. Quite tame when I think of the trouble I got into later in life!
31/10/71
Gibraltar – Heraklion
Personal Log: Sixth Day
Today, a Sunday, I had to get up and be dressed, ready for church, by 7:30. An assembly service was held on the deck. The sea was very calm which, I think, helped to keep the service under control. We passed the Algerian coast and took photographs.
After this hurried start we had no lessons until 11:30. I have never had lessons on a Sunday before either. The first period we had classrooms during which we received our rules for Heraklion. We had the best weather, today, that we have had all journey so far. The sun was shining and their was hardly a cloud in the sky. I spent most of the lunch-break sun bathing and attempting to get a tan to show my friends when I return home. After lunch we had deck games in which we played an enjoyable game of deck hockey and after this we had a talk on Greek art which would have been more interesting had I not heard it all before!
Although Alison’s and my project is coming on all right, I don’t think we will get a prize There was a dance in the evening but we were made to go to bed early cos the clocks were put on 30 minutes.
Navigational Log:
0001-0400 Middle Watch
0330 Vessel passing Algiers to starboard
0400-0800 Morning Watch
0705 Sunrise
1200-1600 Afternoon Watch
1322 Cape Bougaroni passed to starboard
1600-2000 Dog Watches
1730 Cape de Garde passed to starboard. Sunset. Navigation lights on. Look outs posted.
