Rain
again! An hour or so ago we had some
very welcome blue sky. I decided to do a small update on what’s been happening
since we didn’t visit Torshavn (July 18). Most of the time since then we have
had fog, rain and a lot of rough sea.
Every
morn I’ve been waking to the dismal sound of the fog horn bellowing every two
or three minutes; every evening I’ve gone to sleep to the same mournful sound.
Although there’s no fog today – yet. (10.30am) The skies are leaden and the sea
has once again started to have ‘white horses’ and look very unsettled.
The
Captain warned us earlier that the North Atlantic was noted for rough weather.
And rough weather we’ve had. He also said he was taking a course between two
Low Systems to avoid as much unpleasant weather as possible.
Four nights ago
we ran into the worst of it. I just took to early bed. I know that works for me
when things get really bad. I don’t get sick if I climb into bed, cover my eyes
and tell myself I’m being rocked on the bosom of the deep. Then I drop off to
sleep.
That night Bruce
decided to go down to the show in the Theatre. About 9.30 the door flew open
and he arrived back.
He said “Well –
they’re all staggering around out there like a mob of drunken sailors!” In this he included himself.
The ship was
kicking and bucking occasionally in a most alarming way likely to throw
everyone off their feet. The Captain recommended moving around the ship
cautiously, especially on stairs, and advised the use of handrails. It’s funny
how a big ship like this can be hit by the occasional wave which feels like
some sort of Titanic adventure. (Mind you, we passed within 14 miles of the
Titanic wreck the other day. No icebergs around.)
At midday today the
Captain tells us that totally unaccounted for bad weather has struck again, and
winds of 35 to 40 knots an hour are pushing the sea up into ominous waves. Too
bad. Maybe it’s bed for me in a few hours. Again.
What else has
happened as we have progressed in a mainly South Westerly and Westerly direction towards New York?
Three times in the last few days we have had to put our clocks back an
hour overnight. And it’s coming up again tonight to get to New York time: 4
hours behind Greenwich Mean Time.
Sunset and
sunrise have also changed dramatically. At Torshaven the sunrise was at 4.17am and sunset at
10.47pm. Today sunrise was at 5.23am and sunset (provided we have sun) will be
at 8.33pm. And the changes will progress in the next few days.
Temperatures
have also changed as we moved South into warmer climes.
Torshavn – low of 11°C and high of 12°C
(really turned out colder than that with the fog). Today they told us to expect
low of 14° and high of 20°.
At
noon the Captain said the unexpected weather deterioration was likely to
continue through this afternoon and evening.
Oh
well . . . .
Sounds challenging. Not sure I'm ready to book a North Atlantic crossing.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't find you til I put blogspot in the web address instead of blogger! Anyway, here I am, following your adventures now....sounds all a bit dismal ATM....hope it improves:):):):) gorgeous sunny day here...blue skies, birds chirping, almost shorts weather:):):) sorry..............!!!!! N
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