10-Sept-24 Labrador Sea
Oh what a night. Somewhat rough as we head due south across the Labrador Sea. Full speed ahead as ship tries to avoid a low pressure. Which we are on the periphery of. But even so. Smooth sailing it is not.
Constant crashing against the waves. Like hitting a rock face each time. Which sends shudders down the ship. Cabin is about a third of the way back from the bow. So feeling it. Plenty of creaks. One to my left. One to my right. But not in sync. Constant cacophony of creaks. All cicada like. Left ear. Creak. Then. Right ear. Creak. Alternating. Creak. Creak. Creak. Creak. From side to side. Almost torture.
Have to shift to the middle of the bed to avoid tumbling out of bed. Miss Nottingham recalls the time she was on board ship to St Helena. So rough she had to transfer mattress to floor. To avoid any mishap.
Two days like this. But not feeling unwell in the swell. Given I’m high on cinnarizine.
And it’s a leisurely two days. Missing lectures as have a business deadline on Monday. So need to work. And plan the next few days of the trip after arrival in Halifax. Need to reach Bangor in Maine. Need a private shuttle from Halifax to Yarmouth. No. Not Yorkshire to Norfolk. Nova Scotia. Then ferry to Bar Harbour in Maine. Then somehow get to Bangor. Yet to research. Pick up hire car. Go pootling. What could go wrong.
Highlights are visiting the bridge and the engine room control room. There’s no rudder. Change direction by using the azimuth propellers. And bow thrusters. Tiny joysticks the order of the day. No big ship’s wheel here. All electronic. A blip on the radar identifies a large Titanic crushing iceberg. 8 miles away. 40 minutes later we sail south of it. But looks a piddly little thing. But then there’s no sense of scale.
Visit to the engine room control room. Not actually allowed in the engine room unfortunately. So have to look at the video feed. Four diesel engines supply heat and power. Two large batteries provide power when necessary. Drinking water is sea water treated by reverse osmosis.
Evening auction. Bits of Inuit jewellery. A crappy card painted by one of the Inuit kids. Of an Inuit looking at the aurora. But the aurora looks like lightning. My 12 year old goddaughter can do way better. An artist of the future…and I’m going to be her agent (agreed chap?!).
Some seal fur handbags. Can you imagine walking about in Nottingham with a seal fur handbag. Didn’t think so. That’s why I didn’t buy them. Ahem.
Star item is a chart of the Arctic Archipelago. A0 size. Marked up by the Inuit girl. Who professes to be an artist. See note above. Route is drawn on a paper map you can buy for CAD25. With some little coloured drawings of each stop. Whale tail here. An ulu there. Polar bear here. The sort my 12 year old goddaughter would do to fill time on a rainy afternoon.
Bidding starts at EUR200. Nope. Drops to EUR100. And then. Two people decide they want it. All proceeds to a good cause.
Guess how much that chart goes for?
EUR500?
Nope.
EUR1,000?
Nope.
EUR2,000?
Nope.
EUR4,000?
Nope.
Four. Thousand. Three. Hundred. Euros.
Bloody hell.
One response to “NWP 27. Life on the ocean waves”
Very high tech, looks interesting that whole ship can be controlled from the small console and lack of propellers as per our first cruise ship,most impressive.