342 ship 18 reaching Atlantic Ocean 27.6.2019
Yesterday, I had said to the chief officer that this was the first ship for me being always on time or even earlier. He explained that because of its dimension that vessel has priority. The funny thing is, that the first time when we were later, was after this explanation. Departure was planned for around 4 to 5 and it was 7:30, but still this is nearly on time compared to my other experiences.
On the Strait of Gibraltar, we went from the Med Sea to the Atlantic, seeing Tarifa on one, and Ceuta and Tangier on the other side. I tried to catch that with panoramic photos, but the wind was very strong, and my circle was wavy.
The same problem made it difficult to take photos of two swimmers who were crossing the strait accompanied by two boats. This was the reason why the big Benjamin Franklin had made a bow instead of going straight forward.
the white spots in the middle are the swimmers
I have photos from the front, showing Africa on the left and Spain on the right side, and some others from the back, now Africa & Spain changing places from left to right and right to left. For me this was symbolic for the arbitrariness of fate, setting you on this or that side and by that deciding, if you have 3-4 or maybe no sibling, which religion dominates your life, how safe and well your life etc.
When I went back to my cabin, I saw a big splash in the sea and only my second thought (after explosion or so) was that it could be a whale and it was! I tried my best to get a photo but the combination of wind, big distance and the movement of the ship and the whale made it difficult to find him in the right moment. So, I am happy about some hints to his existence on some photos.
Jochen felt much better today and started to be a bit unreasonable by doing things with his arm instead of sparing it. Interesting is that he knew better what I should do because of the pain in my foot and that I remembered that I also didn’t react properly for a while in my case. (I had no pain yesterday and today, so I want to try running tomorrow)
Originally, Jochen wanted to invite us in Algeciras to a café but that was impossible, so he organized another cake for the 15:30 tea meeting.
In the evening, when we went North parallel to Portugal there was a time conversion to London time, so my collection of time zones now ranges from 0 to 10. I wonder if this will become more one day, because I have no ambitions to enlarge my collection but who knows…
343 ship 19 along Portugal 28.6.2019
Nothing special, quiet sea, etc
only new for me: we will arrive earlier in Dunkerque!
PS:
When I wanted to close the curtains, I saw a whale. I ran outside (it was quite cold) but I couldn’t catch any pic. I went back to my cabin to close the curtain and saw something else. Some animals turning around, maybe 4 or 5. I ran outside (it was quite cold). The animals don’t wait for you and anyway, you have not much time, because the ship is moving, and the containers cover your sight.
here would be some blurry dolphin photos, but the are not allowed “for security reasons”?!?
Add: I converted them to another format and then I could upload them. Not sure if it was worth doing that but now it is completed!
I tried it with video and in the end, you see some shaky views of dolphins. The are dancing in a circle and I tried my best to make a “film” and find less blurry photos of jumping dolphins. You will see the results ?
344 ship 20 to Southampton
This night I felt quite cold and only later when I did my morning run, I felt warmer. Yesterday, I ran for the first time, two times interrupted by walking. And today, I only interrupted one time, running 2km two times, but I am not sure if it was too much, it is not hurting during running or walking, but when I press on that spot where the center of the pain was, it is again active. I must stay attentive….
you can guess that we are on the way to England 😉
We should arrive in Southampton this evening but Jochen had the information that the pilot would only arrive in the morning. For us passengers it makes no difference, because we could have left only in the morning anyway.
all the way, the bike was my neighbour, I had thought it would be somewhere on upper deck 🙂