We have had three sunny and hot but breezy sea days en route to the Seychelles. Most of it has been spent relaxing and trying to shift my annoying cough. We've had a Raj Ball, wine tasting, a crossing the line ceremony and a couple of interesting talks by the journalist, Peter Snow. He sits near us in the restaurant and in the lounge and is a thoroughly nice chap. His wife, Ann, is lovely too and they always speak to us.
Since yesterday and for a day after our call in the Seychelles we will be in an area of the Indian Ocean very close to where Somalian pirates operate. It just means that we can't use the lower open decks or have too much lighting on after dusk. They have cameras and radar set up and equipment a bit like water canon just in case. We have our emergency drill in place but any problems are highly unlikely so no probs.
Captain's Anecdotes:
Spick and Span
Back in the days when new ships were being built 'spick' was the name for a nail and 'span' a deck board. Therefore when the ship was finished the new parts were 'spick and span'.
Doldrums
The Doldrums is an area of sea 5 degrees north and 5 degrees south of the equator where there is often no wind leaving sailing ships becalmed for many days. They would often run out of fresh drinking water before they could reach their destination. The horses on board would be the first to go without water and were thrown overboard giving rise to the alternative name 'horse latitudes'.
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