Day 12: Pizza and Pepsi for dinner

I woke this morning feeling like the wind was whistling through my head. The wind had picked up and we had changed direction slightly. It blew into our cabin through the port hole window and caused such draft round the cabin door in its path, that there was a strong whistling sound throughout the night. In some ways, it was an enjoyable noise but it was just too loud to sleep properly.

I had a proper hot shower, the first one for me, as Sean had discovered we had it on the cold setting throughout the trip thinking that the tepid water temperature was as good as it got. Meanwhile it was just the warm cold water – character building as they say! Breakfast was boiled eggs and toast.

Mike, Sean and Myself walked to the bow after breakfast for our daily stroll. On returning I found Peter and Shaun sitting on a bench outside the regular mess staring out into the big blue, a pose they seem to take up a fair amount of the day to pass the time. Not a word is spoken but they seem to understand the unspoken words. Time to get off this ship now!

Dinner was pizza and Pepsi, quite a different meal from any others we have had before. Mike was very excited and proceeded to eat as much of the leftovers he could lay his hands on.

Later in the evening we kept hearing conflict stories about when we will anchor, dock and clear form the ship. But it seems likely sometime late Saturday or Sunday. We should anchor sometime late afternoon tomorrow.

In the evening, I spent some time with one of the crew showing me pictures of Shiraz in Iran which is home to a lot of historical sites and a place to visit by tourist. King Cyrus, about 2500 years ago, who ruled there, was one of the original spokesman on Human rights and seemly his proclamation is still visible on a stone at the headquarters of the United Nations in New York – stating that all men on this earth should be free, no matter religion, race, and colour.

Richard spent some time at the Bridge with first Engineer and was told that the journey to Brazil from Iran round the Cape Point and back again is one of the most taxing on the crew and having the Captain dying and stored in the fridge could have been extremely hard, if it wasn’t for our presence. He feels having us on board has made it easier on everyone as well as distracting them from this situation.

Seemly also some of the crew are young and superstitious and in the first few nights after the Captain died they were hearing noises and seeing things. The second Engineer said he was awoken a few times to check if the Captain was still in the fridge. The mind does have a way of its own.

Quote of the day: “We must allow ourselves to be adorned by lessons derived through hardships and challenges.” Tony Narams