Despite the lack of sleep, I managed to get up for Lidija's 7 o'clock class, & segued straight into Amanda's.
I bumped into Harry (not literally ;-p ) on the way down to breakfast & we ate together.
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| Camera decided not to flash?? |
This is Harry by the washing machine.
You can just about make out I was standing above him, even though I was on the same bit of floor.
We were heeling still, & I took a pic of my cup of English Breakfast trying to spill out starboard, but it was rubbish, so I deleted it.
It's so hard to get a decent picture of a good heel over. It looks great in real life, but totally unimpressive on film.
It's a bit like taking a photo of a steep ski run.
The slope always just looks like a load of snow, & not an adrenalising bit of good fun at 25 or 30 degrees.
For non-skiers, 25 degrees may not sound much, but when you're at the top, it looks pretty hairy ~ aka good fun.
And it often has bumps/moguls/bosses on it. Even more fun :-)))
But with a false hip, I'm not supposed to ski bumps anymore ~ Boo, Hiss
Unfortunately(???*) I forgot when I was in Les Arcs last, & skied Comborciere top to bottom several times before I remembered I was not supposed to.
Oops.
* Or fortunately ;-p, whichever way you look at it, because it's a brill run. It makes you puffed (it's quite long), & most of it is moguls (which, incidentally, are not a great shape due to peeps who bottle their turns & slide down the front :-/ ) & a challenge for your quads if you do the lot without stopping!
Good job I didn't fall on it. This hip, that is, not the piste ~ but I didn't fall on that, either :-)
For anyone interested, here's a Spanish guy's vid of the descent of Comborciere. It only really gets interesting 2 minutes in, & I defy the skiers of you not to shout "Turn! Turn for gods sake" at certain moments. I was! ;-p
Comborcieres -Les Arcs - YouTube
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxolfep7bIU
26 Feb 2013 - Uploaded by Carlos DE CAMPOS
Watching it, it's not quite the same as when you feel the wind & the crisp air, or feeling the terrain underfoot (underboot?), but my legs were skiing it with him :-)
I notice the vid was more than 8 minutes long, & my fastest descent was under 6 minutes, but Carlos did keep stopping to 'regain his composure' ;-p, and, instead of simply skiing past the slower folks, he stopped to let them get ahead.
Uh?
Anyway. 'nuff about skiing. This is a sailing blog :-D
After breakfast I went forward to do my daily Jo practice.
I didn't do very long as we had a Muster at 11.
I met up with the rest of the '5' afterwards for a brew in the midships lounge, & after last night's conversation, Marcel wanted to know more about rugby - so that included rucking & gates. Eee eck!
He also asked about using "As well" in English.
Well, that's a kettle of fish!, but I know he made sense of it because he used it in conversation when he & Gabi visited Blackpool for the 2014 Illuminations Switch-on.
Hvaing finished my book I grabbed a SciFi one before lunch, which I had with Gabi, Marcel & Harry.
As usual it was a buffet ~ Spanish this time, & I had a bit of a reminisce, eating Zarzuela (the seafood dish, not the on-stage version), Paella, &, of course, Churros (with lots of chocolate sauce on ~ Naturalmente, mi amigo ;-p ).
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| The doughnuts are bottom left |
Andy sent me this pic of the dessert table, & I remember this particular day as jam doughnuts have been one of my favourites since I was 3 years old, & Mum would take me for a jam doughnut and a hot chocolate at the Woolworth's cafe in Chester after my Saturday morning ballet lesson.
Yum yum & more yum :-p
Anytime is Jam Doughnut time, but Churros y Chocolate come a very close second :-q
After lunch Harry & I went to get a brew in the Piano Bar (still no chocolate sachets :-( Boo!), & then I went to the Aft Deck for more reading & sleeping.
So much sleeping that I slept through 1700 when Andy gave his Guest Lecture about diving in the Red Sea.
Sorry Andy.
That was me doing my 'cat sleeping in the sun' impression.
Well, I am a Leo!
I did wake up in time for Erik's Abs, but only just, & was a wee bit late, even though it started 10 minutes later than usual.
After that, nearly everyone went forward as the Azores appeared on the horizon.
There were loads of peeps by the Bridge & on the Foredeck.
We were all trying get pics of our 1st sight of land for 10 days.
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| Daniel took this of Patrick doing the Land Ahoy pose ;-) |
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| Sao Miguel Island off the port bow |
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| Shame about the blobs on the lens |
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| Land was ahead, so I don't know what Ernest was looking at? Photo courtesy of Daniel |
Eventually we sailed closer & closer, & could see the cute little volcano-shaped hills that are part of the Azorean landscape.
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| It was a bird, not a blob! |
Eventually we were near enough for the Pilot to come & help Captain Sergey get safely into port.
A nice handbrake turn
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| Someone lets the ladder down |
There is no line between the ships, just skilled steering!
The Pilot makes his way aboard.
His ship leaves.
All the necessary instructions given, Arrigo confirms we have docked.
Glenroy ~ the kind guy who had washed & pressed my white jeans, had been on the wheel.
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| Another big smiler ~ Glenroy |
Sergey celebrates another safe manoeuvre ~ & possibly a night off while we were berthed at Punta Delgada?
On the way back down to my cabin I bumped into Andy & apologised for sleeping through his lecture.
I guess it could've been worse?
I could've slept during it! It has been known . . . . ;-p
Happily, Andy forgave me, & has since sent lots of his lovely food photos.
It's a good job I was exercising so much!
The food was frikkin awesome :-q
The Itinerary mentioned Dancing under the Stars, but it didn't really happen, so I was in bed & watching the rest of the DVD far earlier than the previous evening.
Given how far I walked the next day, it's a good job I had an early night.
OAO
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