Royal Clipper Transatlantic 2014: At Sea 14 & Malaga

Sea Day 14 ~ Sunday April 27th
I missed the 7 o'clock again, but made it on deck for Amanda's 8 am class.

On the way there, I took this sunrise photo.






I had breakfast with 2 fellow exercisers - the David's, & Amanda joined us as well.
Having missed Lidja/Sergey's 0700, I decided to do Erik's 'Walk a Mile With A Smile'. It was my last day but my 1st Erik's mile.
While we wandered all over the various decks, I noticed 2 sunbeds (which were usually occupied by the 2 German chaps I'd "met" yesterday) were Reserved by at least 4 towels apiece. There was a book on one of them: in German, & some sort of bag on the other.

Sunbeds with no towels on

As we had been asked not to put towels on sunbeds to reserve them, I took them all off & put them back in the little cupboard where the clean deck towels were kept. I left the bag & the book.

Jack looking stripe-ingly nautical, & Harry looking laid back

Walk over, I wandered about getting pics of various peeps enjoying a morning's sail.

Peter probably has one of me photographing him?

Mein Gott, wo sind meine Handtücher?

Just after the Peter photo, I noticed one of the Germans making his way to his 'Reserved' sunbed.

When he saw the towels had gone, he went & got some more.


Talk about greedy, he grabbed at least 3, then sat down to read his book.

Friend hugging new towels closely.
Just in case someone took them away! ;-)

When his friend came, they seem to have been discussing towels - or the lack of, as his friend then went & got some for himself, & sat hugging them closely while they talked. 

Shortly after, he put them on the sunbed, & left. 


See photo.

How many towels does one (Ger)man need?

3rd Officer Vadim on duty on the bridge

My little bit of fun over, I continued to mosey around taking various photos.

The Chart Table

Marco

On my wanders I came across Marco, who had a moan about me not being in the Tropical Bar.
See previous blog about his attempt to have an assignation.

He made a comment about my great body ~ Um?  :-0 , so I said "Thank you" & managed to escape.

During the escape I bumped into Andreas (AKA Andy) & we had another of our long chats. No Idea what about! Andy & I spoke for hours on the RC.

And then it was time for lunch, so I grabbed a quick shower, & had it with Tony & Harry.
Bizarrely, Harry wanted our opinion as to what he should buy Gabi & Marcel for their wedding.
Given Gabi's penchant for hugging men wearing cashmere (usually Tony ;-p ), I suggested matching cashmere sweaters.


I later found out he bought them a blanket, & Marcel Emailed me a picture of it. Unfortunately, due to my total lack of techy skills, I wasn't able to save it to put on here. The same applied to all the photos they sent of their wedding. 
How pants is that, Shirl?

Nameless crewman attaching a rope to a chain

After lunch, it wasn't really warm enough to sunbathe, so I took the camera for another wander.

The best looking chap on-board (in my humble opinion)
~ Prakash from India, taken by Tony

Amanda makes a monkey's fist
btw~they are Tony's legs

And then the Straits of Gibraltar came into view in the distance on the port bow.



At this point, nearly everyone piled onto the fore-deck.

CJ & Julie. You may note the books they're carrying?
They were invariably reading whenever I saw them!

I managed to get pics of a few folk I'd missed previously, & who were memorable in some way or other.


These included CJ & Julie who I'd met on Day 1, & a Scottish couple. 
I had spoken to the shorter of the 2 Scots a few days earlier, & he told me his partner was on DLA, & because he was disabled, his carer could get all sorts of deals ~ like cheap rail travel! 
The tall one was apparently on the higher rate of the mobility component because he couldn't walk far, but I'd seen him dancing in the evening, & on the last day watched him walk a good 150m with no help, so he didn't seem virtually unable to walk to me?? 

The stocky man's friend who was on DLA
because he was 'virtually unable to walk'

You wouldn't expect someone with serious mobility problems to chose an ocean crossing cruise, either. Especially on a small ship like the RC which would pitch & roll more than the massive floating hotels. Very dubious in my opinion.

Jerry with the Moroccan coast behind

Ian with the Spanish coast behind

Morocco through the rat-lines

It took quite a while to sail past the Rock, & the Moroccan coast was quite picturesque, as well.

The sun was out, so I put on shorts, even though there was a fair bit of wind. The other folk on the bowsprit net obviously felt the cold more than me, & were well covered up!

Me doing a daft "Land Ahoy!" pose.
You may notice I should be facing the other way?

Ernest with Moroccan coast behind

An American (I think) with Moroccan coast behind

Bruce & Tom put the world to rights?

As you may see, there were a lot of folk taking in the sights on deck - even though many had sailed the Straits before.

The rock is an escarpment, & that's clear here

As usual, Peter was a happy chappie up on deck with his camera.
He loved his sailing.

I found this little bit about the east slope on Wiki:
Gorham's Cave is located near sea level on the steep eastern face of the Rock. It is noteworthy because archaeological excavations in the cave have found evidence that Neanderthals used it as far back as 30,000 years ago. It is especially significant because plant and animal remains found in the cave (and others nearby) indicate that the Neanderthals had a highly varied diet.



At 5 o'clock it was time for our lecture from Sergey about Gibraltar.





Some kind soul took the one of me & Sergey, but didn't comment about my very red face.


Obviously, despite the wind, the sun had been hot!

Back in my cabin before dinner, I wrote a draft letter to Marcel & Gabi, & took it to Tony's cabin for him to look at & approve.
It was to go in the Wedding card I'd bought in Punta Delgada.

There had been no Erik's Abs today. He did another Mile with a Smile instead, but I was too busy gossing & snapping to go again.

I had dinner with the David's who were already imbibing the 'falling-over juice' & were very giggly :-)


They were lovely chaps.

Between main & dessert the crew all paraded into the dining room, & then they sang the ship's song.

While they sang, I had a little blub  :' -/ 
Gawd!  I am a softie.

Each crew-member waved a flag of his home nation, & the majority were Latin-American & Carribean.

Due to the state of my lens, & the low light, the pics have not come out very well.
Shame :-(

Amanda & Erik wave their Swedish flags during the singing

Sergey sings the Ship's Song

All the waiters were lovely, & very cheery chaps

All around there were celebrations of our voyage, as we would dock in Malaga early the next morning.

That's Tony doing the finger semaphore,
with Harry on his left

I turned round at my table & saw Gabi & Marcel sharing a hug.
Ahhh! :-))


After dinner I wrote the letter out legibly, took it & the card to Tony to sign.

Peter (Head Barman), me & the smiley Artuth

Then it was time for my last dance, & final photos.

Monika

Dr Cordula & Helmut

Sadly, no-one was dancing - even Harry had gone to bed, so I put signed card & letter for Marcel & Gabi under his cabin door, so he could deliver it for us on the day of the wedding.

There wasn't a lot going on, so after the final photo, I went to bed, having packed & put my big orange bag out in the corridor.

The Last Day ~ Monday April 28th

Next morning, the change in engine noise woke me at 0515, but I eventually got up about half 6, & went on deck.

The water was almost still, & the sun had risen, so I spent quite a while up there, snapping away.

The blobs on the lens have spoiled many of the pics I took, but the morning was still beautiful.

Wiki tells me that the port of Malaga is the oldest continuously-operated port in Spain and one of the oldest in the Mediterranean.
It also says that Malaga used to be the capital of the Islamic kingdom of Granada.
The lighthouse (Faro in Spanish) was built in 1814, but seems older, somehow.

There were 2 compasses - port & starboard, as well as the dials just in front of the wheel.

As with all the brass on board, they were lovely & shiny, & reflected the early morning sun beautifully.

I took a lot of faro & compass pics ! ! ! !

After the dawn photos, I went down for breakfast to find that Gabi, Marcel & Harry were going on the trip to Mijas before flying home.

I walked off & towards Customs with them, before all the Goodbye hugs set me off weeping again. 
Gordon Bennett, Shirl! 

Back aboard & wandering aft I saw Oscar - he of the Bachata etc., being winched aloft.

My camera couldn't manage upright shots & get it all in, so I lay on deck again, & shot upwards for some of them.

You can tell how high the mast is by how small Oscar is!

I don't know what he was doing, but there was some banging involved.



It looked fun up there & I wanted a go! ;-)

You can barely see him on this one.
He's dangling just below the top-gallant spar

Oscar on his way down.

The Spanish ensign flying on the mast

After watching Oscar, I noticed a bustle aft & they were loading new mattresses, crockery & a load of unknown items in boxes. Even the Head Chef - wearing his hat, was there. Presumably making sure his galley goods were all brought aboard OK.
I took some pics, but managed to delete them before I got them on here - doh
I guess there was a lot of new food brought aboard, too. We didn't half get through a lot of scran. It was all totally yummy, & I have to thank Amanda, Erik, Lidija & Sergey for their exercises classes. They enabled me to enjoy humongous amounts of food & get home 4 lbs lighter than I went. Way to go :-D
Food must be even more of a prob when the ship is full. There were about 120 guests, instead of more than 240, so the galley & dining room crew possibly had it marginally easier than usual?

I went below & saw Tony having a very late solo breakfast. It may have been his 2nd one? Like I said, it was easy to over-eat :-q

Tony & the breakfast buffet table.

This pic is the last one on the Royal Clipper Transatlantic blog, but the story doesn't end there.

A group of us, including Ian, Christine & Conrad :-/ who were flying into Heathrow boarded a mini-bus & were deposited at Malaga airport. We hung out together for a while.
Steve (of the diabetes? problem) wanted some help from the airport staff, so I went looking for a wheelchair. 
It kept me out of Conrad's way, at least.
After a bit I went through customs & wandered all over the place to keep me occupied ~ no book & no sudoku left. Happily I found a bookshop & picked up a Terry Pratchett to read on the way home . Then, while returning back towards the gate, I came across Gabi, Marcel & Harry having a bite & a brew at one of the cafes.
Of course that resulted in more hugs & tears ! ! ! !

Eventually our flight was called, & the RC contingent boarded. We were a tiny bit late taking off, but all went to plan, & after landing just after 4, I got the train from Heathrow to Blackfriars, grabbed a Tube to Euston, & caught the 2030 north. I had nearly 1/2 an hour to wait in Preston :-(, but eventually got the Blackpool train & walked off at 1/4 to midnight.
Given my Ginormous orange bag, I got a taxi - I usually walk: it's only just over a mile.
Julie & Jim had brought the cats in & fed them, so & I had an extended cat cuddle before bed.
And that's was it.
Until next time, anyway.
OAO

Postscript
It was great that Marcel & Gabi were able to visit Blackpool in August 14. They managed to see a bit of Wales, Liverpool, & the Lakes, as well as Knott End, Skipool, St Annes, Lytham, Fleetwood, & the Illuminations Switch- On. At least, Marcel did. Unfortunately, Gabi was in the loo when they hit the button. You couldn't make it up! 
We had a fun week :-D
It would be great to see them again. 
Maybe one day?

Meanwhile, I was planning my final NZ trip. 
I wanted to be there when the final Hobbit film was released  .   .   .
Thank goodness for overtime, eh ;-)