Friday 17th January

After a choppy night we woke to nearly flat calm heading into the Gulfstream making 23 knots through the water but only 20 over the ground due to the current. By midday we were making 25 knots over the ground but 22 through the water as we had passed through the Gulfstream which was against is and into the Labrador current which was with us. As well as affecting our speed the currents warmed up the air and we are now basking in temperatures of around fifteen degrees. We are definitely going to be about 3 hours late getting into NY which has its good points. We won’t have to get up as early as we were going to and we will see the statue of liberty in daylight. The have also delayed sailing until 9pm to allow those on tours time to complete them, (an advantage of booking through Cunard. Clocks go back an hour again tonight which is just as well. I’ve noticed that we are getting up later and later despite the extra hour we keep getting. Even though the temperature has risen today, we can expect it to fall as we approach NY where it is predicted to be 3 to 4 degrees possibly as low as 1. Good job we packed the thermals.

Went on a virtual tour of the bridge in the theatre today given by two officers, it was a fascinating insight into the way a modern ship is conned (that’s a nautical term meaning driven Laura). Paperless has come to the high seas, they don’t use paper charts any more, they dial up an electronic version, overlay the radar display onto the chart and then overlay the echo sounder, which gives them a 3D display of the world around the ship. They then superimpose the course they want to take and hey presto. Just like an aircraft, the ship sails itself. There are two officers on watch like an aircraft and they sit in luxury seats side by side and just chat. One guy in the audience asked if they could use a sextant, they said that they had one but they made the cadets use it. Oh and they don’t do dog watches any more. I asked why not and they said it was to keep life simple. Dog watches made things complicated and were best left to the Royal Navy. Hmmmph!

Oh! By the way thanks for the comments coming through. The ships internet connection is excruciatingly slow and I’m having to post most of these entries via emails to Paul, but occasionally I manage to log in myself. It’s good to know that somewhere out there someone is reading this doggerel.

Thursday 16th January

A lazy day, wandering around watching people doing all sorts of things that they don’t normally do and suddenly find to do. We noticed a chap doing a jigsaw, he was quite pleased with himself as he reckoned he would finish it in a couple of days and it said on the box 8 to 10 years! Weather is warming up a bit as we head into the gulfstream and the ship has picked up speed but it looks like we are still going to be late into New York. Got another gym session in but it was packed. Will try again tomorrow.