I Liked Watching Men At Work on . . . . . . . .

Royal Clipper during our holiday. Actually I think the Captain was taking a photo of another vessel during our entry into Corfu. The Captain was from Poland and was very charismatic. He had visited many of the churches dotted along the coastline and had arranged that whenever Royal Clipper sailed into view of one of the churches, the ship's horn would sound three long blasts - the noise was absolutely ear splitting - then we would hear the church bells ringing out - wonderful. On our first night on board he appeared on the top deck, introduced himself and implored us all to have a lovely relaxing time. A couple of days later upon another gathering on the top deck he stared at a German lady and suggested she smiled a little more!! There was much laughter from the rest of us! The Chief Officer is seen here wielding a couple of radios connecting to the various crew members to deliver instructions. The Chief Officer was called Vlad and he needed to take the Captain's advice and smile - he never did!

During time in port all the deck crew were busily but quietly keeping the ship - well - shipshape! These two were high up on one of the spars changing some pulleys. The fair haired one was obviously the crew's most athletic member and he was often seen hanging upside down inspecting, repairing and generally keeping busy. Varnishing and painting jobs were carried out non-stop. The ship, I think, has only a week in dry dock a year. At the end of this month the ship sails to the caribbean for the winter.

Husband took the opportunity and visited the engine room. Apart from the engines there was a de-salination plant for all water needs, a sewage cleansing system - the water so clean by the end of the treatment it is pumped back into the sea.

Tomorrow I shall describe the water sports facilities (my particular interest).