Day Six

English Channel to Bay of Biscay

If you close your eyes or are otherwise distracted, the rolling of the ship is not at all different from that of a railway train running along a mountain line. With the current weather, she doesn't go up an down much but rather rolls sideways or does some much more complex moves. Also, the vibrations created by the engine are not unlike those of steel wheels on tracks.

As the weather has warmed up a bit, I spend the morning outside. Still, I hide behind the wheelhouse as we head directly into the westerly wind. For some time, a school of dolphins is on our starboard side. Strange thing, that: Seeing a romatic cliché being real.

Quite unromantic yet actually much more interesting is the emergency drill at 1630. The sirene goes off announcing a general alarm by seven short and one long blasts. I am supposed to grab my hard hat and life vest and report on the bridge. The Captain then directs me to the life boat where the rest of the crew has gathered. After every crew member recites where he has to be on such an occasion, we climb into the tiny orange boat. If the seat numbers are of any relevance (they are not), I am number four on board. The life boat is apparently designed for people well below six feet. Which means: Don't bring your hard hat. The life vest is to be disposed of before boarding, anyways.

By the evening we are entering the Gulf of Biscay. So far we have been more or less close to the coast all the time. Now we will be cutting short to the north-western tip of the Iberian peninsula.