A full day at sea, so little to report. The captain put the pedal to the metal last night to get up the coast and round the corner so the wind was abeam (that’s a headwind for us nuffies) to reduce the rolling, and so, when that was achieved, we’ve throttled right back and seem to be going at swimming pace to ensure we don’t have to do laps of Aruba before being allowed to dock.
Everybody emerged for a late breakfast. With little to do all day but eat and read and eat and eat a bit more, I reckon that the kitchen will be kept busy.
Spent a bit of time on the bridge asking some questions of the officers. Seems that they work 4 hours on and 12 hours off, and the time of their 4 hour watch depends on their seniority. So the second officer who was talking to us is on the 8am till noon, and 8pm till midnight watch every day. The fourth officer and navigator get the graveyard shifts.
Moved our clocks forward an hour last night, and by lunchtime today we had moved past Colombia and were now offshore of Venezuela, though still in international waters.
An announcement from the captain has now told us that he’s received permission from the authorities in Aruba for us to dock late tonight around 11pm, which is 8 hours ahead of schedule, meaning that we will have a still night tied up at the dock rather than out to sea. He has also told us that it will be possible, should we wish, to go ashore after we tie up, but I’m not sure how many passengers have rendezvous waiting for them in Aruba. Nice to know it would be possible though. As a result, our speed has increased and we are fairly zipping along. Maybe the captain’s girlfriend is in port.
Our cabin