Blogging at 22:00 on Saturday 20th July from N 53.59644°, W 00.03810° / http://maps.google.com/maps?q=loc:53.59644%2C-00.03810
We're underway!
This is the start of our re-hashed bid to reach Svalbard. Re-hashed because, last year, the same bid failed spectacularly when Emma woke up sick on the very day we were due to travel. Fair to say today's brought back a lot of memories.
The Hook of Holland-bound boat we're on is huge: much bigger than the other boats we've previously caught out of Hull. It's a proper floating cash-taker with sprawling decks rammed with bars, restaurants, cafés, piano rooms, cinemas, gaming rooms, and more than a few seemingly less than salubrious dark and noisy places. Hundreds and hundreds of people are dutifully milling around with payment-method readily to hand, seemingly mesmerised by the acres of glitz.
Out on deck has been relatively sane, though, and we spent an enjoyable balmy-evening hour out there lazily taking in the sights of the Humber Estuary (pic).
The most intriguing sighting was a pilot boat that appeared from nowhere just as we cleared the estuary and hit open sea. The helm pulled tight up to the stern of the ferry and then started surfing around in our substantial wake. For a good five minutes he criss-crossed / rode the wake for goodness knows what reason. It could have been a training thing, or a testing-equipment thing, or simply a goofing-off thing. We'll probably never know but it was certainly the case that both boat and helm seemed at impressive ease.
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