A sailor went to sea

 

“A sailor went to sea sea sea 

to see what he could see see see…”

Overnight we cruised 360 miles out from Nassau, Grand Bahama and still had 420 miles to cruise to reach San Juan, Puerto Rico.  I found myself enjoying the 79 degree sunshine at the railings edge staring out at the deep blue sea.  16,000 feet deep actually, to quote Captain Urlich, although his clipped Norwegian accent was sometimes difficult to understand over the loudspeaker.

Promenade Deck

The promenade deck was deserted in comparison to our pre departure muster when every passenger and staff member had all lined up to be counted.  With the sounds of Titanic flute music in my ears I gripped on tightly to the varnished wooden rail and wondered how cold the water was.  The peace of the days at sea should have been a tranquil backdrop to the days ashore.  However, the program of events ranged from ballroom dancing to bridge and painting to panting around the running track.  There would be no time to spare, but it did prove that life without the Internet was still possible.  The kids embraced the on board activities with enthusiasm and managed to cover roller blading, rock climbing, ice skating and mini-golf all before lunch.

 

Roller blade track

I was invited along as the mandatory guardian required to sign them in and out and take responsibility for the liability.  Oh and of course for the unavoidable "hold this mom" and fulfill the role of photographer.  I charmed my way into the diamond lounge, a specially reserved room and balcony at the top most level, it was the perfect place to take photos of the kids scaling the climbing wall.  I’m sure the steward only let me in to bring down the average age.  I was quite disappointed to find that behind the locked door the sacred sanctuary wasn’t much different than the piano bar.  Although the folks sequestered within did share a camaraderie of old friends and stared in unison as I sidled in.  Undoubtedly they wondered how such a 'youngster' as myself had racked up their level of ocean going seniority.

Gradually, I was beginning to understand the hierarchy of cruising.  Each higher rung on the ladder was achieved with increasing numbers of nights at sea.  This was not merely rest and relaxation this was a whole under world of points and rewards and membership entitlements.  As  virginal cruisers we often elicited fond indulgent smiles from the throng of professional sailors.  It was as if they were sentimentally remembering their first voyage.  Many folks showed concern that for our first trip we were attempting to cross the Atlantic.  In truth I hadn’t given it much thought other than we would achieve our goal of getting from America to England.  I took a big gulp and was reminded of the time someone had worriedly questioned my intelligence in flying from sea level up to 13,000 feet on the same day.  Back then we had ended up squabbling over an oxygen machine, was there a solution for rough seas?  After being told at dinner that on every cruise someone always dies and/or goes overboard I was starting to question my parenting ability and our group avoidance of home school was dangling on my conscience.

With Greg and therefore the English History department absent, I had been adamant that we would at least cover some math and every day I threatened we would start 'tomorrow'.  I was optimistic we could still fit some education in between water painting and lunch.  I was passing off science as oceanology, which would hopefully be infused through osmosis if the kids stood by the railing long enough.

P.E was pretty well covered. Even I'd manged to squeeze in a morning spin class at the gym and was optimistically scheduled to return for Pilates in the afternoon.  I knew that it would only be a matter of time before I would succumb to  the vast array of desserts. 

Although on a positive note the higher calorie lifestyle would at least give me a chance to win the International belly flop competition at the main pool tomorrow.  I had my bets on Fritz, a larger Bavarian bruiser, but there were also a couple of Irishmen with large guts and real technique.  To keep up with such a demanding timetable I thought it best to take a shady moment on a starboard fore deckchair and study the back of my eyelids for a while.

"Don't underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, 

of just going along, 

listening to all the things you can't hear, and not bothering." 

Pooh's Little Instruction Book, A.A. Milne