As the Bard once said, “The time has come to face the final curtain”. Our time of close confinement is coming to an end. I think I can say that all of us aboard the ship have no regrets. In a week or two we will have forgiven the elements for the tribulations we have been through. We will be able to sit back with a smile of remembrance while forgetting ……..

The early morning wake ups, the bunk contortions coupled with sleep deprivation. The sea, the swell, the waves, the yellow buckets used to keep in tune to the chorus of the Mariners Hymn, ‘I’ll Heave With Thee’. Of being Penguinised, Albastrode and molested by Fur Seals. The seeping insidious cold wind, the icy fingers and frozen noses.

The memories will be of endless rolling seas dotted with soaring seabirds. Of long sunlit nights, sharp contrasting landscapes coupled with doleful eyed seals on frost dusted mornings. Of pods of whales and dolphins with pastel icebergs speckled with penguins. Of a captain and a crew that managed to keep us safe informed and interested for seven weeks.

Of a ship that allowed us to use our own hands to voyage to destinations only dreamed about. Que Pasa !!  Thank you Bark EUROPA.