Circumnavigating the UK- Lost at sea!

In my haste to write up my cruise, I totally forgot to mention what happened after we left the Orkney islands and headed straight to write about our adventures in Belfast.

But, the eagle-eyed of you may have noticed that I mentioned in the Orkney post, that we were due to head to Portree on the Isle of Skye BUT that there was a storm headed for the Scottish waters.

Well, when I returned from Kirkwall,the announcement came through from the ship's crew that because the weathers and seas were due to be so treacherous in the North sea etc, that it would be too dangerous to anchor outside of the Isle of Skye. It is one of those stops where the harbour is so shallow for a Cruise ship so they anchor and then Tenders (I don't get this name- they are BOATS to me!)  would ship passengers to shore.   Given that the majority of the passengers were past retirement age, this seemed rather sensible but terribly disappointing.  Instead, they arranged for an anchorage on Mainland Scotland for a place called Ullapool.

But... this was also an Anchorage and the waters were so choppy that they made the decision that we would have to spend the day at sea heading for Belfast. I was so disappointed, as were most people.

The next morning, knowing that we wouldn't be able to stop, we would have to find things to occupy ourselves with.

I am going to give you extracts from my diary.

"Sunday the 7th August:
The sea was extremely choppy all night and so we experienced crashes and bangs and constant waking up. I heard things go 'clonk' next to me. Really, I couldn't believe the fact that I was awake at 6.50am despite not setting an alarm at all! Mum and I both lay in our bed with Breakfast News  telling of Olympic feats from Day 1 and drank tea.  My bed was a total mess as I'd tossed and turned all night. It's very nice the way they make our beds each night, but I like a messy, loose bed, not hospital corners!

Soon after,we ate breakfast in the Kensington Restaurant rather than the Raffles Bistro which was very civilised.  As we ate, sadly, we heard the announcement that we were not going to stop at Ullapool due to the extreme weather conditions making anchoring dangerous so we'd be at sea with stormy weather conditions.  Yay.

We read our book in the Quiz lounge.  I guessed whoddunit it in The Queen's Head and then went to the Craft workshop where I made an attractive butterfly heart with Billie.  You had to pay £3 for the canvas and materials.
It was so fun sitting there sitting sticking tiny butterflies whilst around me, others did the same.  It was rather sweet because an elderly gentleman at the end of the table sat colouring in a colouring page.

After this, I spent a while searching for the lovely Irish lady Miriam, who we'd met when receiving a tour of the Bridge. She'd asked to borrow our adaptor but I failed to find her. I caught Mum heading up to Lunch. Mmmm, I much enjoyed Aubergine soup and Chicken Satay.

She toddled off to watch The Lady with the Van which was being shown in the Show lounge and I opted to head to the wonderful Spa where I opted for a blissful Eastern Head Massage which was extremely pleasant- massaged shoulders and essentially someone scratching your scalp for ages!

After this, it was time for the Sunday church service in the Show Lounge.  Unfortunately, as we arrived, it seemed we had hit the major part of the storm and the ship was lurching uncontrollably and making movement and general existence very uncomfortable.  The Church service had to be shortened due to the erratic movement and most of the congregation feeling sick.  The Reverend  Andrew McLellan was very light-heated and made jokes about the motion. It had definitely stepped up a notch with high winds, extreme rocking and constant dizziness-inducing movements. Dave Bilbrough couldn't play guitar and lead the worship due to being sick and his wife Pat bravely played on with the keyboard but even she had to go off to be ill in the middle.

Subsequently, I made my way to the 7th floor where I sat on the floor by the lift waiting for Miriam with the charger, to no avail. It did mean, however, that I was able to help an older couple who wanted Sickness tablets from Reception but one of the lifts wasn't working and they were very unfirm on their feet.  I skipped down the 3 flights of stairs (skipping seemed the best way to get down without swaying from side to side) and got them and took them to her room.  I spoke in German to her and she automatically answered in German, not realising I was speaking her language.
After this, I skipped back to my cabin in good spirits and read on the bed but my stomach was doing better somersaults than I have ever managed physically and so I decided to head upwards to open deck on deck 10, the swimming pool area which is enclosed by glass walls so it is the only open area that was open due to safety.

It was SO much better up here though after sitting and writing this diary and catching up on the last 3 days,that my hands are utterly chilled. I've been here for 2 hours now and as you can tell from my increasingly deteriorating handwriting, my hands are numb.  I've chatted to a waiter and a seasick man and a younger couple.  Glancing out, the waves were huge! All afternoon I've heard bangs, crashes, smashes and things going astray which surprises me for a cruise ship- you'd expect they'd have all that covered?   Apparently they've closed the Raffles Bistro as a screen smashed in there and they've cancelled the Stevie Wonder entertainment because of safety for the dangers. I might fetch a cup of tea to warm these hands, Ciao for now!

So... after that, we went to dinner in the Kensington restaurant.  I wore the cute new fish necklace I had bought from a local designer's boutique in Kirkwall and my lovely Laura Ashley dress. 

It was really empty in there as many folks had decided to forgo dinner.  We sat with Fran and Mike only and had a jolly time. The food was tasty but I decided to have less courses than usual and no dessert.

For safety reasons, they gave us plastic cups as a whole table of glasses had smashed before we arrived.  Mike sat there holding his red wine in plastic cup due to its being unstable until we built it a condiment prison to enclose it and keep it upright!

After dinner, since the show was cancelled, they showed another film.  Mum and I decided it wasn't our cup of tea and headed back to the room but I started to feel a bit unwell. I wasn't going to BE sick but I felt most queasy.  She went to watch it and I had a shower and went to bed by 9.  I dislike my solid pillow so I tried to make myself a flatter pillow by stuffing the second pillowecase with a towel.

I didn't hear Mum come back so I was grateful for a better night's sleep than others, particularly when we arrived at Belfast about 1am and were stationary for the rest of the night."

 So, we never made it to Portree which was really disappointing as this was my top 3rd destination I wanted to visit on this cruise and has been on my travel wishlist for at least 16 years.

In conclusion, a day at sea during a storm was not enjoyable but it was certainly an experience if nothing else!

xx