Homeward bound.

Heading northwards in the Atlantic swell off the coast of Portugal we had a north-westerly breeze and swell from the same direction which generated both fore/aft and port/starboard movement in the various ships going the same direction as us. This is the Hunzedijk (Dutch registered cargo ship), bound for Eemshaven in Holland, rolling heavily with decks awash. Somewhat smaller than Boudicca, she wasn't  coping quite as well as us. 

That said, Boudicca was moving about a bit as well. In this short bit of video the camera tries to level itself which confuses things a bit but still gives an idea of our most 'lively' day of the whole five week trip ... 

But there were compensations. On quite a few occasions many of us spotted dolphins all around the ship, but unless one was prepared to spend hours on deck with a camera ready to go (a few people did), getting photos of them was more luck than judgement. I was lucky to get this; three other dolphins had just been out of the water as well.

Then we headed across the (dreaded?) Bay of Biscay. Many other passengers had more experience than me - I missed out on our last cruise thanks to forgetting my passport! The consensus seemed to be that most Biscay crossings were okay, just the odd one might be a bit rough. 

Our captain (and relevant crew) though had looked carefully at the weather predictions for the area and worked out that by going slower past Portugal, we'd arrive at Biscay in between lows when the sea conditions should be more favourable, and we could speed up again to ensure we still got to Dover on time. 

It worked well and indeed our crossing was reasonably calm, which was good as the evening dinner was our last dressing up do. The artistic chefs produced some impressive foody displays with an elephant theme: 

Earlier in the day we'd had a rather nice surprise, an invitation which put Barbara into a bit of a panic and had her searching the (rather expensive) on-board clothes shop for a new dress! 

I eventually persuaded her that the outfits she had brought from home were actually very nice and that Captain Degerlund would not banish us from his table that evening for being improperly dressed. 

The evening started very pleasantly with the Captain's Cocktail Reception where the senior ship's staff greeted all the passengers and we had canapés and sparkling wine with the Captain in the lounge before going to the big table in our Tintagel dining room, which embarrassingly was right next to our normal table and our dining companions, Elizabeth & Simon. 

We'd already apologised to Elizabeth & Simon earlier in the day to say that they'd be on their own that evening for only the second occasion during the cruise. I'd had an inkling that we might get such an invitation because I'd had various 'dealings' with the Captain about dad's torpedo etc, and had hoped that if it happened, Elizabeth & Simon might have been invited as well, but it didn't happen. 

So we ended the cruise on something of a high with a whole load of things ticked off my bucket list, most of which I didn't even know were on my bucket list!

Rubber plants, oranges & billionaires

I think it was before dawn when we arrived in Cadiz, but as it got light the uncrowded harbour came into view, including this:

Is it a high-speed train, a jet plane or what? 

No, it's the bridge (cockpit) of one of the world's most expensive & luxurious super-yachts: Yas. Estimated to have cost about $1 billion, it was finished in 2015 having been converted from an ex Dutch Kortenaer-class Navy frigate (originally named Piet Hein ~1980)  and is owned by Hamdan bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan of the UAE. Up to 60 guests can be accommodated and looked after by a similar number of crew. 

With a helicopter landing pad towards the back, not to mention an aft section that features facilities for 'water toys' (jet skis etc), at night it can look like this: 

It's only the world's 8th longest super-yacht, but far and away the loveliest (IMHO). 

Having finished drooling over this we looked around Cadiz which was (mostly) very clean and pleasant. We stumbled across the Parque Genoves to start with which was really nice and had all sorts of impressive examples of trees and plants, including this interesting one which is popular as a house-plant, the rubber plant (ficus elastica): 

To say it is big is something of an understatement .... 

I would have needed my fisheye lens to get the whole plant in! 

Elsewhere in the park were plenty of orange trees laden with fruit, annoyingly just out of reach ....

and a small pond with various birds, not all as attractive as some others ....

This one wheeling over the sea nearby was, I felt, a bit more elegant ...

Exploring further we found the Tavira Tower or Torre Tavira which has a camera obscura, an optical device which has been in use for hundreds of years and quite possibly very much longer.  

For the very reasonable price of €5 we got plenty of exercise climbing what felt like several hundred stairs to see the excellent views from the top of the tower:

Cadiz Cathedral

Someone's nice roof garden

and other historic churches etc ...

But the best was yet to come, after enjoying the rooftop views, about 15 people gathered around a curious shallow white bowl about 4' across.

 above which was a large octagonal hole in the ceiling ....

Then the door was closed, the lights dimmed until it was completely dark and various shutters opened in the ceiling to reveal a projection of the view from a periscope like device above the viewing platform we'd been on earlier. Cameras were banned at this point, though it would probably have difficult to get anything usable due to the low light levels. 

Our young lady projectionist described the scenes of Cadiz which appeared on the white bowl we were gathered around, in both Spanish and excellent English, whilst moving the lenses/mirrors above to show both distant objects and surprisingly close vistas including shoppers in the streets below. A nice break from wandering the busy streets. 

In due course we returned to our comfortable ship for the three day return up the coast of Portugal, across the Bay of Biscay and up the English Channel to Dover and the long drive home.

A nice view of an impressive new bridge as we left:

A safe passage

After leaving Palma, Boudicca set sail for the Straits of Gibraltar. This meant sailing roughly south-west to a point north of Oran (northern coast of Algeria), before turning due west to pass through the Straits of Gibraltar. 

Having previously checked the course with Capt. Degerlund, we'd established that we'd get relatively close to a point in the Mediterranean where, on the 14th May 1944, our (my four siblings and myself) family history might have been significantly changed. 

From our (see above) father, Richard Lyne's, autobiography:

The weather on the night of 13/14 May 1944 was calm. It had been a hot night, never really dark. Richard had been on the middle watch in the radio cabin. There had been the usual general bulletins from Rugby, messages from Malta and Gibraltar for other convoys, some weather exchanges between neutrals, silence from the Commodore and escort. No sightings of aircraft, merchant raiders or submarines had been reported in the area.

This latter was not surprising: the Admiralty had notified all ships during the outward convoy that all U-boats had been cleared from the Mediterranean, and shortly after leaving Augusta the Commodore had confirmed this. Coming up on the bridge at 0400 to begin the morning watch Richard saw that dawn had already broken, and the rising sun promised yet another fine day. He was now on visual signals duties, which involved sending and receiving messages by Aldis lamp and helping out with flag signals as required. The Captain, First Officer, helmsman and two seamen were already on the bridge but another pair of eyes was always useful. The sea was smooth. The convoy ploughed steadily on. The continuous drone of the engines was soothing.

“TORPEDO ON THE STARBOARD BOW!”

The lookout’s shout caused all eyes to swivel. There it was: some two cables away a silvery fish was streaking towards them, a powerful miniwash of bubbles following. A column of ships lay between it and the G. S. Walden. 

“BRIDGE: DOWN!”

Richard registered the Captain’s shout and threw himself to the deck. As he lay prone a series of thoughts ran almost simultaneously through his mind: Mummy Mary Dad my white shorts will get dirty the wheel swinging like that is rather unseamanlike soon there won’t be any wheel no ship either no life I’m twenty perhaps I shall find out what it’s all about hope it will be sudden maybe the other ships will be hit instead of us..

RRRROOOOOMMM!

The bow of the ship reared up into the air. Richard’s stomach pressed painfully against his spine. Shrieking steel plates clashed and screamed as they tore apart and scraped together. Twisted metal curved down into the sea and up into the sky. Pieces of ship fell into the sea; six inch rivets clanged onto the deck like hailstones. The ship fell back into the water. The sea poured into the forepart. Ballast spurted out from fractured tanks. The ship began to settle down by the head. Already the fo’c’sle head was under water. The bridge party picked themselves up from the deck of the wheelhouse. The helmsman seized the wheel. The Captain dusted down his uniform. The klaxon started sounding.

“STOP ENGINES!”
Derrrinng. Derrrinng.

“QUARTERMASTER: MIDSHIPS”
“Midships, Sir”
Derrrinng. Derrrinng.

“Mr Corser: reports of casualties please. Prepare extra sick bay spaces.” “Well, gentlemen, we appear to have most of our ship still. But there may be more where that came from. Sparky?” Richard switched on the Aldis lamp and aimed the sight at the Commodore’s ship two columns away. “Yes, Sir.” “Make to Commodore: torpedo strike starboard bow damage unknown...” Richard began calling. An answering flash appeared. “And hoist: My engines are stopped.” With his other hand Richard reached into the flag locker. “Mr McMillan: radios OK?” “Yessir” “Send U-boat warning to all ships!” “Aye, aye, Sir. 
Chief: engine report, please”. “Engines OK. Electrics, hydraulics, steam, hoses, pneumatics all OK. And fuel undamaged. Sir.” “Thank you, Chief. 
Mr Lyne, where the bloody hell are those flags? We’ll have Immingham up our backside in a minute.” “Aloft now, Sir.” “OK, Sparky. Aerial damage?” “Both aerials OK, Sir.”
“Very well... Mr Harper: structural report, please. Tanks, lids, valves, pipes, spars, struts, bulkheads, doors, catwalk.. .
Mr Corser:” “Sir” “Take over Mr Harper’s watch until the forenoon please. 
Mr Mansell:”  “Sir?”  “Prepare for ballast transfer aft.”  “Aye, aye, Sir.. . 
Bosun?” “Sir” “Two working parties please. You take forward damage, I’ll check valves.” 
“Signal from Commodore: fall out from convoy await instructions from escort report your speed good luck.” 
“Make to Commodore: estimate three knots maximum thank you.”

Had the attack been on the way to Bari in Italy before the G.S. Walden had discharged the million gallons of aviation fuel it had been carrying, our family history would have been somewhat different!   But, Richard survived the war and so I'm here to pass on the story. :-)

Boudicca's captain undoubtedly had various things to concern him during our voyage, but submarine launched torpedoes was fortunately not one of them and Boudicca sailed safely on to the Straits of Gibraltar which we passed through sometime very early in the morning of the 9th February. Here is our best view of 'The Rock' as we passed on our way to Cadiz:

   

Speleological adventures

 

Arriving at Palma, Majorca fairly early in the morning, as usual for a new port, our destination today was almost as far away as it's possible to get on this largest of the Balearic Islands: the Caves of Drach or Dragon's Caves, near Porto Cristo.

 The caves were something like a super-sized, enhanced version of the English Cheddar Caves. Really spectacular with a new and breathtaking vista at every turn of the winding path and steps that led down to the lake at the bottom. 

This is one of many beautiful light blue pools whose mirror-like surface reflected the myriad collections of stalagmites and stalactites and other formations.  

It's difficult to get an idea of the scale of these caves from the above so these two each include a person:

Fifteen minutes or so of walking brought us to yet another spectacular sight, the big lake at the end of the caves, with a seating area for about 100 people. Once we were all seated the lights were turned out and some music started with a glow of light around a corner. 

First one illuminated rowing boat carrying a quartet of musicians appeared, followed by two more empty but also illuminated boats doing a slow dance as they processed across our field of view. 

No cameras were allowed at all so this (above) postcard view is the best I have but it doesn't do justice to the majesty of the event. When the recital was finished we were given the opportunity for a very short trip across part of the lake in some of the boats:

A different route out displayed yet more wonderful views with time for a coffee in the pleasant outdoor area before a short bus ride into the harbour of Porto Cristo where our guide enthusiastically pointed out their local hero's (Rafael Nadal) yacht .... 

The yacht is only about two years old; our guide said that local press asked Rafael Nadal when he first got it why he didn't have something bigger (he could easily afford bigger) and he answered that he wouldn't be able to keep anything bigger in this nice little local harbour, and he doesn't need anything flashier. Our guide was keen to point out how he had stayed very much a local lad and did many good things locally with his significant earnings.

The bus stopped by the harbour and we soon found a nice bit of beach and had our first (and last) paddle during this break ....

And on the way into the town I had to stop Barbara undressing to see if she could compete! .....

A lovely sail-away party on the back decks completed a very nice day.

Valetta

Boudicca in Valetta - a busy little port. Quite tight for large ships to be manoeuvring....

The above reminds me of a disaster movie where a lifeboat or similar gets mashed by the ship's propellers.

Valetta, or for that matter anywhere in Malta, was new to us. We didn't opt for any of the interesting tours in favour of looking around Valetta on our own. The mooring was really close to this (above) viewpoint, just a matter of a few minutes walk after taking a lift down to the lower street level. 

The two things that stood out about Valetta for us were the steep and narrow streets .....

and the similarities to many towns/cities in Britain .....

We did happen across some sort of civic/military celebrations, which we assumed were because Boudicca was moored in the cruise terminal (and maybe even the massive MSC Meraviglia beside us) but maybe that was wishful thinking? 

And the only other thing of particular interest was the bunkering operation, i.e. refuelling Boudicca. 

Majorca next.

Giza & Lena

There was a nice sunrise soon after we docked in Alexandria after our transit of the Suez Canal. The port itself was nothing to write home about; very big and very busy, cruise ships seemed to be something of an afterthought. But there was plenty of space for the customary fleet of buses to park near the ship, so nothing to complain about. 

Barbara again decided that the very long bus rides to get to the Pyramids of Giza this time were not for her so, again, I was let out on my own. 

The day started off rather badly, but despite a police escort for our little bus convoy .....

they couldn't control the weather and as we left the outskirts of Alexandria, there was the most horrendous traffic jam due to the foggy conditions (see above) on the motorway which had prompted the authorities to close all the toll booths.

As the traffic about us shuffled around trying to get ahead of anyone else in the queue, the only interest was in spotting unusual vehicles such as this family moving house it would seem:

Everyone else seemed to be leaving an unusually large space around them! 

After a frustrating two hours or so (at least it was air-conditioned), we eventually got moving towards our destination, still two hours further on. Time anyway to study some curious structures. 

Our helpful and knowledgeable guide told us that these strange things are for pigeons (a bit like dovecotes at home) but while offering pigeons a safe place to roost and breed, the trade off is that some of the pigeons are 'harvested' for food - a local delicacy.  

Eventually we got to the outskirts of Cairo, Giza to be exact and our first glimpses of the pyramids was not at all what I expected. This is what I'd expected ....

but this is what we got:

The trip was well organised though and our first stop was the picturesque views above where everyone needed to take a selfie, or have one taken by someone else, as I have to admit I did as well ... 

From this direction, the urban sprawl around the pyramids in every direction except south, was very obvious: 

From there the buses took us back down to the really busy side of the pyramids where, if we dared, we could actually go into the Pyramid of Khafre, the centre one of the three which still has some of its amazing smooth surface coating at the top. A phenomenal work of engineering and art at the same time. The adjacent Pyramid of Khufu remained the tallest man-made structure in the world for over 3,800 years. 

On the bus, our guide had said that all those who wanted could go into one of the pyramids but gave us plenty of dire warnings about how cramped it was, and that anyone who was even slightly claustrophobic, had any form of heart condition or wasn't reasonably fit, should not even consider entering. 

I reckoned I was fit enough and am not usually too worried about claustrophobia, but I must admit that when I saw the entrance tunnel, I did nearly have second thoughts. It looked about two feet high and maybe three feet wide, but I think it looked worse than it actually was and it wasn't really quite as small as that. Never-the-less, it probably was a bit like squeezing under a dining table which was 120 feet long and sloped downwards at a 20° angle. 

Lots of others were going in and coming out (not looking too distressed) so I bit the bullet and ducked under the entrance portal to find that it wasn't quite so bad as it looked if one sort of ducked sideways, but that became very awkward when meeting others going out. This picture of an uphill slope shows how little space there is to pass people.  

It was mostly well lit which made it a lot less claustrophobic, and the handrails and floor treads helped negotiate the relatively steep slopes. In places there was quite a lot more space which was quite a relief, even for myself being relatively short at 5' 5": 

This nice diagram (by MONNIER Franck - Own work, Public Domain) shows our route through the lower passageway, down, along, up again, and along quite a bit further to get to the very centre of this massive structure weighing an estimated 5¾ million tons, most of which was above our heads! 

We had been told in advance that there was little to see (unlike the tombs in the Valley of the Kings) as these tombs had long since been stripped of anything of value and had lost any decorations. All that remained was some (relatively modern) graffiti in the final chamber: 

 And an empty sarcophagus and its lid, which presumably was too large to extract and had to have been set in place as the pyramid was being built. 

To my surprise, the bold captain of our ship, Boudicca, Capt. Mikael Degerlund, had also ventured into the pyramid despite being at least 6' tall - it must have been significantly more difficult for him to negotiate the long cramped passageways. Seeing me trying to take a selfie with my phone (proper cameras weren't allowed) he kindly offered to take one for me which came out a lot better than the selfie and shows the moderately large chamber nicely.

After the equally difficult exit during which nobody appeared to bang their head on any of the sharp (and of course, very hard) stone edges, to my surprise, we exited to the bright Egyptian sun and fresh air - PHEW!   ......

The Sphinx was next on the agenda and here is our captain taking a selfie in front of the Sphinx and Pyramids - sorry captain, I should have offered to take one of you with your phone.  

Juts to prove I was there too I have my own piccies of the Sphinx: 

Why the colour is so different between the two shots I'm not sure as they were both taken at about the same time, just down to the auto-colour balance in the camera I suppose. 

Having 'done' the Pyramids and Sphinx, we were whisked off into Cairo and the Nile again to a pair of very smart boats looking something like this: 

Capt. Degerlund and others joined me at my table (I claimed my seat there first) in the richly decorated lower deck of the boat .....  

where we were well looked after by appropriately dressed waiters: 

and entertained by Lena ..... 

That was actually her second dance; in her first she was a little more scantily clad and afterwards sashayed around the diners, especially the men, while the ship's photographer took photos, for which there would undoubtedly be a charge .....

Then she singled me out as a target, not knowing (or probably caring) whether the lady between me and the captain was my wife or not, but was unable to get to me due to the seating being rather too tight for her hips. So, I thought, it would be rude of me to let her just stand there ..... 

  
Surprisingly soon afterwards, the photographer came around with a pile of nicely presented large prints for which he eventually accepted a £2 coin for the above, which I assured him was more than the 50 Egyptian pounds he was asking (which it was) - a bargain I thought, especially compared with the ship's photographs on board Boudicca.  

Then it was the ladies' turn to be entertained by a hefty looking Turk, initially doing something that looked rather like the dance of the seven veils, very strange!  

The lengthy dance morphed into something more butch complete with a sharp and dangerous looking sword which he swirled around, brandishing it wildly before balancing it precariously on his turban, all the while still spinning: 

Then he lit up, literally .... 

 and after many more minutes of dizzying spinning, started disrobing his illuminated skirts: 

A weird but wonderful act followed by the same routine of being photographed with members of the audience, mostly the ladies. 

In due course we got back to the bus and the long ride back to Alexandria and our comfy ship. This time our police escort did actually help us through the traffic and they left us at the motorway with a friendly wave. 

Next stop Malta.