The 19th March at last!! A quiet sea day. We are still in the hot belt, placid seas, hot sun…. Absolutely nothing to be seen on any horizon. No ships, land, seabirds….. just a big empty sea. No doubt it will be like this for the next five days till we reach Honolulu. This emptiness seems to be a feature of the Pacific and we have observed it since leaving Valparaiso weeks ago. Very different from the Mediterranean, the Channel, or even the Atlantic where there is a lot more traffic.

Lazed around the pool again in the morning. Reading my new Chris Carter thriller novel. A newish discovery for me. They are gory police novels centred in Los Angeles and featuring a detective psychologist called Robert Hunter who specialises in solving serial killers and unusually violent murders. They are very dark but very enjoyable.

Art this afternoon. A scene from Samoa of a rocky beach with palm trees. Quite pleased with our efforts today. Tomorrow we return to portraits.

The ship has had a fundraising effort to raise money for the Vanuatu relief effort and so far about £7000 has been collected.

Very nice table at dinner tonight with two couples who got on in Sydney. One of them are getting off in San Francisco and the other couple are staying on till Southampton. Exchanged lots of travelling stories. All very congenial.

Had a singer as the late night show tonight. A lady called Helen Wilding who we met on the beach in Samoa, snorkelling. She's a tiny slender thing, about Daisy's size but boy has she got a big voice: opera, musical theatre and jazz. Very enjoyable, shall definitely go and see her next show.

Made slightly less enjoyable for me as I was fortunate enough to have one of the ship's resident loonies sitting next to me. A chap in his twenties who clearly has some serious brain damage and is on with his father who frankly is equally odd. Very strange looking. I think they're from Yorkshire. His father lets him loose in the evening which really is a bit off. Anyway, he sat next to me and stared directly at me throughout the entire 45 minutes, (I could see him out of the corner of my eye) occasionally letting out strange howls and gobbles and making disconcerting hand movements in his trouser pockets. It did detract a bit from my enjoyment!!!! LOL. How I wish my friend Penny had been there as it would have been very much up her street. Quite on a par with our days in Montage Theatre when we used to do a special performance of our latest play for the encouragingly named Hospital and Home for the Incurables which was just up the road from us in Putney. …