Saturday 10th November 2012
From the deck at the stern I watch the horizon. It's a 180 degree turn to take it all in. As wide as I have ever seen, a vast expanse of deepest blue, a completely uninterrupted line. No ships, no land, just a few specs of white on the wave crests. Trailing the ship is a band of turquoise, crested with foam, stretching back to the horizon, charting our path through the water as it is churned and oxygenated.
The calmest day so far, I feel I have finally found my sea legs, and for the first time this feels less of a test of endurance, more of an exotic cruise.
Behind me I hear the friendly banter of people not long acquainted, brought together by shared circumstance. Accents familiar and varied. New York and LA, South African, the Home Counties, Welsh, and of course St Helenan. Surprisingly distinct from South African, gentler, more musical. It will become so much more familiar in the months to come.
The lunch bell sounds at 12 noon, a short xylophonic tune, part hi-de-hi, part nursery rhyme. The day is structured around meals. Breakfast until 9.30, beef tea at 11am (tastes like gravy, one sip was enough to satisfy my curiosity). Lunch from 12, afternoon tea (sandwiches without crusts, sponge cake), and dinner, 2 sittings, ours is at 6.45pm. Six courses. Even skipping a few courses, or an entire meal, there is no respite from over-indulgence. I have been eating well, determined to defy any threat of sea sickness. In fact the motion has had more effect on my head. I felt dizzy and slightly drunk for the first 36 hours, the movement of the ship felt like it was pulling at my centre of gravity, all I wanted to do was lie down. I spent much of the time in bed, or on a sun lounger, slept a 12 hour night and several more hours in the morning. For the first time in months I finally don't feel tired. I feel well rested and lazy. I could head up to the gym, dip in the pool, or even turn up for the on-board Zumba class. But I feel at liberty to 'be' for a few days. 'Doing' is optional for once, so I am largely opting out. Resting, reading occasionally and lazily.
The girls are loving a new-found freedom. They have their own cabin keys and the boat is small and safe enough for them to come and go, reporting back to us (we are mainly outside, on deck), every half hour or so, they prefer to be down in the air conditioned cabin, playing make believe games, and producing a fashion show, involving wearing clothes in the wrong order, on the wrong limbs, and obligatory knickers on their head! We are quite disconnected from them. At one point I returned to the cabin to check on them and Lottie moaned "oh no Mum, can you go away please, we're having a really good game"!