Tuesday 14 September 2010

Things you do not want to do

...at least not on a ship that is rodeoing across the Denmark Strait. We are hit by strong gales of 9-10 beaufort, the waves are 10 meters high and up, the world around you is jerking and bouncing, irritating your sense of equilibrium and certainly a drag in everybody's onboard life. 
So you don't want to
walk with fragile things in your hand, read a book, go downstairs, stare at the computer, dance on deck seven, play Mikado, sit in the lecture hall with the curtains down, use the treadmill, drink strong coffee, eat heavy food, not watch the horizon, do anything useful.
Of course, it depends on how affectable you are. A few lucky ones are completely impervious to seasickness and play even a game of table-tennis...
You CERTAINLY do not want to
change bedsheets in cabins, do the dishes for hundreds of people, walk with full trays through the restaurant, stand in the hot fumes of the galleys, mop up corridors where someone had lost the fight against nausea, sit on your knees to clean toilets.
And this is why we think that here we should say more than just a word of respect for our tough crew who - although suffering themselves - did their chores without flinching, without hesitation and even still with a smile.  Same goes for our brave doctor and our nurse who went from cabin to cabin to help others, desparately hoping it would be over soon.
Thank you all - Bravo!