Thursday, 13 March 2008, Aurora, at sea

[skyring]

We’re out of India, next stop Egypt! The sea around us reflects the change from the Bay of Bengal to the Arabian Sea. The surface of the ocean is smoother, almost oily. The wavelets are smooth-edged rather than sharp. The sea billows instead of breaks. And here and there we see yellow-green pigments in the sea, whole patches of colour, churned up by the ship’s progress. Pigment produced by plants, the television informs us on the ship’s channel, and at night we may see bioluminescence.

Flying fish are plentiful, darting away from the ship, fleeting flashes of silver. They look like tiny birds skimming just over the water, and they go for incredibly long distances. Hundreds of metres some of them, and they are more than gliding, for you see them leaving tracks across the water, each beat of their tiny wings leaving a tiny ripple. Sometimes they skim over several waves in succession, finally diving into the water with a splash.

Kerri tells of flying fish she has caught in Queensland, larger creatures, and we hear talk of still more enormous creatures. Imagine these tale-tellers spreading their hands out as they talk of the flying fish of the Caribbean.

Maybe we shall have a chance some day, to see these fish for ourselves, but for now we have the little silver sparrows, flighting out, sometimes five or six at a time. It is the sound of the ship, or possibly the pressure wave that sends them out. Rarely, one will fly towards the ship, but they realise their mistake before they fly smack into our tall sides.

There are dolphins about as well, and I keep one eye open for them as I go about the ship. No whales, but I live in hope. No ships, neither, for we are out of the established routes until we enter the restricted seaways leading towards the Suez.

At lunch, we are given a table for two by the window. “Romantic?” asks the waiter, and we nod, smiling. Another waiter stands beside us for a while, talking of flying fish and dolphins. Son of a Goan fisherman, he has sailed these waters as a child, and he looks out over the water along with us until his duties take him away.

My BookCrossing.com release target for today is “Champions”, a sports themed bar beside the casino. Framed prints and memorabilia line the walls, television monitors above the bar broadcast matches or races, and the tables have a rugby ball design set into their tops. I have “The Bluffer’s Guide to Rugby” to release, and I choose a table in the corner, hoping that it escapes the notice of the staff for a while. Of course bar stewards read, but more likely they will pop an escaped book into the captivity of the lost property office, taking it out of circulation for a few weeks or months until company policy sends mislaid books and cameras and hats to auction or charity.

Still, it is the thought that counts, and I am sure that my book will find a ready reader sooner or later.

There are several themed bars throughout the ship, some of them mere alcoves, others significant spaces in their own right, such as Carmens or the Crows Nest above the bridge. It is quite possible to drink twenty four hours a day, if one feels the need, and whether one downs a cold beer around the sunny pool topside, or takes a cocktail in the Masquerade disco, or even a pernod in the never-closing Cafe Bordeaux, the opportunity is ever present.

Comments

[islandmomma.livejournal.com]

Keep it up! Am enjoying my vicarious travelling so much!

I used to "boat" a bit at one time here, and I never, ever saw flying fish, whales, dolphins, turtles - yes, but never flying fish. Someone would say "Wow, look a flying fish", and I'd turn, and it was gone. Sounds like your making the most of everything. Keep on enjoying!

[woosang.livejournal.com]

I would love to see photos of the flying fish. I suppose they are too fast and small?? Anyway your description is amazing :)

[skyring.livejournal.com]

I tried, but they are extraordinary difficult to catch.

[holmesfan.livejournal.com]

And on it goes with visual delights every turn of the ship's propellers.
Did you catch the flying fish on your camera?
What a super time you are having.
*hugs*

[cathepsut.livejournal.com]

Egypt, yay!!!! And you're even getting nice weather!