Bowled Over!

Anyone seen our boats?

Ah - there they are!

It seems strange to see boats off their davits - like ducks out of water. The ship's tenders and lifeboats have to be removed for maintenance and to allow work to be done on the davits and on Promenade Deck. The boats are lowered into the water before the ship goes into the dry dock and are craned out of the water to allow the servicing to take place. This weekend will see them craned back onto the ship before the ship comes out of dry dock - an interesting sight to see.

It was an eventful night last night - the shipyard invited some of the superintendents and officers to a traditional night out. The fare was cabbage and sausage known as 'Kohl and Pinkel' followed by German bowling - skittles with a twist. The food was wonderful with 'brain sausage' or 'Bragenwurst' being a great hit - to some! It's a bit like haggis and, like its Scottish counterpart, if you don't know what's in it you just get on and eat it but some guests found the prospect of eating the old grey matter just a bit too much to handle and politely declined!

Brain Sausage!

The assembled party.

The undoubted high spot was the very competitive bowls that followed the meal. You wouldn't have thought that flinging balls down a corridor would exact so much rivalry. It was sort of organised chaos with two teams very loosely put together by the Cabbage King and Cabbage Queen (honours bestowed by the hosts on Dariusz (Staff Captain) and Helen (Passenger Services Manager) respectively). Helen didn't want to break a nail so opted to do the scoring instead. The acrobatics and dubious techniques employed by officers who I shall never look at in the same light again were a sight to behold! The favoured way of Marcin (Senior First Officer) was backward and between the legs whilst the winning bowl from Rob Ross (Ship Superintendent) was more of a 'dive and slide' manoeuvre.

Sinclair Ross, Chief Engineer, in action!

The score ended up one each - with the old enemy, time, being the only barrier to being able to run a decider. It's probably just as well - like the boats out of water some of the participants were like ducks out of water with their techniques and needed to stop to preserve their dignity. A good time was had by all and we very much enjoyed the hospitality of our German hosts. Back to the yard and back to the work..........

Ian

Current thought: We should not moor a ship with one anchor, or our life with one hope. Epictetus from Dissertations.