Page 110 - 2003 - Atlantic Islands

Spent the rest of the afternoon reading and resting and watching the weather

deteriorate. We enjoyed another slimmer supper, this time with Juanita, Mary, and

Jackie. Back in the room, we tried to batten down the hatches by picking up all the

loose things in the room, lash the furniture together more securely, clear all surfaces,

put away everything in the bathroom, and generally get ready for a bad night.

Day 2 (S 43 53 & W20 18), Beaufort 9-10, wind speeds 50-65 with gusts to 75, seas

very rough What a night! This may have been worse than our worst night on the

Hanseatic. Neither of us remembered sleeping very much but we did recall clinging to

the mattress in an effort to stay in the bed. Several times the ship’s falling down a

wave slope left us in the air. The furniture we had lashed together came apart and we

were chasing the glass table to keep it from crashing into the glass sliding doors onto

our balcony. Pencils and water bottles which we had forgotten to secure found ways

to make noise as they rolled about the floor of the cabin. The ceiling snapped and

clicked, the winds moaned as did the engine. The bathroom had a song of its own -

something clattered along the tiles running from one end of the bathroom to the

other; it sounded like a piece of glass or a pipe or screwdriver. Anyway, I got up and

had a look but couldn’t see what was skittering along. It persisted as the waves grew

higher and the boat rocked harder so Kay got up and she could see nothing either.

We both decided that it was something actually under the tile floor. Maybe a

workman left a tool or perhaps a piece of piping had come loose or been left behind.

Finally, it sounded like it lodged at one end of the bathroom and we have not heard

from it since.

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