Page 202 - Michael Frost-Voyages to Maturity-23531.indd

As this was the late summer, and a glorious evening, instead of turning back
southwards into the Sea of Marmara, Captain Riddelsdell decided that it would
be a pleasing diversion to go north into the Black Sea, something that the pilot
was quite happy to accomplish once he knew that he would be going home with
a bottle of Scotland’s finest product. It was an interesting little run, though we
were in that sea itself for only an hour or so. It did help give some substance
to my understanding of this historical and much troubled part of the world. It
also helped me to see that a Nelson or a Napoleon would likely have forced the
Dardarnelles and Bosphorus Straits, probably without difficulty, if either had
been in charge in 1915. Such are the vagaries of history.

On our way across the Mediterranean we enjoyed the same perfect weather,
and in the course of a pleasant evening on the dance floor I came upon two nice
young ladies whom I had not before noted. We did nothing special, but when we
reached Lisbon, I thought that we, with a junior R/O, could take an afternoon
ashore and see some sights, including the Tagus Bridge, a newish and impressive
construct, visit some of the city, and then relax with a picnic on the adjacent
beach. This was enlightening (the statue of Prince Henry the Navigator near the
mouth of the Tagus is not large, but as prominent as it should be given that his
role in exploration demonstrates the value of being a state on the Atlantic coast –
the mainly Mediterranean Spain required ships very different from the Atlantic-
facing Portugal – in the creation of the vast Portuguese Empire, as opposed to the
rapacious Spanish conquest of much of South America and little else).

Back on board we collectively enjoyed pre-dinner drinks, a quick after-dinner
dance, and then off I went to bed, being on watch at midnight. At about 11 pm,
I was suddenly awoken by a glass of water being thrown at me! It was a quick
exchange that I had with these two girls, but it seems that my unenthusiastic
reception of their suggestion for some cabin frolics had not gone down well; they
thought I deserved a lesson. I got the message; I had thought that the chasing was
what we did, not what comely young passengers did!

This time Christey’s tune was different, he having heard every word of the
altercation. Actually, he did little other than smirk. It was all that was needed.

And so we returned to Southampton, this time for another, and longer, voyage
around the world. I was glad to see the Staff Captain changed, but other than that
we were basically the same bunch of officers. While I was happy to see much the
same parts of the world, the long run down to South Africa and then across to
Australia was a bit tedious, although I had to admit upon reflection that this was
a very selfish view; I was well fed, had variety every day, keeping watches on a run
like this was no hardship whatsoever, and all of the people with whom I worked
were personally nice to know.

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