Page 93 - Michael Frost-Voyages to Maturity-23531.indd

virtues of that particular feature) its aluminium superstructure and lack of any
interest in cargo, it was self-evidently a wholly new concept, though not one itself,
fortunately or otherwise, that was to be so unique for long. As I found out, it was
handsome, but a bit flawed.

Naturally I took the opportunity to take a long walk ashore, a necessary
exercise even though one could hardly call life on a large liner a cramped
existence. I knew Southampton well, of course, so a visit to an old watering hole
(one just up the main street had opened in 1150 or so, not as old as some of the
places that I had by then visited, but certainly old enough to bring back memories
of home) and a couple of hours watching ‘Days of Wine and Roses’ brought me,
at least temporarily, to a life more real than was cleaning lifeboats.

Two days later, after the ritual lifeboat drill, we left the Solent for a cruise
in the less than emollient North Atlantic. By then I had realised that one of the
essential rituals of passenger-ship life was the Captain’s Cocktail Party, to which
all off-duty officers were obliged to report. Some loathed the routine of lining up,
being introduced to strangers, being given the usual weak drink, and ‘entertaining’
the mostly boring supplicants. I found, however, that it could be an enlightening
interlude; one whisky and ginger ale, thereafter, topped up only with ginger ale,
served to loosen the tongue, and the rest was an exercise in finding things of
interest to discuss with people with whom, if appropriate, one could meet up
again in only an hour or so. It was certainly sometimes a test of endurance, but I
quickly found that if all else failed, one could always discuss the guests’ children;
if that failed, to the back of the receiving line one repaired. And after the line
was absorbed, those passengers of interest could be separately approached; after
all, we six cadets were distinctive enough, though six was a rather large number
to properly exercise one’s charms. I did, however, notice that Stuart seemed to
embody some characteristics that seemed very interesting to those to whom the
rest of us wished to demonstrate our own disarming wisdom.

But one quickly learned to use one’s time to good effect, for there were, of
course, two of these ‘parties’, tourist class receiving, the following evening, the
same good treatment. It was quickly apparent to me that tourist-class generally
comprised a more ‘interesting’ (and younger) set than did first, though this was
not always the case.
I had during the cocktail party espied a young lady who seemed to me more
than a little interesting, and the following evening I delayed my departure from
the first-class lounge to see if she might appear and I could try out some of
my under-utilised wit. I seemed to have arrived at a good time, for there she
was, but I was a bit disconcerted to see her coming into the room with a rather
sharp-looking young man with whom she was engaged in deep conversation.
Fortunately, there was a trio playing a waltz, and when she sat down, I gathered

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