All at sea.

Being a sea day today we started with a leisurely breakfast then it was up to the top deck ………..

……. for a magnificent view of the Atlantic Ocean on its best behaviour.  It’s surprising how much other shipping we’ve seen, but then we’ve been in fairly busy shipping lanes during this voyage.

We chose to enter a friendly game of deck quoits under the mid day sun.

Here’s a couple of shots of “action man”!

We’ve had a whale of time so far.  Sadly only one full day left after today – we met some really great passengers and the crew are just 100%.  This afternoon Doug played cards while James went to an interview in one of the theatres with the Captain, Neil Turnbull.

With six decks opening out at the stern there’s always a good view to be had if there’s nothing on the horizon. This afternoon, although the sea looks calm, there’s a swell which is causing the ship to roll a bit.  Probably due to fuel efficiency measures (the fuel bill for this trip is $750,000!) the stabilizers are only deployed when they have to be.  They are each 6.5 metres long and weigh 190 tons so they’d definitely have an impact on fuel consumption.

Another interesting fact (and one of the last which James will bore you with) the “Aurora” uses 650 tons of fresh water per day and, by the use of 2 flash evaporators, can produce 1280 tons per day from sea water if it needs to.

We’re looking forward to showing our appreciation to the catering crew during the Chef’s Parade at dinner this evening.  Pics to follow.