lt was a bit of a shock meeting Ziggy onboard as l was not expecting Ziggy to be a female. Don't know why but l'd just assumed that Ziggy was male (Patsy, you could've warned me!). Ziggy wasn't German either, she is Australian/German ... and great company she is too. We think you're a diamond!
Whilst l'm at it, l must mention some other fellow rebels of merit too ... Junican (including his own brand of cigarettes), Regular Tripper, Tom, Cobber, Shelley and Dave, the 2 Pandas and last but not least ... Visigoth and the Northern Hordes. Mustn't forget (l'd be in trouble if l did) to mention two special ladies who filled in at the last moment to take up 2 cancellations ... my mum Kath and her friend Joyce!
We made lots of other new acquaintances but alas l've forgot their names ... l put this down to the lateness of the night and amount of JD consumed by then :)
Bruges was lovely with it's Christmas market and ice rink. Although the weather was quite chilly the sun was out and very enjoyable. The sailing back to Hull was ... let us say ... an experience for a lot of the passengers. We had Force 8/9 gales to contend with. For those of us who were seamen it was of little consequence ... alas for others, it was something they will remember. We'd had a taster of the weather to come on the wayout to Zeebrugge and Tom was not impressed ... less so on the way back!
Everyone brought their goods home safely. UKBA were there in numbers but none of our crew were harassed and neither did they want my Merc in the Sked Sheds! So no disasters, unless you count Joyce giving Cobber a seasick tablet that turned out to be a strong sleeping pill. heh heh.
Sorry l couldn't spend more time with individuals as l wanted to.... but whilst l played at host, Zaphod once again filled in admirably. lt was also nice of Bucko to ring us and wish us well ... and on his birthday too!
So thanks everyone .... great to meet you ... must do it again sometime! Soon!
As for P&O ... more on that later :)
