May 24, 2001 (Day 78)

May 24, 2001 (Day 78): QE2 bound for Southampton, England – 11.30pm

Health:  OK. Have eaten too much rich food.

Morale:  Good. It is amazing to that we are almost there. I am stunned to think of it. My mind has constantly been focusing on the next step and now there really isn’t one.

But all is not that simple. There are rumors of a UK rail strike, so getting to Waterloo may not be as straightforward as we had hoped. Still, we will manage fine. We have made it this far, this would just be the last hurdle. It might cause us to re-think heading to Canterbury, since it might not be worth the hassle. But we will see. One step at a time. We are able to catch Sky News from the UK. They only mention that the Postal Strike has been resolved. No mention of the rail strike. I wonder if Fogg had to deal with constant threats of labor actions.

The seas are glassy. “Slight” is the official term to describe them, which works well. It is hard to see anything that could constitute a ripple, let alone a wave. Nothing could be a starker contrast to the weather we experienced a couple days ago.

At the noon announcement, the officer on watch used the fog around the ship to springboard into a discussion of the use of fog horns, which were then in use. He talked about some of the different types of messages. I may have this wrong but ships above a certain size sound their horn once every two minutes if they are moving. There are two blasts if the ship is stationary. Smaller craft use bells, setting up some sort of rule of the sea pecking order. If you are in a dinghy ringing a bell and you hear, in response, a horn blast, you can safely assume that the other ship is too big to have heard you. It would then be in your best interest to get out of its way.

Just as we were getting used to life aboard ship the cruise is almost done. It feels like a day just slipped away into the ether somewhere. This is probably a reflection that I have not made most judicious use of my time. There is still packing to be done. I wish I could say that we were looking forward to hauling our junk around, but we will survive. It is nice to know that we will not have to do this much more.

Did a bit of laundry this morning – we are not the only ones interested in doing this before leaving the boat tomorrow. Little excitement in the laundry room when one of the washers overflowed leaving half the room floor covered with soapy water. An announcement that someone had fallen came over the PA system which brought curiosity-seekers to the laundry room. Seems the story was more dramatic than the reality. As a result of the overflow, the crew took one washing machine and dryer out of service which probably will not make the place any happier as time goes on. Things were a little tense in the room to begin with as everyone struggled to use the remaining machines.

Anna went and did tea in the Queen’s room while I went to see the movie, The Gift. It was full when she got there but two women invited her to join their table. She did so, partly out of surprise since passengers have not been as interested in reaching out socially. The two women (one was named Mary, the other wasn’t) were quite funny. They had a great time flirting with the waiters and were quite entertaining to watch. They are on their way home to the UK after flying to New York for a few days touring before the boat home. Originally they were going to fly over via Concorde. They were disappointed that the planes were still grounded after the crash last July. They had the option to wait until fall to see if they would be flying then. They decided not to wait since there were no guarantees. ‘Not Mary’ gave an interesting synopsis of the talk the Concorde pilot on board gave. Amazing how human errors can accumulate to such a disaster.

To comfort the passengers, they showed the film, A Night to Remember, on the television. The icing on the cake was the aroma from two electrical fires that wafted through the dining room this evening. Perhaps that is why they have the big hoopla for the final meal.

In the news today, the British election is heating up. The tone has caused the Church of England to make a statement saying that negative ads are bad for the public good.

A Republican Senator from Vermont, Jeffords, has decided to leave the party and become an Independent. This action breaks the delicate 50/50 split in the Senate and gives the Democrats a majority, if you can call it that.

2.20am

Almost too excited to sleep. Tired, without a doubt. No caffeine since breakfast. No alcohol for a couple of days. The only thing that is keeping me awake is me.

This is it.

Well, almost. Don’t count chickens.

Excerpts from Anna’s journal included

• ChasingFogg15
• QE2
• Travel