The Bay… of Biscay!

9th January, 2020

Oh, I will remember these days for the rest of my life!

“Bing Bong!” the ships tannoy went. On came the Captain:

Due to a storm crossing the Atlantic, we’ve had to alter course and change our next destination. We will no longer be going to the Azores, but instead we will be stopping in Funchal, Madeira instead.

That wasn’t all.

We will be taking an alternative path to avoid the storm, however we cannot completely avoid it, so we will experience some adverse conditions.

So not only was the 2nd destination changed (the first of many, lets put it that way), but we were told to expect higher swell and more adverse weather. It wouldn’t be too bad, would it?

Video courtesy of a member of staff from the main bridge

10 metre swells! Just imagine what that would feel like. The ship was moving upwards and downwards over a distance of 10 metres!

Needless to say, all external areas were closed off, the bistro on the top floor was closed due to drinks machines, tables and chairs, and food stations falling over and sliding around all over.

The food stores didn’t escape either:

There were passengers (and crew) struggling to get around the ship. The number of people I had to catch whilst attempting to walk around the ship was unreal.

For meals, we were served in the restaurant which was located on a lower deck. Cold meals on plastic plates, much safer for crew to serve, plus the reduced potential of a hot bowl of soup being tipped into your face by a freak wave. This was still not entirely fool-proof, as I still saw passengers lose their balance when a wave him. One poor elderly woman went absolutely soaring through a curtain partition; one minute she was there, the next she’d disappeared. She had to be escorted to the medical bay.

This storm eventually hit the UK mainland where it got it’s own name. It became Storm Brendan.

I will never forget the days we crossed the Bay of Biscay!

A quick tip

If you’re ever in a situation where you’re on a boat or even in a car and suffering from travel sickness, there is one ingredient that will definitely calm your stomach and make things a little more bearable:

Ginger.

Ginger ale, ginger biscuits, ginger sweets. Whatever form you can get ahold of it in, consume it when you’re experiencing travel sickness. If it’s ginger ale, just sip it slowly and frequently. It really does the trick more effectively that a sickness tablet.