Spirit of Adventure blog

We left Southampton and used our engines to the fullest in order to get through the Bay of Biscay as fast as we could. There was a storm approaching and I did not want to be there when it arrived. Needless to say I kept our guests well informed of my intentions. The forecast was predicting the storm to arrive at the Cap Finisterre at 08:00 from the West-North-West. As we were crossing the Bay on a South-Westerly course the last thing I wanted was to have wind and waves hit us on our starboard bow. Our plan and efforts worked and we turned the “corner” at Cap Finisterre at 07:40.

We could see the front and its wall approaching and then the rain caught us. On the positive note, Bosun Jhun and his deck team were happy as the ship got a free wash down of our open decks. With the storm behind us, we balanced our speed between the required speed for our scheduled call to Cadiz and the comfortable experience for our guests. It helped as with a slower speed everyone on board got nicely tucked in and rocked to sleep after our welcome party and formal dinner.

Our arrival to Cadiz was busy as there were other cruise ships in on the day. We were the 2nd to last to pick up the pilot. We did get the best berth in the harbour, the closest one to the city centre, but that meant that we had to come in between two ships and swing 90 degrees. Slightly tight with 40m clearance, but perfectly doable and safe with 20m clearance each end.

After breakfast, we conducted our weekly fire and abandon ship drill and once the drill was complete, I went ashore with my 3rd Officer Mate for a walk and shopping. The shop we were looking for was some 10 minutes walking distance from the ship. You might have guessed what kind of a shop…. The guitar shop.

Mate was looking for an electro-acoustic guitar. I wasn’t expecting to find anything for myself as I had my doubts on the left-handed guitar offer, but I tagged along. Out of 3 guitars that Mate tried one was a keeper, but unfortunately it wasn’t the one he was looking to buy. The shop had one left-handed guitar on offer, but I was not impressed with that one. At this stage, with my collection, it would have to be something special that would interest me to buy yet another guitar and then persuade my wife it was necessary.

On the way back to the ship, we were hoping to try some of the local cuisine. All the taverns were open, but none served food before 1pm and that didn’t work for us as Mate had to be back on the Bridge for his watch at that time. We came back on board, put our uniforms on, went to the Grill where we joined a couple of guests for lunch. Food was, as always, amazing.

Kind Regards
Captain Franko Papić