Back to Blighty

We had a lovely journey through the Kiel Canal in bright sunshine but with a stiff breeze blowing. Most of the time we spent outside waving to friendly Germans along the way.

We entered the Brunsbuttel Lock at about 4.30pm and didn't move!  We were still in  the lock at 6.00pm when the Captain announced, over the tannoy, that the delay was caused by the German Lockmaster accusing the Captain of damaging one of the wooden fenders on the lockside. A dispute had arisen and the captain decided he was not going to budge until it was sorted. For those of you who do not know what fenders are for, they are used to act as a cushion between the boat and the quayside and they inevitably to suffer bumps and knocks so it did seem a bit odd.  The Police had been called and we suspect there was a lot of legal discussion going on.  Eventually the captain and the lockmaster agreed to disagree and we went on our way.  However, we got the feeling that that was not the end of the matter!

As we left the lock the wind was building as night was falling and during the evening it was with much difficulty that we waltzed and quickstepped around the floor.  We were in for a bouncy night.
Unfortunately, Jenny had looked at the forecast earlier that day only to see that violent storm force 11 was forecast for our area with very rough seas!

The next day we found out it was Storm Aileen that we had sailed into and in the early hours of Wednesday morning we were in the eye of it.  The ship had been prepared and we were advised to be very careful around the ship.  We don't know whether people were being careful because we decided not to set foot outside our cabin, both of us felt a little queezy with the corkscrew motion of the ship and neither of us felt like breakfast or lunch.  The storm started to move through early in the afternoon, we ordered a ham sandwich from room service and by later in the afternoon, although the sea was still causing us to rock and roll everything was much calmer.  We had survived.  The Saga Sapphire being a 35 year old lady looked after us well.  We are not sure if we would have faired as well in one of the huge modern cruise liners that just look like a block of flats!

We woke early on Thursday morning, our cabin being just above where the pilots came on board!  it was still very dark but we tried to make out the lights shimmering a short distance away.  They didn't look right for lights on the Isle of Wight and we wondered where we were.  It eventually became clear that they were the lights of a great number of tankers at anchor off the eastern end of the island.  Both excited and wanting to see our approach to the Solent and Southampton Waters we dressed quickly and made our way up to the drawing room from which we know we would get a good view despite it being dark. We decided it was a bit chilly and still quite breezy to be out on the open deck.  We were the only silly people up and about but we were rewarded with the sight of the Queen Mary 2 making her way down the Solent in front of us also heading back to Southampton as dawn was breaking.  It was quite magical as we neared our destination at the end of a wonderful cruise.

We feel so lucky to have had this experience of a lifetime.  We have been pampered and well cared for for 16 days.  We have eaten some incredible food and been served by the nicest, friendliest and happiest Filipino crew you could ever imagine. We have met some fascinating people, made great friends and will look back with fondness at our first cruise.