A day at sea

Today was another sunny, cloudy, sunny day on the windy decks of our ship. 

Sitting on the sun lounger I listen to the waves breaking across the ship’s bow and felt the steady reassuring hum of the ships five engines that vibrate the metal of the promenade deck itself. In the distance the sun shimmers on the rippling deep blue waves until it slips temporarily behind a cloud. Moments later it reappears, as strong and bright as before. Cruising along at 20 knots, the raging wind rocks the blue towels back and forth on the empty loungers threatening to sweep them clean over the rails and far out to sea.

To my right sit row upon row of pale white-skinned fellow passengers, eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses that look unseeingly into the middle distance. White thin wires run to their ears from the phones lying on their laps, relaying presumably music or audiobooks or both. Heads are generally protected by tipped caps.

Snatches of conversation drift my way on the breeze.

“Thou better put thine lotion on Harold” spoke one caring Northern lass “less ye be a beetroot by teatime.”

Listening to the conversations of others is something I shamelessly do and on this cruise, the accents are predominantly from the North of England, Liverpool, Manchester, Crewe and Hull. I just love the range of accents and colloquialisms. “All right me chuck?”, “Can I help you mi-duck”, “You aren’t half daft” to quote just a few.  

I feel the heat on my naked bare arms and legs so I whip out the sun lotion factor 50 and generously spread it on my limbs. The lotion glistens on my skin before sinking into the freckled cells. The wind catches the upper left corner of this page flapping it back and forth as I write.