Brilliance N. Atlantic TA Sept 3/15 Trip Report Pt1

[wassup4565]

This report will be in 3 parts. Part 1 (this one) will be about the voyage. Part 2 will be about the ports. Part 3 will be about our experience on the ship.

 

We planned carefully to pack for this trip, because we knew we would be crossing the North Atlantic in early September. Historical weather forecasts said we would encounter cold temps, strong winds and seas, rain, and clouds. It was all true.

 

I should say the RCI had cleverly stocked their ship store with many ladies dusty-rose coloured woolly cardigans. They sold many of these at a stiff price - my advice is get a cozy hoodie at Walmart before you sail, or pay the price later.

 

We began in Harwich on Sept 3/15, where it was heavily overcast with occasional rain and temps around 65F (17C). Next day we awoke in France where it was pouring, same temps, glad to have a good raincoat. It cleared up after noon, and we had a pleasant day thereafter. The fair weather followed us to Portland (Dorset) where it was warm enough to take your hoodie off for a few hours. In Cobh (Ireland), we had sunny skies and shirtsleeve weather, and that was the last we saw of the sun or pleasant temps for many, many days. They said it was the only day it hadn't rained in Ireland all summer. Next stop: Faroe Islands. Low moist grey clouds threatening rain, about 14C (50's F), good stiff wind, occasional bursts of sun with spats of rain. Rainbows.

 

So much for the easy part. We saw no marine wildlife, not many birds. I had a detailed map of the English/Scottish coast which I followed during the next sea day. We passed the Mull of Kintyre - an actual place, where I can easily believe the mists roll in from the seas. They were rolling around all over the place. My desire is not always to be there, though I certainly respect people who are living there on the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. I'm from Canada, and I can take the cold, but those islands are isolated, damp, and foggy. I don't care if it's grimly cold, but I gotta see the sun sometimes. I don't think they see that much there.

 

There followed a sea day of increasingly rough seas, and then we sailed into the lovely long calm harbor to Klaksvik, Faroe Islands. The temp was about 11C (low forties F) with a stiff wind blowing all the time, and little spats of cold rain interspersed by rainbows. Is it beautiful? Yes, breathtaking. Is it grim? Yes. On this day, I wore my hefty sweater with my down vest over it, and I pulled on my gore-tex jacket often. On my legs, technical fabric leggings with rain proof fronts. On my feet, insulated rain mocs. I was glad of all of it. AND, by the way, that was a fine day in the Faroes. Some days it just rains and blows all the time.

 

Another fairly bumpy sea day and then we docked in Reykjavik, Iceland, where we would stay over one night (that is, two full days ashore). Yep, about 11C (high 40s) with a good wind, and clouds running around all over the place in the sky. I had read that to experience Iceland, you have to get out in Iceland, you have to get out into it. Absolutely true, even if it's cold and grisly. Gorgeous. But cold, wet, and blowy. Loved it, but we had the proper clothes to do so.

 

After Iceland we had four straight sea days across the North Atlantic in a straight line toward Newfoundland, Canada. The sky was unrelenting grey, the temps were about 10C (mid 40s F) all day, . There was always strong wind (Beaufort 9 - Beaufort 6 is where the main limbs of trees sway). Rain sometimes. No sun ever. One of these days the waves were 6m high - about 20 ft. The ship felt like it was a high-speed elevator, shooting uuuup, then doooown. A walk along the deck was a fight through the wind, the occasional rain, and the pitching of the deck. On the second day of this, many people were laid low in their cabins. All to the good for we who have cast-iron stomachs, as all the venues were half-empty. I must mention there were some kind of sea birds that were with us all the way through this grim expanse of sea. I think they might have been gannets. Jeez, what a life those birds have. I was also thinking often in those four days, of the sailors who sailed on those rocky little Corvettes to bring supplies to cut-off European areas - those guys were true heroes.

 

By the time we came to pretty little Halifax, we had sun, light winds, daytime high of 23C (low 70sF). The rest of the trip was unremarkable for weather. But fantastic! for whales and dolphins. They were cavorting between Halifax and Boston. We also had a strange experience of two exhausted sea birds (sooty grey and gull-like) landing on the pool deck and staggering around. The crew picked them up and put them in boxes to release when we would be closer to land.

 

To sum up. For half of these 15 cruise days it was cold, rainy, misty, damp and windy. We packed lots of warm stuff and rain-proof stuff, and we used all of it, multiple times. Am I glad I did it? Yes, absolutely. If you want to see the remote and beautiful places on our planet, you have to dress properly and go with an open heart. Cold and wet doesn't mean bad, it means beautiful in a different way.

 

What I would bring next time. Gloves. And a hat with a good stiff brim. My floppy travelling hat was no help when the wind was driving the rain toward my glasses.

Edited September 19, 2015 by wassup4565

[sailor moon]

Great report! Look forward to the rest of it