It was a Dark and Stormy night …
Quite literally.
We had Goslings Rum and ginger beer.
It was tasty.
Travel
Eastbound
Sailing back to Europe,
Losing an hour almost every day.
This is what causes the ugky American.
We’re sleep deprived.
Still, I’d rather take two weeks
And be a bit sleep deprived,
Than take ten hours or so,
And be jet-lagged.
On a ship,
You have a cabin.
On a plane,
You have a seat.
Cabins share walls.
These are sometimes thin.
However, seats share armrests,
And these are much thinner.
Casino
Almost broke again.
I look a bit green.
The only thing paying off
Is the soda machine.
Texas Tour
I’m out on the road.
I’m livin’ the dream.
Yet all I can afford
Is my Dairy Queen.
Some day, I’ll be rich.
Ribeye steaks for me.
Today, it’s steak fingers
With tots and gravy.
I’m not the only one,
Many others came before.
So, I’ll refill my soda,
And I’m back out the door.
The New New Colussus
Give me your elderly,
Your Europeans,
Your masses struggling to be gay,
I will bring them all together
At the Garden Cafe.
Straits
Atlantic Crossing.
Last day sailing all alone.
The Med tomorrow.
Sailing
I thought I saw a dolphin,
Out swimming in the sea.
It could have been a mermaid,
They look the same to me.
(I need my glasses.)
I’m on the second watch,
I’m sitting on my balcony.
I’m on my third Mojito,
So it looks pretty clear to me.
(Rum is tasty.)
I was born to be a sailor,
To explore the Seven Seas.
I just need a decent cabin,
And another Mojito, please.
(Watching the ocean is thirsty work.)
This may not be the life,
Of the brave sailors of old times.
They made a living sailing,
Among their many crimes.
I’m too late to be a pirate,
As Jimmy Buffett said.
Yet, staring at the ocean
Will get inside your head.
(Can you get me another Mojito?)
Progress
The Cutty Sark made seventeen knots,
From London Town to China.
She used the wind to carry tea.
For a time, there were none finer.
The clipper ships were eclipsed
By new ships powered by steam.
The steamship beat the ships with sails,
But sails are still a sailor’s dream.
So, today I’m doing twenty knots,
With diesel-electric power down below.
Three knots faster than the Cutty Sark.
Is it such a better way to go?
Old Folks Cruise
Turn the music up loud.
Dance lessons, please.
Break out the cards and board games.
Take the chewy stuff off the buffet.
Nothing starts until 11:00am.
Everything ends by 9:45pm.
Don’t schedule anything at naptime.
Bingo is sacred.
Columbus on a Cruise
Imagine if Columbus didn’t have
The Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria.
What if he just took Norwegian?
Sailing out of Barcelona.
Nothing but blue skies and blue seas.
(Maybe a Carnival ship, but that’s confusing.)
“Sir! We’re out of salt tack!”
The buffet is on deck 10.
Washy, Washy. Happy, Happy.
“Sir! I burned my eyes with the sextant.”
Why aren’t you using the GPS?
Why are we steering manually, anyway?
“Sir! When will we arrive?”
We should be in Miami on Tuesday.
I’ll be in the casino.