one wild and windy night

Tuesday 27th February 2007

1:16 p.m. CET Last night was quiet as expected and again I played mainly instrumentals until my last set, when I decided to do something I hadn’t done before and make it my only vocal set, despite there only being about three couples in the bar. I am glad I did though, as they seemed very appreciative, and were full of praise afterwards.

I was going to walk down to the beach this afternoon to get some fresh air and exercise, but it has been raining heavily since this morning so I think a jaunt to the terminal will probably be the extent of my escapade.

Wednesday 28th February 2007

10:42 a.m. GMT For the first couple of hours of last night’s crossing the sea was very rough last night and unusually I felt rather ill as a result. Fortunately I managed to get hold of some sea-sickness tablets and I felt much better after I had taken them. Nevertheless I took it easy last night, playing about half and half in terms of vocal and instrumental pieces. There was a large group of businessmen in the bar who I later discovered were some of P&O Ferries senior management; I am fairly sure I gave a satisfactory performance!

venison on middelbank

Sunday 25th February 2007

4:48 p.m. CET Last night was even more quiet than Friday, and predictably most of the passengers were from the continent, on their return trip. As it was so quiet I played only instrumentals all evening, and by 11 o’clock there was only one group left in the bar, consisting of German students. They were singing along to some of the songs, and they applauded when I finished (which needless to say was earlier than usual).

When I got up this morning we had already dropped off the passengers in Belgium and were on our way to Rotterdam. The weather was excellent, and I took a few photos from the deck.



The ship is now currently sat in dry-dock, we arrived just over an hour ago, and we are secured in the berth with the sluice gate closed waiting for the water to drain. I would guess we are probably seven, maybe eight kilometres inland. At the moment I am sat in the piano bar, taking the opportunity to warm up having spent virtually the whole day on deck!

Lunch was served in the main restaurant which was a refreshing change, and the menu was quite something, namely venison served with gratin potatoes and stuffed leeks. (Middelbank was the name of the portion of the sea we were sailing in at the time, hence the title.)

It was the first time that I had seen Europort in daylight since I did my first stint on the ferries back in ’99, and I saw some familiar features, and I took pictures of many of them. One of them was the Pride of Hull (the boat I was working on a few weeks ago) a short distance away that we went past on our way down the channel.



Here are a couple more photos that I took while we were heading inland:



And also one I took while we were in the dry dock itself:



I took too many to include on here, so check out my web space for the full set.

Monday 26th February 2007

12:04 p.m. After blogging yesterday I went and had dinner (again in the restaurant) then went up to the show-bar for a couple of hours with Dale, Sapphire, Louise (the children’s entertainer), Mel (a musical Philipino crew member) and the ship’s police, Andy and Bob. Dale and I had a jam on piano and guitar, then Mel joined in and we jammed out one of his songs with a simple back-beat and it sounded really good. Afterwards we sat around chatting and listening to some reggae which was really chilled, then we went up to the crew rec room where people were singing karaoke and playing pool. Ended up staying there for the rest of the evening.

It was weird sailing without any passengers, but there was a nice relaxed atmosphere and it was good to get a night’s break. We ended up leaving Rotterdam earlier than scheduled so we docked back in Hull at 10 o’clock this morning.

Back to work tonight, but it is likely to be very quiet until Friday.

plain sailing

Friday 23rd February 2007

5:16 p.m. CET Last night was another busy night, and a bit more satisfying than the night before. Mostly a fairly laid-back affair, and I played a few popular jazz numbers as well as my usual compliment of pop. Was still struggling a bit with cold symptoms but these seem to be abating now.

A rather strange day weather-wise, was clear blue sky and very sunny this morning, then it clouded over for a couple of hours, then it partially cleared up again. Fortunately it held out and was quite mild this afternoon, and I went out for a brief walk.

Looking forward to Sunday and the rare treat of a night off! Apparently some of the crew along with the Ents team are going to be doing some of their own off-the-cuff entertainment, in the form of karaoke, some party games, and a jam session.

Saturday 24th February 2007

10:43 a.m. GMT For a Friday night, last night was again quite a relaxed affair, and although the bar was busy the night went quite smoothly and I gradually won the approval of the audience. There was the usual quota of attentive groups and couples, and I had several requests, including a dedication for lady who was celebrating her 80th birthday.

Also there was a guy on for the last round-trip with his girlfriend, who I knew from my old work, and he recognised me, and we chatted for a bit.

I realised the other day that I haven’t annotated my blog for a while, but I will be doing so again soon as I am hoping to take some pictures when we are in dry-dock tomorrow, and possibly while we are sailing on Monday morning (if it’s nice weather), as we aren’t due to arrive back in to the dock in Hull until about lunch-time.

eponymous

Wednesday 21st February 2007

2:46 p.m. CET Last night was quite a relaxed affair, a lot more laid back than the night before, but still a good night, I still had several requests and there were a few couples and groups who were in for most if not all of the evening, and were very complimentary.

This ship seems to have a warmer atmosphere than the York (or the Hull). The other day the purser and the assistant purser were taking a break in the crew mess and chatting away to everyone. At lunch today I was sat with George, one of the ship’s policemen, and two Dutch guys talking about football. I later discovered that the chap who had been sat next to me was the captain! That would never happen on either of the English ships.

The rest of the Ent’s crew have gone out for a meal this afternoon for another crew member’s birthday, but I decided to stay here and do some practice, a decision I am now glad of since the weather is quite volatile. I may venture out to the terminal in a while though, just to get a change of scenery.

Thursday 22nd February 2007

11:10 a.m. GMT A fairly hectic night last night, we had large group of football supporters on who were fairly rowdy. Fortunately things remained fairly placid in the piano bar however, despite it being very busy. Played a couple more new songs last night, namely Blue Eyes by Elton John, and Arthur’s Theme by Christopher Cross. They went down well, and although there were a few attentive parties, generally I only had a luke-warm reception. Still not a bad night though.

return to form

Monday 19th February 2007

5:01 p.m. CET A much better evening in general yesterday, the bar was busy but not packed, the sound system was working a treat, and the audience were a lot more receptive than the night before. Played Walking In Memphis for the first time this contract (and this year) which went down well. Later on in the evening a couple returned who had been sat near me earlier on. The lady said that she could listen to me all night which was a very nice compliment. Shortly afterwards a large hen party swaggered in so I played a few requests for them, rounding off with Super Trouper by Abba to which they were singing along and doing actions.

A cold and foggy day here in Zeebrugge today, but that didn’t stop Dale, Sapphire and I from going out for a walk down to the sea-front earlier. When we came back I did a bit of practice and learned a couple more numbers.

I forgot to say yesterday that I had got up at 8:30 a.m. so I decided to seize the rare opportunity to catch breakfast! I expect that will be one of the very few occasions (perhaps the only one) during this whole contract…!

Found out yesterday that on Sunday morning after dropping off the previous night’s passengers the ship will be sailing to dry-dock in Rotterdam for a few hours for some planned maintenance, and because of this we will be sailing from there that night back to Hull without any passengers! Should be interesting, will be odd having an empty ship (bar the officers and crew of course), but will be nice to have an evening’s break.

Tuesday 20th February 2007

10:00 a.m. GMT Another excellent night last night, again busy with a good atmosphere in the bar and a warm reception. Played Barbara Streisand’s Evergreen (which was also covered by Will Young a few years ago) for the first time which went down well, as well as premiering my rendition of When Tomorrow Never Comes by Ronan Keating, which had been requested by one young couple the night before. The older couple were back as well, they spent most of the evening sat next to the piano and stayed until the end. Afterwards I got chatting to them and it turned out that they also live in Nottingham.

There was more excitement to come as at around midnight a helicopter had to be scrambled to the ship to rescue an ill passenger.

Back to the Bruges line

Sunday 18th February 2007

1:19 p.m. GMT I am sat in my cabin having done my first two nights on the Pride of Bruges. As it has been the weekend both nights were very busy, with a full bar all evening. Friday night was fairly enjoyable, the audience were fairly receptive and I had a few requests. As is often the case it became quite raucous as the evening drew on, but towards the end I played a few up-beat numbers and there was a large group sat next to the piano singing along. Last night was a bit more challenging however, I had been feeling as though I was coming down with something during the day but after a couple of hours’ sleep in the afternoon I felt better and although the audience were less receptive the evening went quite quickly.

Another slight hindrance is that I have been having problems with the sound system in the piano bar but I spent an hour experimenting with it this morning and I think I have pretty much got it sorted now.

My cabin is about the same size as the one on the York but it has a slightly different layout. Also, as it is roughly the same age at the York it too is showing a few signs of wear and tear!

Yesterday afternoon I took a walk down to the sea-front with Dale, one of the members of the duo Top Secret who are currently on-board (and are due to be for the entirety of my contract). It was sunny but fairly cold, despite this it was surprisingly busy for the time of year.

A nice sunny day in Hull today, and shortly I am off for a walk down to the Seafarer’s Mission to use their internet facilities to upload this, and catch up with the world.

rounding off

Tuesday 7th February 2007

2:03 p.m. CET Neither Sunday and Monday night were particularly remarkable, both were fairly quiet, and I finished early both nights. Last night was a different story altogether. Although we didn’t have an immense amount of passengers on board, the piano bar was busy for most of the evening. During my first (instrumental) set, a large group of young lads piped up jokingly suggesting that I should play a piano rendition of Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana, so needless to say when I launched into it they were both surprised and impressed. I also did renditions of Knocking on Heaven’s Door by Cream, and Paranoid Android by Radiohead. A welcome departure from the norm, and helped me to warm up for what was to be a long and demanding night. Later one group from Hull, including a guy who used to DJ on the North Sea Ferries years ago, were sat nearby, making several requests, and luckily I knew about half of them so they were appreciative. My choice of songs and pieces was a lot more spontaneous than usual, and I played more instrumentals later on than usual, including Music To Watch Girls by (Andy Williams), and an impromptu, partly-improvised, Girl from Ipanema.

By my last set most people had drifted out, and at the end of the evening I played Bridge Over Troubled Water, accompanied by the few more devoted members of the audience who had stayed. Not the most melodious of renditions, but we did manage some close harmonies which sounded good. The last guy to leave was a German whom I had befriended called Sebastian, who tried his hand at some rather deep, frenetic improvisation. It made a nice change to be able to sit and listen to someone else playing the piano, with me being his only audience.

Yesterday afternoon I popped into town for a couple of hours to meet up with James (Ents manager from the York). His three month break concludes at the end of this week, hence he is due to be returning to work (on the same ship) next week. As it stands there are no plans for me to go back to work on the York, but I expect that our paths will cross again.



This morning I finally managed to procure the photos from Dave that he took of me at the piano during my first week on here. Unfortunately none of them actually made it to the Ents board, which I thought was a bit of a shame really as they weren’t too bad. Here is the best one.

Back home tomorrow for eight days, then back to Hull to join Keiron and the team on the Pride of Bruges.

Wednesday 8th February 2007

1:35 p.m. GMT I am currently sat on the train en route back to Nottingham. Had a good night last night, the ship was very busy, unfortunately with a mass of school-children but fortunately this didn’t detract from the evening too much. There were several couples and groups in the piano bar, including many who stayed for most of the evening. I played a variety of material again, including the main theme from Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield, in response to a request I had had from one group, which went down very well. Later on a group of French boys sat nearby requested some Beatles numbers, which I played, and had some banter with them in French which was quite amusing. Also the group from Hull who had been in the night before came and resumed their position at the table nearest the piano towards the end of the evening, and I played several more of their requests that I hadn’t got around to playing the night before.

It was a bit of a shame to leave after just 2½ weeks, as I was just starting to feel like I had settled in, and got to know a lot of the crew. However, it will be nice to have some time at home again, and also I am looking forward to going on the Bruges, as it sounds like there are several benefits of working on there, plus I will already know a few people.

unidentified sailing object

Sunday 4th February 2007

11:32 a.m. GMT Wednesday was another quiet night, but Thursday was probably my quietest night ever since I started working on the ships (I have recently been forbidden from using the word ‘boat’, as most of its crew seem adamant that it is not the correct word to describe a vessel of this size. (On a note of pedantry I can see nothing wrong with it though, since technically both words mean more or less the same thing)). So much so that I didn’t sing at all, and finished by 11 o’clock as there were only three people left in the bar.

Predictably, Friday was again a very different story, however, especially since we were sailing outward from Hull. Generally a good night, with several couples and groups staying for all or most of the evening. Played several up-beat numbers and broke a sweat for the first time since I began work on here! At one point later on in the evening’s proceedings, a young chap from one group whose name I later discovered was Andy, approached me and asked if he could sing a number, so I agreed, and we performed Let It Be, which went down well and was very well received. The first night of the week where I played until the end of the evening. Last night was still busy but not quite as hectic as the night before. I played Elvis’ Suspicious Minds which seemed to be a popular choice. The same group were in again requesting several songs, and Andy got up to do another number, this time Trouble in America by Razorlight, to which we even sang some harmonies at the end of the song, which was the highlight of the evening.

During my penultimate set last night we sailed within close range of an oil-rig, the first time I had seen one up that close. Also yesterday while we were docked in Europort I noticed a strange wide ship just down the quay from us. No idea what it was, although I have a feeling it may have featured in a documentary I saw recently on the Discovery channel. Answers on a postcard....