Maritime Musician

summing up

2009-02-07T17:08:00.001Z

Saturday 7th February 2009

5:08 p.m. This contract hasn’t been too bad, all things considered. Apart from the weekends it’s been fairly quiet, which has meant that some nights I haven’t sung, which is lighter work and has been good to give my voice a rest.

The soloist who is on board for a few weeks is a chap called Howard who I get on very well with, he was with The Platters for a few years, living and working in Las Vegas, and touring with them. We went into town this afternoon to do some shopping and for a bite to eat.

Talking of food, it is generally pretty good on this ship. Much nicer than on the Dutch ships, and just as good if not better than the York. And unlike the Rotterdam the entertainment team are allowed to eat in the restaurant, so there is always plenty of choice available.

Despite the time of year the sailing conditions have been fine, with only a couple of rough crossings, and fortunately I seem to be a bit more resilient than I used to be.

Getting back to the main focus of my work, the nights have generally been good, when there have actually been a decent number of people there! Last Friday night was amazing, possibly the best I have ever had on the ships. Saturday night was pretty good too. On Friday I ended up playing solidly for an hour and a half at the end, then Saturday night it was more like two and a half hours. I was getting so many requests that I had to announce that I was stopping taking them, which I don’t remember doing before. There were a couple and a group on for a round-trip that I befriended, who were all from Lincoln, and were singing along to most of the songs, and they were even stood around the piano for a few of them.

Tuesday night was pleasant as although it wasn’t particularly busy, the people that were there were mostly sat nearby and were listening intently, the reception was good and they made several requests. There was a camera crew on-board filming a promotional video for P&O Ferries, and they arrived just at the right moment, as I was playing a special request for one group who were in. There is a good chance that some of the picture footage will be used on the web, so I will put the link to it when it appears.

Last night there was a large group of young people in for most of the night who had been in the previous evening, and I played several songs for them, including one they had asked for the night before and I learned for them especially, namely Hero by Enrique Iglesias. Also during my last set there was a group of young Israeli people who were stood around the piano and suggesting songs.

I’ve only got one more round-trip to go of this contract.

back again, plainly speaking

2009-01-28T11:12:00.006Z

I'm back on the Pride of Hull again, and in fact have been there for just over a week now, having done four round-trips already. The reason why I haven't blogged until now is because there hasn't been much to report; January and February are typically the least busy months of the year in terms of passenger numbers, and the last week has been no exception! Things did pick up slightly over the weekend, but still nothing like it was during the summer or autumn last year.

Last night there was a group of young people in on their return trip (I had met them before a few nights previously when they were on there way out), and although the bar wasn't busy they helped make it worthwhile, and probably the best on the ship so far this contract.

I'm not really sure how much longer I am going to be working on these ships, and whether I will continue with this blog or start a new one or what. The truth is, this blog has been a bit one-sided, and I have held back from reporting the full extent of my experience of life on-board P&O Ferries. But nevertheless it has been a good learning curve, and I'm not about to launch into some lengthy diatribe, but suffice it to say that from now on I will be attempting to provide a bit more of a rounded view of my sea-bound ventures, after all, this is my blog, I am human, and I am entitled to express my feelings and opinions. I'm not sure how wide my readership is, but hopefully it will continue to prove to be of some interest...

In English it's Brill

2008-12-05T10:12:00.006Z

Friday 5th December 2008

10:00 a.m. Nothing major to report from Monday, despite it being busy, it was one of those evenings where people seemed mainly interested in just sitting and chatting and having a drink, and probably wouldn’t have batted an eyelid if the piano was playing itself, or if there was a CD on, or even if there were a troupe of morris-dancers in the corner, but even so, it was a good night all the same, mainly because I didn’t have to concentrate as much, I could relax a bit and play more or less what came to mind and not have to stick rigorously to any play-list. As such I played mostly instrumentals.

Tuesday was my last night, and certainly made up for the night before. It got off to a good start when I arrived, there was a couple there who said they were looking forward to hearing me play as they had already heard me a few nights previously. I must have met their expectations fairly well as they stayed throughout the evening and didn’t leave until after I had finished. Towards the end of my second set, Maria from the band (Full Extra) came and sang Autumn Leaves and Killing Me Softly with me, both of which went down very well.

During the day on Tuesday I went down to Brielle along with Maria and another of the band members, Teddy. Quite an interesting place, it is a fortified island set in a thirteen-sided moat, with a large church near the centre (which is visible from the ship and has featured in the distance of some of my panoramic photos from there). We were hoping to go into the church as it is possible to climb the three-hundred-odd steps of the tower and look out, but there was some building work going on so it was closed. It was also the home of an underground supermarket called Jumbo, which I found quite interesting. All that was visible when we arrived was a car-park, with a glass booth in one corner containing a lift that went down to provide access, which I found rather curious! We wandered around a bit, then stopped for coffee at a deserted bar. The whole town seemed deserted actually, apart from a few children on bicycles. I suppose the temperature would partly account for that though. Despite the cold it was nice and sunny though.

[More pictures on my web-space, as usual.]

There is a possibility that I will be returning to the Pride of Hull towards the end of next month, when the ship comes out of dry-dock (coincidentally the same as when I was first on there at the beginning of last year). It’s not definite yet though.

double drill dodging

2008-12-01T11:40:00.002Z

Monday 1st December 2008

12:20 a.m. Thursday night was very busy and more like a Saturday than a weekday. It wasn’t the best night although later on in the evening there was a group of lads in who were singing along and requesting songs. Friday night wasn’t quite as busy, and I don’t think I played or sang particularly well, but even so there were seemed to be some people who were appreciative. I played a couple of songs that I hadn’t done for a while, namely King of the Road and Blueberry Hill, which went down the best. Last night was busy again, but again didn’t really flow well, although there was one family group in who seemed particularly attentive, one guy who I would assume to be about my own age was chatting to me on and off throughout the evening and requesting songs, and was very complimentary about my playing. Had a few other requests as well, including one for the dreaded Piano Man, which mercifully was the first time in about a week that I had been asked to play it.

Tonight was better in most respects. Firstly the bar was full right up until my last set (even by the time I had finished it was still busy). Secondly the atmosphere was a lot warmer, and the evening seemed to flow a lot better than others of late. And thirdly there was a good range of people in from different backgrounds and age-groups, and most of them were there from start to finish, which helped to make the evening mostly successful. Had a request for Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds which I don’t tend to play very often, and I also played I Want Love, All Of Me, Tiny Dancer and Sunny Side of the Street for the first time in a while.

I recently learned that next Friday they will be having their annual M.C.A. inspection on the ship, which will include a full boat drill (typically they take longer than usual because they are more meticulous), and on Thursday they are having a trial-run. Fortunately though I won’t be subject to any of the proceedings as I disembark on Wednesday – a narrow escape!

Yesterday in Hull there was an amazing sunset, and I got a few photos. As I haven’t included any sunset photos on here for a while, here is one of them.

name that tune

2008-11-27T12:31:00.007Z

Wednesday 26th November 2008

4:42 p.m. Sadly, as is often the case in this country these days, the snow didn’t last long, it had almost completely melted away by Sunday evening.

Sunday night started off fairly quiet but got busier as the evening progressed, and my last set was probably the best. Monday night was fairly quiet all evening, but having said that I still had a good response from the audience. I played several requests, including one by Abba, and Everything I Do for one of the bar stewards. At the start of my last set there were two Scottish women sat by me who requested some Christmas songs, so I did brief renditions of Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer followed by White Christmas, which they seemed to relish! They then suggested I could do a round of ‘Name That Tune’, so I pitted them against two young lads who were also sat nearby, playing snatchets of various popular tunes plus some more obscure ones. Owen came up mid-way through, and when he saw that I was doing a kind of music quiz he ran and got a bottle of wine to present to the winner. It was the first to ten and the women won 7-3, so I presented them with the prize. The quiz proved to be a good diversion and it was nice to do something different.

Last night was exceptionally quiet; up until the end of my first set I had forgotten why, but one of the barmen reminded me that it was the special darts-themed mini-cruise, featuring Eric Bristow and Keith Deller. In terms of passenger numbers the ship wasn’t especially busy, but I think most of the socialising public were watching as there were no more than ten people in the Sky Lounge at one time during the evening! They were in the show-lounge playing doubles with volunteering punters, which was quite entertaining.

[One of the mixed doubles darts games in full-swing, with Eric Bristow to the far right, and Keith Deller in the middle having a team talk with his amateur throwing partner!]

Only one more week to go of this contract.

11:55 p.m. Tonight was a lot busier than last night, despite it being the second night of the darts. I think the majority of the people in the bar were from the continent, so they probably had little interest in the proceedings downstairs. Again my last set was probably the best, there was a friendly group of Germans sat at one of the tables beside me, and they made several requests including one for My Way, which seemed to go down particularly well, as did Ebony & Ivory which someone else requested, despite not having performed it for a while.

snow

2008-11-23T10:37:00.000Z

Friday 21st November 2008

11:59 p.m. I have only had root-canal once, and I can say that it was less painful and more rewarding than this evening.

Sunday 23th November 2008

9:13 a.m. Had a lot better night last night. The bar was just as busy as the night before, but the atmosphere was generally warmer, there were several groups in who were pretty lively and making requests, and one of them was sat right beside me throughout the evening.

The sea has been pretty rough again the last couple of nights, particularly Friday. In a way it is quite fortunate that the piano isn’t on wheels as it might have rolled away! (This might sound like fantasy, but when I was working on the York, a woman there told me about her days when she was working on a cruise ship in the south Pacific, when it was hit by a freak storm, and the grand piano in the cocktail lounge was on wheels and wasn’t tethered, and in severe pitching it rolled across most of the width of the bar, straight through a plate-glass window onto the outside deck!!!)

I was up early enough to have a cooked breakfast this morning, on my way to the crew mess I glanced outsid and noticed that it had indeed been snowing, there seems to be a couple of inches covering at the moment, and judging from how dark and heavy the clouds were looking, there may well be more to come… I was talking to one of the Filipino croupiers the other day, and she was telling me that she was hoping that it would snow as she has never seen it before. (I did think about knocking for her earlier, but I don’t think she would have been asleep for long so I decided against it.)

time with the twin (ship)

2008-11-21T11:38:00.000Z

Monday 17th November 2008

10:02 a.m. I am on the Pride of Hull for a 2½ week stretch. I’ve just done my first round-trip, and both nights went fairly well. Saturday was busy as usual, and there were several couples and groups who were in for most of the evening, and some of them made requests. Last night was a similar story.

Owen Vaughn is now the resident entertainment manager on this ship, replacing Karen, both of whom I worked with recently on the Rotterdam at one stage or another. Also, the resident band are now Full Extra, who were on the Rotterdam with me last summer, having just come on in place of Top Secret, who were a performing as a duo on the York and the Bruges back in the day, but are now a four-piece ‘band’.

Tuesday 18th November 2008

4:22 p.m. Last night was painfully quiet, almost as much as when I was on this ship before, in February of last year – at some points during the evening you could have heard a pin drop in between songs! I didn’t sing at all as I was feeling unwell.

Friday 21st November 2008

10:07 a.m. Tuesday night was pretty much the same as the night before. Wednesday night it was slightly busier but not much, even so I did sing a few songs which went down well but the majority of the evening I was playing instrumentals. Last night was busier still, and more like the kind of evening I am accustomed to, with the bar relatively busy throughout the evening, and as such was a bit more fulfiling and enjoyable. There was quite a mixture of people in, young and old, British and European, and there were a few groups and couples who stayed until the end. I played various numbers, including Greensleeves which had been requested and I can’t remember performing before, and it went down well. I finished up by playing a partly experimental fusion of Misty and Gymnopédie. I had some nice comments from people afterwards.

Last night was the first night this week when the sea was notably rough, with a wind force of around force 8-9. Thankfully though it didn’t seem to affect me at all. It is nice and sunny in Hull this morning, although typically cold for this time of year. Apparently there is snow forecast for this area tomorrow, I wonder whether there will still be a small covering by the time we dock on Sunday.

Tonight is the only Friday night sailing from Hull of this contract, and I’m hoping that my voice will be up to it, as I have still to shake off this lingering cold. I have been plying myself with copious amounts of fruit juice and vitamin substitutes, as well as the usual medicines, so hopefully this will accelerate the process!

they came in droves

2008-11-02T11:33:00.003Z

Saturday 1st November 2008

1:09 p.m. Last night was the second of two ‘Mad Friday’s of this contract, and also the first of the two-night Hallowe’en-themed mini-cruise. As such the ship was obviously very busy, although the piano bar was busiest during my first set, as I think the majority of people inclined to the show-bar after that. Having said that it was still a good night, and I took the opportunity to play some numbers that I hadn’t played for a while, namely Baby Grand, Phantom of the Opera, All Of Me and Video Killed the Radio Star, all of which went down very well. I had a few requests also, mostly during my last set, after I had been down to the show-bar to see a bit of the proceedings. I have never seen the show-bar so packed. The ship was at full capacity last night and the majority of the passengers were probably crammed in there at that point. You could hardly move! I took some photos as well, here are the best ones (the resident band, Night Queen, with Gareth singing lead vocals – taken from the balcony, Boney-M, and me, Kylie (Children's Host) and Gareth (in full Joker costume!) in the DJ Booth. More pictures on my web-space).

I got to meet Boney-M briefly as well; I took some water to them in the dressing room just before they were about to go on-stage.

Sunday 2nd November 2008

10:27 a.m. Last night went well, still not exceptionally busy but there were more people in the bar than the night before. Not the best night I’ve had on here, but not the worst either. There were a few people in who I recognised from the night before, who made some requests, including one family who turned out to be from Derby, for whom I played Memory and sang it for the first time, which went quite well despite it being unrehearsed.

I got to see a bit of Mist last night as well (the illusionists), which was quite impressive – I have never seen live levitation before! I didn’t manage to get any pictures though as no photos were allowed during the performance.

variable conditions

2008-10-31T12:34:00.003Z

Sunday 26th October 2008

5:14 p.m. In terms of the number of passengers, last night the ship was the busiest yet during all the time I have worked on here. As such the piano bar was extremely busy throughout the evening, with people even stood up waiting for tables at one point!! There was a group of Germans in from the night before, sat in the same place, who were listening attentively and helped things along. Despite the numbers it took a while to get the audience going, but I managed it eventually, playing a few more up-tempo numbers during my last set. I had a stream of requests as well, one of which was for With Or Without You which I played for the first time, and earlier I also performed Sunny Side of the Street which I hadn’t performed before, both went down well.

A few times recently when I have been on deck at night during the outward crossing from Hull, I have noticed a line of evenly-spaced red dots on the horizon. For a while I thought they might have been radio masts, but having done some research and seen a feature on a recent television programme, I think they are actually wind-turbines, at the Scroby Sands wind farm, off the Norfolk coast.

I haven’t been able to see anything on the horizon in Europort today, as like the last time we were in port here the on Friday, the whole place has been shrouded in thick fog.

Wednesday 29th October 2008

5:15 p.m. Sunday night went well, it was fairly steady with people coming and going throughout the evening, and my last set was probably my best, as there was a large group sat behind me who were singing along to some of the songs. I had some nice comments from various people afterwards too.

Monday night too was good, it was busy all evening, nothing really outstanding to report but it was a pleasant evening with a good atmosphere in the bar and several requests. Last night went fairly well, slightly lacking the vibe of the night before, but there were several couples and groups who were in for almost the whole evening, singing along to some songs and making requests. The weather contributed to the atmosphere, as another thunderstorm loomed overhead during my second set and remained there for well over an hour, and the view was fairly spectacular from the panoramic view of the Sky Lounge.

Not only is it Hallowe’en on Friday but it is also the first of a two-night themed mini-cruise, during which, in additional to the usual entertainment schedule, a pair of illusionists and the 70’s pop-rock band Sweet (mostly known for their hits ‘Ballroom Blitz’ and ‘Blockbuster’) will be performing. It was due to feature glam-rockers Slade (with a different front-man) but they have pulled out at the last minute.

Only three more round-trips to go now.

Thursday 30th October 2008

4:10 p.m. Despite it not being quite as busy, last night very well, one of the few evenings that seemed to flow nicely. I had several requests from various people from the start until the end. The weather played a part again, ironically as soon as I had begun to play ‘I Can See Clearly Now (the rain has gone)’, a torrential downpour ensued! (Although obviously it didn’t affect my performance in any way, apart from the noise of the rain falling on the roof.) During my last set, one older couple who had been in most of the evening (gradually succumbing to the effects of copious amounts of alcohol) requested and were singing along to Bridge Over Troubled Water (albeit a slightly jazzed-up version), and also asked for Blueberry Hill, which I didn’t know, so I managed to get a copy of it today and learned, and I am going to play it for them tonight. Also, the woman from another couple who were in most of the evening jokingly requested Piano In The Dark by Brenda Russell, so I played a bit of it despite not having the words or the music. They slow-danced to Angels, then were joined by the other couple as I played my last number, My Way.

Apparently, Sweet have now pulled out as well, and Boney-M are due to be coming in their place. We’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see whether they actually make it or whether some other act turns up!

Friday 31st October 2008

10:53 a.m. Last night went fairly well despite my playing and singing being slightly under par. There were a few people in from the night before, including the couple that I mentioned, and I played Blueberry Hill for them, which I thought went pretty well considering I only learned it a few hours previously! I also played my own arrangement of Careless Whisper for the first time for another couple, which seemed to go down very well.

the mother ship

2008-10-25T11:40:00.005+01:00

Monday 20th October 2008

5:00 p.m. Last night wasn’t the most outstanding night I have had recently, although there were a few couples and groups of people sat nearby who were making requests and helped to make the evening a bit more fluid. During my last set I played a couple of songs that I hadn’t played for a while, namely Walk On By and A Million Love Songs. During the former, a small group were passing through and clearly decided to stay because they recognised it and began to sing along.

Wednesday 22nd October 2008

4:48 p.m. Monday night was fairly quiet, although there was a group of blokes who I assumed to be drivers, sat nearby for most of the time who were listening and making a few requests. I made a point of playing several numbers that I hadn’t performed for a while, such as Song For You, Baker Street, Englishman In New York and Ebony and Ivory, as well as two numbers that I had never performed with vocals before, namely Sailing and King Of The Road, which seemed to be the most popular with the audience. The sea was very rough for the first few hours of the crossing, so predictably, despite gaining an hour, most people went to bed early.

Last night was far from being the best, I had an almost apologetic response from the audience, which wasn’t helped by a large group of drunken youths staggering into the bar half-way through my last set, marauding around the piano. I don’t think they were expecting me to stand up to them though and they soon left. After that, I allowed a young couple to take to the stage, and they played a song that they had written, which had some innovative chord progressions and was certainly better-received than what followed – a rather disjointed solo performance of Angels by the lad of the couple. I wrapped up the evening shortly after that.

Saturday 25th October 2008

11:15 a.m. The last few nights have been better. Wednesday night started off busy but got quietier as the evening went on. There were two older gentlemen (one German, one Irish) sat nearby throughout the evening who were listening and making requests, and afterwards they questioned me eagerly about my musical background! Also, Johnny Higgins, who was Ent’s Manager back in the days when Mathias was working on the Rotterdam, was on-board for a round-trip.

Thursday was very busy, more like a weekend, and as such I had a good response from the audience. Last night was still quite busy but not like the previous Friday, nevertheless it was a good night, and there were a couple of groups of Germans who stayed in until I had finished, and were appreciative. Also in the bar mid-way through the evening was the Captain!

The other day while I was on my way out of the Seafarer’s Mission (where I still tend to spend a lot of my time when we are docked in Hull), this picture on the front page of July & August’s ‘The Sea’ magazine caught my eye, it was an artist’s impression of what a future cruise ship could look like. The full article can be found here [in PDF format].

Open Mic in the Sky Lounge

2008-10-19T12:31:00.002+01:00

Thursday 16th October 2008

5:12 p.m. The last couple of evenings were very busy. Tuesday night was probably my best at sea so far this year, one of the rare occasions where I seemed to become the main source of entertainment, as most of the socialising passengers appeared to gravitate towards the top deck rather than the show-lounge. The effect of this was an exceptionally vibrant atmosphere, and at first I had to turn up the volume and partially open the lid of the piano just to be heard, but having done so, I soon won over the audience and had an excellent response throughout the whole evening. A large group of Dutch students were scattered around the room, who were requesting a lot of songs, most of which were quite up-beat numbers, e.g. Clocks, This Love, plus High and Dry (which I played later on), none of which I perform very often. Also, a couple who had been in the night before requested Against All Odds the night before, so I played for them during the last set (having brushed up on it earlier in the day) and it was well appreciated.

Last night was also busy but didn’t quite have the same atmosphere, a lot of the same Dutch youths were in but they were making quite a lot of noise as the evening drew on. Nevertheless it was still a good night, there were several couples and groups who stayed until the end. I played Tiny Dancer and Yellow for the first time in quite a while as well. I had loads of requests again, including some rather obscure ones; a song by Limp Bizkit for example, from some of the younger members of the audience, but I don’t think they were being entirely serious… and also several for ‘My Heart Will Go On’ to the point where it was becoming irritating.

I think a piano bar is an alien concept to some people who venture into the Sky Lounge, the other day, one man thought that he had to pay me to make a request, and didn’t seem to understand when I tried to explain to him that I hadn’t yet learned the song that he asked for. I think he thought I was a walking juke-box, considering the range of requests I had just last night, that is an objective that I can only aspire to at the moment, and in the mean time, I’ll just do my best to learn as many of the most-requested songs as possible… and discard the most obscure ones!

Friday 17th October 2008

6:10 p.m. Last night was a welcome departure from the norm, in that half-way through the evening a four-piece folk band came and played a set (it hadn’t been pre-arranged, they were just en route from Holland to a music festival that is being held in Bridlington this weekend). Also afterwards a German girl came and played a couple of numbers. Both went very well. As a result I only ended up doing one and a half vocal sets, but it was nice to have a break and something different. There was a man there taking photos, I asked him if he would be putting any of them on-line and he said he would next week, and he gave me his web-address, so if he does indeed upload any from last night I will post the link on here. I took some bits of video on my phone as well, but the quality wasn’t great. Ask me if you want to see them.

Last night as we were leaving Europort a large thunderstorm rolled overhead, and after we had left the harbour I was on deck and although the sky above was clear and the moon was visible, I saw some spectacular lightning over the port only a few miles behind us.

Earlier this afternoon Chip (the resident DJ) treated Owen (the relief Ent’s manager), Jack (the children’s host) and myself to a Chinese buffet at a local restaurant, which made a nice change from eating in the crew mess…

Saturday 18th October 2008

4:58 p.m. Last night the ship was very busy, being an outward Friday night sailing from Hull (the first of two of my current contract), the Sky Lounge included. Again there was a large group of Dutch kids scattered throughout the bar, but also a good mix of older people, including a couple of groups who were sat nearby throughout the night who were listening and making several requests. Among the requests I played were Bright Eyes, Rocket Man and American Pie. The evening was flowing very well so I decided to carry on playing rather than taking a break at 10 o’clock, and I ended up playing right through until five to eleven, before returning at 11:15 for my last set.

Since going to the Chinese yesterday I have only eaten a piece of cake, two currant buns and a sandwich! But I will be going for dinner shortly though. As some readers of my blog will no doubt be aware, it is very rare that I will skip meals.

Sunday 19th October 2008

12:29 p.m. Last night was steady, still quite busy but the atmosphere was calmer. My last set was the best as there were a few groups sat behind me who were singing along to the songs and making requests. I had to decline an encore though, as I was having some problems with my voice.

various sightings

2008-10-13T13:31:00.009+01:00

Wednesday 8th October 2008

11:40 p.m. I got back on the Rotterdam yesterday for a four-week stint, almost exactly two months after I left the ship at the end of my last contract. My first night went very well indeed, despite the ship not being especially busy there was a good number and mix of people in the Sky Lounge throughout the evening, the audience was amenable and I had several requests, including some during my first set which is quite rare. Played a few numbers which I hadn’t played for a long time, including California Dreaming and Suspicious Minds, which went down particularly well. I had two encores and many words of gratitude afterwards. A pleasant way to begin a new contract and more than I could have hoped for.

I saw a couple of familiar faces last night as well – one chap who was on the ship back in July, who I allowed to play a song, and another slightly older bloke who I am sure is a regular.

Tonight was a similar story to last night. Conversely there were more people in the bar this evening even though there were less on the ship in general. There were quite a few groups and couples in who I had seen last night, obviously doing a round-trip (or ‘mini-cruise’ as it is known).

As the weather was fine in Holland this afternoon I went out for a walk down the road. A couple of kilometres from the port I managed to find a long path that ran between an avenue of tall trees, which looked quite picturesque with the sun catching their early autumn hues. On the way back I saw a stationary freight train near the terminal which had just been unloaded of its goods, probably waiting to be loaded up again.

Saturday 11th October 2008

5:18 p.m. Thursday night went fairly well, there was a large group in for the best part of the evening who were singing along and requesting several songs. After they left, several people seemed to follow suit as it was very quiet for my last set.

Last night went quite well too, again there was a good mix of people in and the bar was still quite busy by the time I finished.

Yesterday when we were in Holland I was doing some practise and I noticed another strange craft progressing slowly down one of the channels towards the sea. I managed to get a few pictures of it, this is probably the clearest one. Looking at the height of the columns I would probably assume they were going to form part of an oil platform.

Monday 13th October 2008

12:02 p.m. Saturday night was a good night, busy as usual at the weekend with what seemed to be a largely German audience. There were several couples and groups in who stayed until the end of my last set. Also a few groups passing through who insisted on having their photo taken with me!

Last night went quite well despite it being one of those evenings where I seemed to be playing more background music rather than anything else. Nevertheless there were quite a lot of people in throughout the evening, and some people who were obviously enjoying the music. I played Neil Diamond’s ballad September Morn for the first time which was well appreciated.

On the subject of photos, during my most recent hiatus, my friend Sophie (one of the children’s entertainers or ‘hosts’ as they are now known) uploaded some photos from the ship to an album on her Facebook page, one of which features me playing and singing with some backing singers when I was on here back in July.

Also the other day when I was on my way to the Seafarer’s Mission (which these days is typically deserted since the introduction of crew internet access on the ferries) I noticed a large and well-seasoned cargo ship moored up by the old ferry terminal. I wonder where Ulaambaatar is!

1:33 p.m. Apparently it’s in Mongolia.

de molen

2008-08-07T15:45:00.005+01:00

Thursday 7th August 2008

3:52 p.m. BST Sunday night was generally quieter than previous, and during my last set, Rachael (the children’s host) and Stefan, one of the trainee engineers, came and sat in the bar near me and were requesting several songs.

I got back home yesterday having had a good last round-trip. On Tuesday it was quite warm and a few of us went down to neighbouring Rozenburg in the band’s van. The main feature was a windmill, which stood on the square in the centre of the town (pictured).

Tuesday night went well even though it wasn’t terribly busy. During my first set there was a young boy dancing erratically in front of the piano which was very amusing! I sang I’m A Believer with the band during my last break, which went well. It was the first time I had been on stage in the show-lounge on either of the two larger ships.

As it stands I look to be set for another stint on the Rotterdam in October.

penultimate

2008-08-04T14:24:00.002+01:00

Sunday 3rd August 2008

11:15 p.m. BST Had a bit of a slow start tonight, but ironically the audience seemed to warm as the number of people in the bar dwindled. The nice thing about it though was that it was less hard work than the last few nights, so I didn’t really mind. And I still had a few requests and some compliments afterwards.

I was hoping to go ‘het onderzoeken’ (exploring) again today, but sadly it was raining all day in Holland so I stayed on-board.

5:02 p.m. CET The last few evenings have been mixed - Thursday night was very busy, so much so that I partially opened the lid of the piano to make myself heard! Towards the end of my second set a woman danced while I was playing Ain’t No Sunshine.

Friday night started off well but was not as busy as often seems to be the case. Last night was much better, I sang from the start of my second (9:15) set right until the end with only a few instrumentals thrown in for good measure and to give my voice a break. I had several requests, including ones for Let It Be, Everything I Do, and Sailing. During my third set, in-between songs, a guy walked past whistling the chorus from Piano Man which was the next song I had lined up to play! I did an encore, and had many nice compliments afterwards and noticed that several people only got up to leave once I had finished.

I was recently offered a contract on the Pride of Bilbao starting in the middle of this month, but I had to turn it down as I will be in Sweden when it is due to start. A shame in a way, as it would have been a good opportunity to work on a different route and see some new places, but I’m sure there will be other opportunities in the future.

In the mean time, I’ve only got one more round-trip after this one and feeling like I am more than ready for a break!

guest artists

2008-07-31T12:27:00.002+01:00

Wednesday 30th July 2008

5:22 p.m. CET Monday night started off fairly quietly but got busier as the night went on. The audience’s reception was very good but even better when Karen came and sang a few numbers at the beginning of my last set. She sang Nobody Does It Better and Fly Me To The Moon on her own, then we sang Can You Feel The Love and The Rose together with some nice harmonies. At the end of the evening I had a request for Heaven by Bryan Adams which I hadn’t played for a long time but it went down very well.

Variety was the order of the evening last night, with three people (all passengers) contributing apart from myself at various points of the evening. Firstly a guy called Mark played his own arrangement of Autumn Leaves at the end of my second set, which was excellent. During my last set, a group of German students came in, and one of them asked if she could sing Dream A Little Dream so I just about managed to play it from memory despite not having any music for it, and it went down so well that she ended up doing two more numbers, Killing Me Softly and Save The Best Til Last. Finally, at the end of the evening another girl asked if she could sing The Rose, which she did and was also very good.

The recently-released film Mamma Mia based on the musical featuring the music of Abba is currently showing in one of the two on-board cinemas on the ship, so I have had a few requests for their music during the past few days; the other day I played Super Trouper, and last night I played S.O.S.

Only one more week until this contract comes to an end, it has gone very quickly. Having recently been in touch with the agency, there’s a good chance that I will be back on this ship for most of October.

11:55 p.m. BST Not the best night tonight, although Dave Taylor from Live Business was on board and he came to hear Karen and I sing a duet during my last set, which he and the audience seemed to enjoy.

Monday 28th July 2008

4:05 p.m. CET Last night was quieter than Saturday but still went well, with help from a large group of keen Germans who were sat behind me who were singing along to some of the songs. During my last set one smaller group got up to leave but as soon as they heard me launching into The Scientist they quickly back-tracked and sat down again! At the request of two of the older members of the larger group I ended up by playing a part-instrumental / part-vocal version of Shape of My Heart by Sting, which I hadn’t played before.

Last night I met Karen, the new relief Ent’s manager, who is covering for Gareth from tomorrow while he has his regular three trips off. It turns out that she is a singer as well; this afternoon we went up to the piano bar to go through a few numbers and they sounded really good. We may even do a couple together tonight.

Easy (like Sunday morning)

2008-07-27T10:48:00.002+01:00

Sunday 27th July 2008

9:25 a.m. BST Last night went quite well, with a steady number of people about throughout the evening, and a few requests. Later on in the evening there was a girl in with her family who recognised me from this ship last year, when she had been on with a group from her school, and whose friend had played her own composition.

A rare occasion this morning, in that I was up early enough to have a cooked breakfast!

Saturday 26th July 2008

4:23 p.m. CET I’ve decided to re-arrange my blog posts from now on, so that the most recent appears first (in keeping with normal blogging conventions!)

Last night went fairly well, despite it being the second of two ‘mad Friday’s of this contract. I played Baby Grand and A Million Love Songs, which I hadn’t performed for a long time, and also Morning Has Broken for Charlie (one of the stewards who works in the Sky Lounge). Towards the end of my penultimate set, one guy asked me to play You’ve Got A Friend by Carole King, which was the next song I had already lined up to play! During the course of the evening, a few people were passing through en route to or from the open deck, and one couple did some ballroom dancing, which was quite amusing.

I do now seem to be able to get connected to the internet on the ship, albeit as far as the Internet at Sea login page :-/

Friday 25th July 2008

5:32 p.m. BST Had an excellent night last night. There were a few people who had been in the night before, and a good variety of people which helped to make it a success. Played a number of songs which I hadn’t performed for a while, including Always On My Mind (which was a request), Everybody’s Changing by Keane, After The Gold Rush by Neil Young (again a request), and wound up by playing No Surprises by Radiohead.

The weather has been superb today. Went to the Timber Dock at lunch time with the entire entertainment teams from this ship and the York. Met up with the members of Night Queen who are on there at the moment, Lisa (Ent’s Manager), Amy (the Children’s Host who started when I was there), and James Long, the magician who was present at the memorable (if slightly painful) paintballing trip last year.

Thursday 24th July 2008

8:23 p.m. CET Monday night was quiet as expected, and I played mostly instrumentals, and also did some improvisation. Despite the bar not being particularly busy the reception was warm throughout the evening. Tuesday was a similar story.

Last night was a lot busier from the start, and I had many requests as the evening went on, including several from one couple who were sat nearby. By the end there were still several groups and couples who had been in for most of the evening, and they all seemed very appreciative, which makes it worthwhile.

Unfortunately, wireless internet access on the ship is still down, and apparently there was talk of them returning to the system of charging, which would be a shame.

Monday 21st July 2008

5:13 p.m. BST Saturday night was a bit difficult as the majority of the crowd were older Dutch and German people. Last night was better, it was very busy, with some people even stood during my second set, although I think this might have been partly as the piano bar was also serving as an observation deck (as is often the case), owing to the unusual weather conditions; as we left Europoort there was an amazing sunset, with some extraordinary cloud formations and a rainbow at the same time. (The sea was pretty rough last night for the majority of the crossing as well.) It was Sophie’s last night, and towards the end of my set, she came up and I played a couple of requests for her, and she and a couple of the girls from the shop who were already there sang some backing vocals! This was a welcome addition, as the last few numbers seemed to be the best received all night.

more ups and downs

2008-07-19T11:05:00.003+01:00

Tuesday 15th July 2008

4:46 p.m. BST Last night was probably the best of this contract so far, with the audience receptive from the very start, I even had applause after each of my instrumental pieces! One of the rare occasions where I felt like I couldn’t do anything wrong. I had loads of requests, four in a row in fact, during my second (vocal) set, and more later. One of them was for You’re A Lady which I hadn’t played in a long time. There were two ladies in who I had chatted to the night before, who stayed up to hear me play Night and Day. Also there were a group of young German people sat behind me who were listening intently for most of the evening.

Friday 18th July 2008

5:10 p.m. CET No live blogging today as unfortunately the internet connection on the ship appears to be down.

Tuesday night can’t have been particularly eventful as I made no notes about it. Wednesday night was busy, with more like the kind of numbers I would expect on a Friday or Saturday night than midweek. The audience reception was fairly warm throughout the evening, not least after I had performed Leaving On A Jet Plane by John Denver for the first time. One of the couples who were sat nearby were requesting songs, one of which was for “George Formby and the Range” which I found very amusing (he meant Bruce Hornsby and The Range of course! I expect that a band intending to make a statement about the American Civil Rights movement would have lacked the desired impact with an elderly front-man sat on a stool playing a ukelele crooning about his former window-cleaning antics.) I also played Still Haven’t Found by U2 for the first time in a very long time, and (by popular demand) rounded off with an Elton John medley.

Last night was a similar story, it was fairly busy again all evening, but there wasn’t much of an atmosphere in the bar and things didn’t really ever get going properly. Having said that, there were quite a few people who were obviously listening, and asked for some songs. I played Layla for the first time with vocals. There was a Dutch couple in sat nearby me who had been in the night before (they were on a round-trip to the UK and back), and I was chatting to them quite a bit, so that helped to make the evening a bit more bearable!

The resident band, Four and More have left today and been replaced by What’s Up, one of the few Bulgarian bands I haven’t (yet) met.

11:23 p.m. BST Well this evening was a bit of a non-event, except for during my second set when we were making our way out of the port, we sailed past a large floating platform that had an enormous metal pole attached to it (it was so tall it was even higher than the wind turbines). I would assume that it had, or was going to, form part of an oil rig.

Saturday 19th July 2008

11:10 a.m. BST I have now met the band, and heard them briefly last night during one of my breaks. They have a pretty big-set up, and a sound to match!

novelty factor

2008-07-14T10:45:00.000+01:00

There is something of a novelty about this blog post, in that it is the first time I am blogging in real time! One peculiarity was that the Blogger start page was displayed in Norwegian! (I think this is because the internet access on-board is provided by Telenor, a Norwegian ISP). I am typing this in my cabin, where I have found I can now get wireless internet access, which has been recently installed. Admittedly it is quite a bit slower than at home, and I can only get a connection with my door open(!) but it's better than nothing. Plus when you're stuck on a ship in a foreign country miles from anywhere, it helps to have contact with the outside world!

(Actually thinking about it, I was able to connect sometimes from my cabin when I was on here last year, but I only ever got as far as a log-in page, and I never bothered buying an access card as I didn't think it was worth it at £1.85 per hour!)

Last night was something a bit different, it was fairly busy until my 10 o'clock set, despite this I played all instrumentals until then, and afterwards I did sing but the vibe was a lot more along the lines of a 'late-night lounge' type thing, as most of the people who were left were sat close by, which was nice as it made it a bit more intimate. Despite there not being many people there I still had a few requests. My last set didn't last very long as by that point the place was virtually empty.

anniversary

2008-07-13T16:06:00.000+01:00

Sunday 13th July 2008

3:51 p.m. BST The last couple of nights were generally much better, partly because it was a lot busier on the ship than on the previous trip. On Friday night, I played quite a wide variety of stuff which seemed to go down pretty well. At the end of my penultimate set, a guy came up and played Easy Like Sunday Morning.

Last night went fairly well, there was a good atmosphere in the bar all evening, and during my last set a woman who was with her hen party sang Promise Me and Mustang Sally, which (as usual with guest artists!) seemed to be the most popular of the evening.

I forgot to mention the other day that Thursday was the two-year anniversary of me starting work back on the ships.

going dutch

2008-07-11T15:18:00.002+01:00

Friday 11th July 2008

11:48 a.m. BST I have now done my first couple of nights back on the Pride of Rotterdam, after an absence of nearly 8½ months. As usual it only feels like a few weeks since I was here last, and most of the crew seem to remember me. Have encountered some familiar faces: Gareth is back on here as Ent’s Manager, and Four and More are currently the resident band, who were one of the bands on the Pride of York with me back in the day; and some new ones, namely Chip, who has taken over from Pete as the DJ / Technician, and Sophie, who is the current Children’s Host.

My first night wasn’t really anything to write home about, it started off fairly well, but numbers quickly diminished (sorry, no pun intended!) as the evening wore on. Having said that, I did perform Come Fly With Me for the first time which went down well.

Last night was better, there was a good number of people in the bar throughout the evening. I did my renditions of Night and Day and Summer Wind which also went well. During my last set I had a few requests from a couple of groups sat nearby, so I played a couple of Simon & Garfunkel numbers and Tiny Dancer by Elton John.

closing stage

2008-05-29T16:41:00.001+01:00

Sunday 25th May 2008

5:00 p.m. CET Had an excellent night last night, again there were plenty of people in the bar for the most part, and for the first time this contract I sang from the start of my 9 o’clock set and did three complete sets from that point on. The audience were very receptive, not least a group I got chatting to who were sat nearby and stayed until the end, made several requests and were singing along to many of the songs. Among them were Tiny Dancer, and Without You (Nilson) which I hadn’t performed since last year. They are due back on the ship tonight so I’m hoping they will be present again!

Didn’t end up going to Knokke today, as the weather wasn’t particularly great earlier, so I stayed on board and started making preparations for going home on Wednesday…

11:15 p.m. BST Had another good night tonight, it was fairly busy again, and that group were back in for most of the evening. Played another array of tunes which I hadn’t performed for a while, including Killing Me Softly, I Write The Songs, Morning Has Broken, and You’re A Lady, all of which had been requested and went down very well. There was another group sat right by me for most of the evening who were making lots of noise but during my last set I placated them by playing a couple of their requests.

Only one more round-trip to go now!

Wednesday 28th May 2008

3:00 p.m. BST I am on the train on the way home now. Monday night went fairly well, it was quite busy but not the most outstanding of evenings. As often happens there was a group sat nearby for most of the evening, who were listening quite intently and made some requests. I reluctantly agreed to play New York New York, which I don’t tend to do very often, but it went down very well and seemed to liven things up a bit. At the end I played The Scientist by Coldplay, which I hadn’t played for a while and went down well.

Last night was pretty quiet in comparison, again not the most eventful of evenings but it went quite quickly which was welcome as it was my last night! I played and sang Love Changes Everything for the first time which was probably the most well-received number of the evening.

After I had finished last night I went down to the show-bar which was pretty quiet too, but this didn’t stop the band playing Nothing Else Matters (I assume for me, since I had said before that I appreciated it).

deja vu

2008-05-24T11:46:00.000+01:00

Friday 23rd May 2008

11:00 p.m. BST Last night went fairly well, the bar was busy all evening, and there was a group of blokes sat by the piano for most of the evening requesting loads of songs, some of which I don’t play very often, such as Baker Street and Englishman In New York which both got an airing and went down very well.

This evening was busy again, but wasn’t quite as cohesive as the night before. Nevertheless I still had plenty of requests, so much so that I ended up not playing half of the songs that I had picked out beforehand! Among them was Blue Moon, which I hadn’t played for a while.

Today I went for a walk down to the sea-front and back with Amy (the new children’s entertainer). Originally a larger group of us were due to be going to Knokke to see what it was like as none of us had been, but the weather turned on us slightly and we ran out of time. We may go on Sunday instead.

This evening I saw two familiar objects that I had seen before during my travels. Firstly the same crane-boat as I featured in this blog post almost a year ago when I was working on the Pride of Rotterdam, which I spotted when we were already quite a way out to sea while I was on my break, then when I was in the middle of my second set, I saw a clipper similar to the one I saw back in September ’06 (only a couple of months after starting on here, although back then I incorrectly referred to it as a schooner) only tonight’s one was quite a bit bigger. Predictably, it was too far behind us by the time my break came, so again no photo opportunity! Coincidentally, this blog post also refers to the only time on this ship, apart from the other night, when I could remember it being quiet enough for me to skip my last set.

a walk to zeesluis (and back)

2008-05-22T10:40:00.005+01:00

Wednesday 21st May 2008

11:07 p.m. BST Last night was so quiet that I was able to skip my last set. Tonight was busier, although I stuck to playing instrumentals and altered my set times as they were showing the Champions League Final on the TV in the Clipper Bar (by the Moonlight Lounge where the piano is). Despite not singing the evening still went very well, with many numbers going down well, and some girls were even dancing to Sway in a space by the door. Also there was a group sat by the piano for most of the evening who were requesting tunes.

Today the weather was very good again in Belgium so I walked down through the town, and to the raising bridge that I mentioned once before. My arrival was quite timely, as the alarm had just sounded for the two sections of the bridge to be raised, so I watched as this was done and two ships sailed through the narrow channel to the harbour and on to the sea. It was quite strange being stood on a roadside and being that close up to a ship! I also realised that some of the freight ships are perhaps not quite as large as I had first imagined. I took some pictures while I was there (below is one of them), and on the way back I noticed this strange mural on the wall of a building by the marina.

I also got a few shots after we had left this evening as there was an amazing sky.

More on my web-space as usual.

Less than a week to go until I go home, and although this contract has gone fairly quickly I am feeling about ready for a break now.

Thursday 22nd May 2008

11:07 a.m. BST That cruise ship that I saw a couple of times recently (and photographed from a distance) was the same one or similar to the one featured in this article on Wikipedia (and conveniently also features the bridge I was talking about!)

anchor

2008-05-20T12:47:00.006+01:00

Tuesday 20th May 2008

10:52 a.m. BST Sunday night started off fairly busy again but not as much as the two previous nights. Had a good reception for most of the evening, particularly for New York State of Mind and Georgia. As often happens, things were a bit slow-going at first last night, but the audience soon warmed up and Sealed With A Kiss and From A Distance seemed to be the most well-appreciated.

On Sunday night during my last set we sailed within close-range of an oil platform.

Yesterday, Lee (the Ent’s Manager) talked me into going down to Blankenberge with him for a bit. We took the tram and had a wander around before stopping off at a café on the sea-front for refreshments. En route we passed dozens of bars and restaurants with on-street verandas, including this rather more odd-looking one with a large anchor on its frontage!

I also got a few other pictures, including some of the marina, similar to the one in Zeebrugge, which I have uploaded to my web-space.

reacquainted

2008-05-18T11:18:00.001+01:00

Saturday 17th May 2008

2:18 p.m. CET Wednesday night was nothing to write home about (literally!). Thursday night was a bit slow-going at first, but the audience seemed to warm up as the evening wore on, and was particularly appreciative of Bridge Over Troubled Water, My Way and Always On My Mind. After my first vocal set, Dave Taylor from Live Business materialised and was very complimentary, as he was last year when I met him on the Pride of Rotterdam. Last night was a bit of a tough test, despite the bar being very busy all evening (incidentally the only ‘mad Friday’ of this contract), and delivering a pretty good performance by my own reckoning, found it quite difficult to reach most of the audience. There were a few exceptions however, as She, Sweet Caroline and I Just Called seem to be well received. There was a couple sat piano-side for most of the evening who I had got chatting to at dinner, who were very appreciative, which helped to soften the experience slightly!

Sunday 18th May 2008

10:20 a.m. Last night was very busy again but on the whole a better night than Friday. As with Friday I had to open the lid of the piano slightly to prevent myself from being drowned out! One of the few occasions during this contract where I have sang for most of the evening, with just a few instrumentals here and there to give my voice a rest. Played a few numbers that I hadn’t done for a while, including Suspicious Minds, and He Ain’t Heavy. There were a couple of blokes sat by me for most of the evening who I was chatting to and they sang along to most of the songs. Later on in the evening there was a couple in who I saw last Saturday, so I dedicated a song to them too.

As Belgium is an hour ahead of the UK, when we leave Zeebrugge these days it tends to be light for at least the first hour of the crossing. Last night during my second set I spotted another cruise ship on the horizon, but by the time I went out for my break it was almost out of sight. However, I did witness yet another astounding sunset.

atop the vessel

2008-05-14T11:24:00.009+01:00

Tuesday 13th May 2008

1:02 p.m. CET At times last night felt a bit like an uphill struggle, the bar was fairly busy but there was a noisy group of French people sat right by me for most of the evening, although I did manage to pacify them slightly by doing a dedication for one of them (in French) who was celebrating his birthday.

Had boat-drill this morning, but instead of the usual procedure we got are rare opportunity to go up to the very top of the ship for some lifeboat training.

11:18 p.m. BST This evening was not the easiest either, although it did have some good points. During my second set I played all instrumentals despite the bar being quite busy, amongst them were Little Brown Jug (for the bar staff!), which I had never played before, and Take 5, which I had never performed before. Despite that, they both went down very well with the (mostly German) audience, along with most of the other numbers that I played. Later on I played and sang Something by The Beatles for the first time, and Baby Grand, which I don’t tend to play very often, and both of them were also fairly well received. I ended up doing two one-hour long vocal sets instead of the usual three forty-fives.

The spate of excellent weather on both ends of the ship’s route came to an end yesterday afternoon, when the clouds rolled in from the sea, making it overcast when we set sail. Tonight is the first night of any real sea movement since I came back on board.

'watching the ships roll in'

2008-05-12T11:41:00.006+01:00

Sunday 11th May 2008

5:02 p.m. CET Last night got off to a good start, as after my first (instrumental) set, two men separately asked me when I would be playing again. Just as I was about to start my first vocal set, there was a large group of French school children in, their teacher hushed them and inadvertently hushed the rest of the room as well! This made it feel more like a performance, which I enjoyed despite it putting a bit more focus on myself. I carried on as normal though, people were generally attentive throughout the evening, and I think I did a fairly good job of appealing to as much of the audience as possible. I played a couple of requests, including The Way You Look Tonight, and Three Times A Lady, to which one couple danced. By my last set it was fairly quiet, and I rounded off by playing a couple more instrumentals, most notably Autumn Leaves which I improvised to.

A perfect day weather-wise in Belgium today, and I spent some time outside on deck earlier on. There were a couple of very large cargo ships, and I got some pictures of each of them. There has also been another cruise ship moored up in the dock today. I don’t know whether it is going to be leaving soon or laying over but I am off to investigate now.

Monday 12th May 2008

10:32 a.m. BST Without doubt my best night so far last night, the bar was busy all evening and I had a good response throughout. There was one fairly large group sat next to me for most of the time who were quite rowdy but were singing along to a few of the songs, including Ticket to Ride, Easy and Walk On By. Mid-way through the evening one guy requested the theme tune to M*A*S*H, so I played it during my last set and it went very well despite it being unrehearsed.

I did go to investigate whether that cruise ship was still around yesterday afternoon but unfortunately by the time I got outside it had already left. I did manage to get a photo of it from a distance though.

return and a centenary

2008-05-10T12:45:00.004+01:00

Saturday 10th May 2008

10:48 a.m. BST I am back on the Pride of York again (for my sins!) having taken a six-month break from the ships. Again it doesn't feel like I've been away for any time at all. I’ve just done my first couple of round trips which went OK. Tuesday night was a quiet affair, but a good one nevertheless. As I was still in the process of getting the sound levels right, my first set consisted of a few regular instrumentals plus some more experimental stuff, including a 12-bar blues which went down well. Not long after I had begun, a man in uniform came over and shook hands with me and introduced himself as the captain which was quite unexpected! There was a good atmosphere in the bar and a good response during my first vocal set, which I think was partly down to me having a carefully chosen set-list. The numbers dwindled during the rest of the evening, but the audience seemed fairly appreciative throughout. By the time my last set was coming to a close there were only a few people left in the bar, and a woman asked if she could sing Chasing Cars so I played it and sang some harmonies.

On Wednesday the weather was very warm and sunny in Belgium so I took a walk down to the beach briefly, but had to come back as the heat became unbearable!

Wednesday night was fairly quiet again, although not as much as the night before, with a steady number of people in the bar throughout the evening. There was a spectacular sunset mid-way through the evening which I could partially see from the piano. There was a couple sat nearby for most of the evening, the man was also a singer and at the end of my penultimate set he guested on House of the Rising Sun, which was the best received number of the evening!

Had a fairly slow start to Thursday evening but it soon picked up, I played Sway and this proved popular. I had a few requests including one for New York New York which I don’t tend to play very often but I did it and people were singing along.

Last night was pretty quiet for a Friday, although there was one large group in as well as several smaller ones for the second half of the evening. Again there was a couple sat nearby who I was chatting to throughout the evening and they made a few requests. During my second set I played a couple of new standards, namely Beyond the Sea and All Of Me.

While I was on my second break I was stood on deck just after another amazing sunset and I saw something moving in the water beside the ship. A moment later I saw the dorsal fin and back of a dolphin.

Footnote: I've just realised that this is my 100th Blog post!

conclusion

2007-10-31T12:58:00.000Z

Sunday 28th October 2007

4:14 p.m. CET Thursday and Friday nights were both very quiet, which was a nice break but also a bit more of a challenge in a way. Last night was busy again, and the best night I’d had since Tuesday. Played a variety of material, and even had some couples dancing to Spanish Eyes and later on Fields Of Gold. There was a group of Germans sat behind me for most of the evening making requests, including one for Morning Has Broken which I hadn’t played for quite a while.

Tonight is my last night on this ship for a while, in fact it’s unlikely I’ll be back on here this year as a guy called Bruce has been contracted until January.

Wednesday 31st October 2007

12:36 p.m. GMT Had a very good closing night on Sunday. The bar was busy, and there were several couples and a few family groups who stayed for most of the evening. Again I played a few songs that I hadn’t done in a while, including The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, and Everybody Hurts. Had a good reception throughout, even in the last set when it was a bit quieter.

forthcoming attraction

2007-10-25T14:30:00.001+01:00

Wednesday 24th October 2007

4:46 p.m. CET Last night was a refreshing break from the norm as I didn’t play any jazz numbers apart from during the warm-up set, and later on I focused on singing some more up-beat numbers, some of which I hadn’t played for a while, including Walking In Memphis and Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, and also had requests for Man On The Moon by REM, This Love by Maroon 5 and Yellow by Coldplay, none of which I had played for a while and all went down well.

Full Extra, one of the Bulgarian bands, left today, to be replaced by Night Queen, the band with whom they have been rotating for the best part of the year, and who were also here in August during my second contract on this ship. They will be having the night off in a week’s time, as 80's psychedelic rock outfit Doctor and The Medics (most famously known for their version of the song ‘Spirit In The Sky’) will be appearing for a one-night-only Halloween special. It’s not the first time that a relatively well-known group has been performing on board; back in February, the current incarnation of The Four Tops were the headlining act for the Valentines mini-cruise.

Thursday 25th October 2007

12:36 p.m. BST Last night didn’t really get going until the last set, although I did play two new songs early in the proceedings, the popular jazz standard What A Difference A Day Made, and She by Elvis Costello. I didn’t have many requests but I played My Way for the first time in a while and this seemed to go some way to winning over the audience.

On Tuesday night there was another amazing sunset over the Humber, I managed to get a few pictures of it which didn’t quite do it justice but here is one of them.

progress

2007-10-23T13:17:00.000+01:00

Monday 22nd October 2007

1:18 p.m. CET Had a fairly reasonable night last night, it wasn’t fantastic but it wasn’t dreadful either. It was a bit slow-going at first, but things gradually picked up as the evening went on, especially towards the end of my first set, when I played Easy (Like Sunday Morning) by Lionel Richie which seemed to go down particularly well. There were several small groups sat nearby during my second set and they were all ears, most notably when I played Everything I Do (one of the first songs to be included in my repertoire, some 16 years ago!)

It’s a sunny but cold day in Holland today, for the first time this autumn I saw my breath when I was out on deck earlier! Even so I may take a walk later on, as I haven’t been off the ship on the Dutch side so far this time round.

Tuesday 23rd October 2007

11:14 a.m. BST Well I did end up going out for a short while yesterday afternoon but only for a brief walk around the port. I took a few more photos which are on my web space.

Had probably the busiest night so far last night. I felt like I turned a corner with my playing, as I played three numbers which I hadn’t done before, namely Try a Little Tenderness, Sway, and Spanish Eyes. Although the audience response was a bit slow, I thought I performed them particularly well, and they were appreciated.

Later on there were some familiar faces in the bar, not only people that were on the ship on the outward journey last week, but some that I had seen before on this ship, and one woman who remembered me from when I was on the Bruges back in March! I rounded off by playing I Write The Songs (following a request) which was I think the best received all night.

silhouettes

2007-10-21T12:38:00.000+01:00

Saturday 20th October 2007

5:22 p.m. CET The ship was very busy last night but the Sky Lounge was less busy than the night before. Not to say it was quiet, far from it, in fact I had a bit of a challenge in the form of a fairly large and rowdy group sat right next to the piano, and although they were singing along and making requests, they were deterring other people from staying and listening which made things very difficult. Still, as I have learned, this sort of thing goes with the territory, and it was the only Friday night sailing from Hull (the so-called “mad Friday”) of this contract.

Yesterday I forgot to say that on Thursday night when we had just left Europort we sailed past a cruise ship that I later discovered was the Oriana.

11:44 p.m. BST Had a welcome break this evening, very quiet for a Saturday evening, similar to when I was here before. There were several couples in during the evening including some who stayed throughout. I played On The Wings Of Love by Jeffrey Osborne for the first time and although I thought I played it well I think it was a bit lost on the audience!

There was an incredible sky after sunset this evening in Europort, and I managed to take a few photos. Here is the best one of them.

pontoon

2007-10-19T13:51:00.000+01:00

Wednesday 17th October 2007

5:30 p.m. BST I came back on the Pride of Rotterdam on Monday for a two-week slot, and my first two nights went pretty well. Nothing that outstanding to report, although Monday was busier than Tuesday in the piano bar, and had a good reception throughout the evening. Last night I played Leon Russell’s ‘Song for You’ for the first time, which went down well. I’ve got a few other new songs side-lined which I will be playing during the course of the next week and a half while I’m on here.

The weather in Hull has been superb today and according to the forecast it looks set to stay that way. I hope it’s right!

Thursday 18th October 2007

5:11 p.m. CET Had an excellent night last night, it was busy throughout the evening, in a way it was quite unusual as half-way through one lot of people filtered out and were replaced by another lot who were equally attentive. There were some large groups and a few couples who were listening and making requests. One group of young lads were in who had been on the ship when I was here a couple of months ago and they remembered me from before. I had a few encores and I wound up by playing some numbers by R.E.M. and Coldplay, and they were well received.

Friday 19th October 2007

10:50 a.m. BST Another successful night last night, again it was busy and the atmosphere was good throughout the evening, I had a warm reception and some requests. During my second set there was a group of students sat nearby and I allowed one of them to play a tune that she had composed, which was a light classical piece and went down very well. Along with the usual quota of jazz and pop standards, I played High and Dry and Bright Eyes which I don’t perform very often which were also well received. By the time I had finished people were still wanting more, and I had some positive comments afterwards.

(As you may know, as well as being a card-game, Pontoon is also a type of flat-bottomed boat.)

special guests

2007-09-21T15:09:00.000+01:00

Thursday 20th September 2007

4:15 p.m. CET I had a bit of an unfair advantage last where audience appreciation was concerned, as my grandparents were in for most of the evening and were applauding loudly after each number. It seemed that their presence brought out positive comments from other people, I had more compliments last night than any other evening of this contract.

As this is my last day in Belgium for a while, having already done most of my packing, I decided to have a light lunch at the terminal, then took a walk down to the beach and back. It was mild but very windy so I only went for an hour. It was partially sunny which made for fairly good conditions for wandering around Bruges, which is where my grandparents are today. They sail back tonight, and I will be getting a lift back to Nottingham with them tomorrow.

The end of this contract has come around quickly, and this is not an entirely bad thing. Having said that, the second half of this contract has been a lot more positive an experience than the first half, but I’m still not really sure whether I would want to do another contract on this ship.

10:37 p.m. BST Tonight would probably have been a bit slow-going had it not been for my two guests of honour! Despite it being quite it was still a good night, and there were other people listening too. Only had a few requests, but the evening flowed very well and was a breeze considering it’s my last night of this contract.

Apparently the weather wasn’t exactly warm and sunny in Bruges, but it didn’t rain and they’re glad they went. The sea was a bit rough earlier when we first left port but it’s fairly calm now.

jewels of the sea

2007-09-19T11:14:00.000+01:00

Tuesday 18th September 2007

1:40 p.m. CET Rather unexpectedly (to me at least) we are at sea. Apparently a cargo ship needed to borrow our berth for a few hours so we’re out for a leisurely afternoon amble. I was just on deck chatting to one of the crew, and he said that they may have been able to drop the anchor had the sea not been as rough. It was quite amusing to watch some smaller vessels going past bobbing wildly as they fought their way through the waves.

As we were leaving the harbour earlier on I noticed another cruise ship moored up just across the way, the Jewel of the Seas.

The piano bar was very quiet last night.

11:40 p.m. BST Another good night tonight, again the piano bar was busy all evening, the audience were appreciative and I was swamped with requests. Despite the usual compliment of older Germans there was quite a good mix of people in this evening, and I’m fairly confident that I managed to appeal to most.

Only one more round-trip now until I go home. What a strange time this contract has been.

[Currently reading yet another Bryson – ‘Neither Here Nor There’, about his travels in Europe. Very entertaining. I’ve had to try very hard to suppress my laughter late at night for fear of waking fellow crew-members!]

centenary

2007-09-17T11:30:00.000+01:00

Friday 14th September 2007

11:22 p.m. CET Last night was nothing to write home about, but I had a mostly good night tonight, with the same audience remaining virtually unchanged throughout the evening, until mid-way through my last set when a large (all male) group of rowdy Germans came in and shattered the tranquil atmosphere that I had deftly crafted during the previous three hours. Still I suppose it is to be expected on this ship; the Moonlight Lounge is probably one of the least sophisticated piano bars there is. It’s more of a licensed waiting-room.

Sunday 16th September 2007

4:56 p.m. CET Another mostly busy night last night, nothing major to report although it was a good night, had a pretty good reception and a few requests.

Since I began this stretch on the York I decided that I wanted to do some more exploring at some point. After consulting the weather forecast (which was favourable) and a map of the local area I decided to go out this afternoon, and walked down to the Old Fishing Port, after picking up some Euros from the post office on the sea-front. I remembered that the harbour tour-boat sailed daily, and as it turned out I arrived with literally only moments to spare before the next excursion! Despite the commentary being unintelligible due to it being muffled and (strangely) in just about every other European language apart from English, it was an enjoyable trip. I didn’t really see anything that I hadn’t seen before, but I did get to see things closer up and from different angles to previously.

After the tour had ended (it lasted about 75 minutes in total) I spent some time wandering around Zeebrugge before catching the tram back to the stop nearest the ship. (More pics on my web-space)

According to various signs and flags that are dotted around the place at the moment, the Port of Zeebrugge is celebrating its centenary this year. It seemed as if the whole of Flanders had taken to their bicycles today; I think this might have been part of the festivities.

11:55 p.m. CET Tonight went very well and was easily the best since Wednesday. From the sounds of it the piano bar was busier than the show-lounge which doesn’t happen very often. Among the audience there was one large group and one small group both sat nearby who I got chatting to and were making requests and stayed until the end. Also later on there was a couple in who just caught the end of my last set last night. I played Neil Young’s song After The Gold Rush for the first time which went down quite well, and I also played Julia Says and Fields of Gold which I hadn’t played for quite a while. Had one encore, and many appreciative comments afterwards, including one lady who complimented me on my choice of songs, which was encouraging.

With the danger of sounding big-headed, apparently Graeme who is currently working behind the bar in the Moonlight Lounge gave Malcolm (the Ent’s Manager) some informal feedback last night about me, saying “He's just right for this bar. He reads the room well, he plays the right kind of songs, and he’s never too loud.”

It’s not all bad.

diverse

2007-09-13T10:49:00.000+01:00

Wednesday 12th September 2007

11:33 p.m. CET I’ve had a mixed up time the last few days.

Sunday night was fairly quiet, with several couples and groups coming and going throughout the evening. Nothing major to report however.

Unfortunately I think I must have eaten something that disagreed with me on Sunday as I was rather ill on Monday, so much so that I was bed-bound for most of the day. Despite feeling slightly better by the evening, I still felt a bit rough during the evening (which thankfully was quiet), but which wasn’t helped by the first real sea movement we’ve had since I’ve been on here.

Tonight was the best since the weekend, surprisingly busy for a Wednesday, in fact the bar was virtually full, and as such there was a good atmosphere throughout the evening. There were a couple of groups sat by me for most of the evening, who made several requests, most of which I knew and played. Did a couple of numbers that I hadn’t played for a while, namely Morning Has Broken and Love On The Rocks. Rounded off the evening by playing Happy Birthday for Ricardo, one of the guys who works behind the bar, whose birthday it was today.

Having recovered from my bout of illness, and since the weather was lovely today, I took a walk down to the beach and back this afternoon. It was the first time I had been off the ship on the Belgian side since starting back on here a week ago.

I have managed to book my grandparents onto the ship for a round-trip so that is something to look forward to for the end of the contract next week.

Am now nearly half-way through this contract. Although I’ve only been on here a week this time round, apart from a couple of good nights things haven’t exactly been fantastic...

I Sing The Songs

2007-09-09T12:17:00.000+01:00

Saturday 8th September 2007

12:58 p.m. CET A busier night in comparison last night, although nowhere near busy enough to deem it a ‘mad Friday’ (i.e. an outward sailing from Hull on a Friday night with a full ship’s quota of passengers). Nevertheless it was a good night, the bar was busy all evening, I had several requests. During my last set, one chap who I had been speaking to earlier on in the evening came up and sang Let There Be Love. The reception was pretty good throughout the night and I had one encore.

11:47 p.m. CET Another busy night tonight, and although the evening was a bit slow-going at first, it picked up, and I had a warm reception later on. I played I Write The Songs by Barry Manilow for the first time, and it went down well. Again had one encore so I played The Rose which was very well appreciated.

While we were making our way out of the harbour in Zeebrugge earlier, I noticed the same ‘crane-boat’ that I spotted in Europort, which I featured in my blog in June, back when I was on the Rotterdam (I can’t believe that was three months ago!) There was also an enormous container ship on its way into port, which was easily half as big again as this ship. I didn’t manage to get any pics though as I was playing at the time.

Silver Shadow

2007-09-07T11:49:00.000+01:00

Thursday 6th September 2007

11:47 a.m. CET So I’m back on the York again, nine months and nine days since the last time. Although it is very familiar, I’m not getting the kind of déja-vu that I was expecting. The ship is essentially the same as I remember it (if a little dirtier!), but the piano-bar has been refurbished, with new carpet and furniture.

Last night went well, despite being very quiet, I had an disproportionately numerous amount of requests, and a good reception from the people that were there.

Friday 7th September 2007

10:30 a.m. BST Another quiet night last night, although there was one group in for most of the evening who I got friendly with and I played several songs for them.

Yesterday there was a small cruise-ship moored just up the quay from us in Zeebrugge, and with the help of one of the engineers and some research on-line I have managed to identify it as the Silver Shadow, which is a coincidence as this was also the name of the music group that I formed at school (well almost, the name of the group was The Silver Shadows).

Its destinations are quite impressive, over the next few months it will be sailing to Lisbon and Las Palmas, before sailing on to San Diego and Fort Lauderdale.

Tomorrow in Zeebrugge there is some big event on, during which there will be several external visitors milling around the ship while it is in port during the day. I have agreed to play a couple of daytime sets.

fireworks III

2007-08-21T16:03:00.000+01:00

Wednesday 15th August 2007

11:55 p.m. BST Last night wasn’t too bad although it wasn’t the best night. Peter from Live Business was on the ship and he came into the piano bar briefly but I didn’t get a chance to speak to him. By the last set it was very quiet and I wound up by playing several instrumentals, the last of which was Nightswimming which I hadn’t played for ages.

Tonight was generally a better night, and though I didn’t have many requests the audience were more receptive. I fancied doing something a bit different this evening, so I decided to play some numbers that I hadn’t performed for a while, and they went down well. Also I played Honesty by Billy Joel for the first time, and Sweet Caroline and Stuck In The Middle for the second.

The bruises from the paint-balling excursion have now begun to develop, one on my arm is particularly colourful. From the sound of things I think I got off lightly with just four, Michelle for example came away with ten!

Only two more round-trips until I go home now. It feels like I have been on here a lot longer than two weeks…

Sunday 19th August 2007

2:15 p.m. CET Wednesday and Thursday nights were both fairly uneventful, although on Wednesday evening there was a guy in who said he recognised me from when I had been working the Zeebrugge route, and on Thursday night there were a group of girls in the bar briefly who complimented me on my voice.

Friday night was fairly successful although as with last weekend the numbers dwindled towards the middle of the evening and didn’t really pick up again, which I attributed to the lure of the show downstairs. It was still a good night nevertheless, with several groups and couples in, some of which who stayed until the end. Didn’t have many requests but the majority of people seemed fairly attentive.

Last night was a different story, it was busy throughout the evening, I had about a dozen requests and people singing along to some of the numbers. There was one fairly young group of Germans in who I recognised from about a week ago, who were en route back home, and I chatted to them for a short while afterwards. Probably the best night of this contract.

Only one more night now, as tomorrow I am returning home for a couple of weeks, then I have another (thankfully brief!) stint on the York.

Tuesday 21st August 2007

3:48 p.m. BST Am back at home again now. Had an excellent last night, even better than the one before. Again it was busy all evening, and the atmosphere in the bar was excellent. During my second set I played a rather triumphant rendition of Bridge Over Troubled Water, followed by some more upbeat material, which went down quite well and had several people singing along. I also played instrumental stuff, including Song For Guy which I hadn’t played for a while, The Way It Is by Bruce Hornsby, and Ballade Pour Adelaine. I was talking to a couple afterwards who knew Nottingham very well as their daughter is at Uni here.

I forgot to say that on Saturday night during my last set I played a couple of Elvis numbers, by way of marking the 30 year anniversary of his death.

Also on Friday night while I was on my break, I was stood on deck at the back of the ship, I could see the lights of Europort in the distance, and as happened once before last year when I was on the York leaving Belgium, I spotted a fireworks display taking place somewhere just up the coast (somewhere in the region of The Hague or possibly even Monster!)

het onderzoeken door fiets

2007-08-14T16:03:00.000+01:00

Sunday 12th August 2007

11:16 a.m. BST Friday night started well, but the passenger numbers began to dwindle about half-way through the evening and it was rather quiet by my last set, which is fairly unusual for a Friday night (especially as we were sailing out from Hull). I rounded off by playing Unchained Melody and spontaneously three couples appeared and took to the dance floor. Last night was similar in terms of the number of people about, and I did played some instrumental pieces during my second set which I don’t very often do.

Yesterday evening (after a day of lovely weather) there was another beautiful sunset but unfortunately I couldn’t take any photos of it as I was playing at the time.

Monday 13th August 2007

11:03 p.m. BST Last night was much better than the two previous nights. The evening in general flowed well, the audience was quite appreciative throughout and there were a few people who stayed until the end. One of them was a young German lad who had been in on Thursday night (who had stayed throughout the evening then as well!) and he made a few requests, some of which I knew and played. I didn’t get many requests apart from that but things went well all the same. I rounded off the evening by playing The Scientist by Coldplay, which I hadn’t played for a while.

Today I had been intending to go to Rotterdam (which would have meant having to get up very early to catch the coach!), but I had forgotten that there was boat drill this morning. Instead, since it was a nice day I cycled down to Oostvorne and back with Michelle (the children’s host) this afternoon. I didn’t manage to take many photos, but I did get a few, including these ones of a typical Dutch house (we passed many similar constructions on the way), and a stretch of water called Brielse Meer. More pictures on my web-space.

Oostvorne itself was not like I had imagined it to be, I was thinking along the lines of a quaint rural old village with lots of run-down buildings, but as it turns out it was actually a fairly modern looking small town (in fact, a lot of the architecture didn’t look to be more than about forty years old), with a busy main street with plenty of shops. It only took about 45 minutes to get there by bike so I might go back there some time to get some more photos.

It seems that the vigorous exercise paid off, as I had an even better night tonight, I felt that I played and sang very well (though I say so myself!) and the audience were very appreciative as a result. I decided to start off my 9 o’clock set by playing instrumentals, as I often do, to warm myself and the crowd up. During my break I had been drinking a cup of tea, and I put the empty cup on the side of the piano when I had finished. One guy must have thought I had put it there to collect change as he dropped some money into it as he was on his way out!

I played a more diverse range of songs tonight than I usually do, including some old rhythm and blues (by Billy Taylor), and some classical, namely the theme tune from the film The Piano, which had been requested by one young lad. I don’t get many requests from the younger generation so that made a nice change. The mixture of material seemed to go down very well and keep the audience attentive.

I managed to solve the mystery of the disappearing passengers on Friday and Saturday night. There wasn’t much of a mystery involved actually – I think a lot of people had been drawn down to the show-bar by the live shows that Gareth put on with the band both nights (they did a Blues Brothers theme on Friday, and a ‘Back to School’ theme on Saturday).

For some unknown reason I have allowed myself to be coerced into going paintballing tomorrow with the rest of the entertainments team (the whole lot in fact, even the croupiers). I have never been before so it should be interesting, hoping I won’t get too bruised, stained, or injured…

Tuesday 14th August 2007

4:07 p.m. BST Well I'm back in one piece, with a few minor bruises, but it had been raining so I was soaked from the waist down when we had finished. There were only six of us in the end but it was still good fun, and I would probably go again.

Footnote: 'het onderzoeken door fiets' means 'exploring by bicycle'.

tractors, buses and trains

2007-08-10T12:36:00.000+01:00

Thursday 9th August 2007

8:05 p.m. CET Yesterday evening was a bit slow at the outset, but at the beginning of my second vocal set I decided to play some more up-tempo numbers which were well received and I did a fairly good job of winning over the audience. Not least of which was a fairly large group of Germans sat opposite me, who were making requests throughout the evening and stayed until the end. During my last set I played Autumn Leaves and a couple were dancing.

It’s not anywhere near as busy tonight, although the numbers will probably pick up later on. On the whole I expect a slightly more laid-back evening.

Decided not to go out today as it was rather grey, cold, wet and windy all day. Hoping for more agreeable conditions soon so that I can resume my familiarisation with the local area, and possibly venture further afield!

Friday 10th August 2007

10:41 a.m. BST Last night turned out to be a bit busier than I was expecting, given that the passenger numbers were not huge, but nonetheless it was still a steady night and a good one. There were the usual quota of groups and couples in throughout the evening, some of which made requests. Also last night and the night before I finished with people still wanting more, which was positive.

I think the highlight of the evening for me was overhearing a conversation behind me between one couple and their young son, who I would guess to have been about four, during which he said “Jesus did, Jesus walked on water!” To hear a declaration of faith from someone so young, especially in this day in age, was both moving and encouraging.

12:16 p.m. BST As the port is responsible for freight as well as passenger transport, I often see some unusual and sometimes bizarre objects dotted about. A lot of it tends to be farming machinery, earlier this year when I was on the Bruges I spotted a rather odd looking contraption sat waiting to be loaded (and just to add to the randomness, with a green open-topped bus behind it). And today there was a row of tractors also sat lined up impatiently waiting to be swallowed into the bowels of the ship (or they may have just been ejected from them actually). As with the bus, the objects are not always farming related. Today as I was making my way through the freight park, I noticed what seemed like a carriage from a tram or an airport monorail.

foreign affair

2007-08-08T14:17:00.000+01:00

Tuesday 7th August 2007

4:49 p.m. CET Last night went well, it was rather busy with a few large groups in, and I had a stream of requests. There was one group of Dutch people sat behind me for most of the evening, and for a while during my second vocal set they were all stood behind me singing along like backing singers for a few of the numbers! Having had a request for Neil Diamond earlier I decided on a whim to play Sweet Caroline for the first time, which went down well. By the end of my last set there were still a few of the Dutch group left, along with a few other couples dotted about who were receptive.

It has been quite a sunny afternoon in Holland today, but not as warm or bright as Sunday which seemed almost tropical. A bit of a shame to be stuck on board again really, I’m hoping to do some more exploring during this contract, as I might not be returning until October when conditions are likely to be a bit more unreliable.

I made a brief excursion down to the newly-refurbished Seaman’s Mission yesterday, and it has been quite extensively improved. Quite a relief not to have to sit in a damp cupboard cramped up against other ship workers jostling for space!

Wednesday 8th August 2007

12:28 p.m. BST Some evenings in the piano bar are very enjoyable, others feel like more of a chore, and last night fit into the latter category. However, there was a group of scouts in (not talent scouts unfortunately, I mean the Baden-Powell variety!) who were quite good-humoured and were making several requests throughout the evening. On the whole not the best night though.

return to rotterdam

2007-08-06T12:25:00.000+01:00

Monday 6th August 2007

11:20 a.m. BST I am back on the Rotterdam again, earlier than expected, for a two-week stretch this time, and as Tim has gone to work on a cruise-ship it looks like we won’t be rotating.

I came back on Saturday, and it has been business as usual so far, nothing extraordinary to report, although I did have a good first night, with a steady number of people in throughout the evening, and a warm reception throughout. Last night was fairly unremarkable, although there were a few groups who stayed for most of the evening who seemed appreciative.

happy birthday

2007-07-16T23:23:00.001+01:00

Monday 16th July 2007

11:24 p.m. My blog is one year old today!

another grand finale

2007-07-02T11:17:00.000+01:00

Saturday 30th June 2007

4:48 p.m. CET Last night was again rather quiet for a Friday, but it seemed to fly past. Not a particularly outstanding evening although there were several people that came and went throughout the evening who appeared to be enjoying my playing. After I had finished I stayed for about half an hour and chatted to two women who had been sat listening nearby.

I have now done the majority of my packing, and I’m just in the process of making the last few preparations for the off tomorrow.

I would say I have progressed since starting work on this ship. My playing and singing have both improved, I have added several new songs to my repertoire, plus I have gained some experience of dealing with generally tougher (and in some cases hostile!) audiences. Generally though I think I have been quite fortunate; the majority of people I have encountered have been pleasant.

Monday 2nd July 2007

11:18 a.m. BST Am back home now. Saturday night was a bit odd too but it ended very well. From time to time we really do get some characters wandering through the bar. During my second set a guy came up and asked me where I was from, and when I told him I was from the UK, he said “Oh, that’s where I’m going” (the ship was bound for Hull at the time), then told me “I’ve just been to a big music store in Germany. It had a lot of instruments in it. Good night!”

Later on there was a large group of students in, and my last set unfolded in a way that was reminiscent of 28th May (just after I had started on the Rotterdam); instead of winding down I played several up-beat numbers, plus some songs I don’t very often play which went down very well, most notably This Love by Maroon 5, Still Haven’t Found (What I’m Looking For) by U2, and This Is The Last Time by Keane.

As it was the last night on-board for both Marie and myself, and also it was Teddy’s birthday (the bassist and vocalist from the band), there was a big group of us who stayed up very late in the crew lounge. I got up yesterday morning with only just enough time to pack the rest of my stuff and leave!

As I was on the way out I met my replacement, who was a guy called Daniel who will be filling in for a week until Tim goes back on-board.

I have still to confirm my next contract, but it’s looking like I will probably be returning to the Rotterdam on 20th August.

not long now

2007-06-29T12:41:00.000+01:00

Thursday 28th June 2007

4:38 p.m. CET Probably the oddest (not to mention challenging) night on this ship so far last night. Firstly, it was extremely busy, which is very unusual for a Wednesday, which has typically been the quietest night of the week. Secondly, the audience reception was no better than luke-warm until the end of my penultimate set, which wasn’t helped by a couple of drunken morons who were heckling and being rather abrasive, although I quickly mollified them. Fortunately there was a large English group of students in for most of the evening, who were appreciative and were making requests. There were also a few other groups in who were attentive and asking for songs, one of which was Bed Of Roses which I hadn’t played for a long time, and it went down well. During my last set, one couple danced along to Girl From Ipanema. I also did my most bizarre dedication for one song (in response to a request) which was ‘to the guy who breeds ducks’.

One consolation to the evening was that there was some great scenery, firstly just after sunset when we had just passed Spurn Head, and later after I had finished when I was stood on deck, the sky was clear, and the moon hung low in the sky, reflecting brightly on the sea, which I haven’t seen much this time round.

Friday 29th June 2007

12:40 p.m. BST Had a much better night last night, it was less busy in general, and the piano bar was steady all night. The same group of students were in who had been in the night before, and I played several requests for them, as well as a few for some other groups.

Fortunately the sea has been a bit calmer during the last round-trip, so no repeat of Tuesday night.

Looking forward to going home

countdown

2007-06-27T11:44:00.000+01:00

Tuesday 26th June 2007

3:06 p.m. CET What I didn’t mention when updating my blog yesterday was that I was utterly drenched, owing to the torrential rain that has affected all of Humberside. It was so severe that I was already soaking by the time I had reached the freight terminal, which is literally just round the corner from the ship. It got to the stage where I admitted defeat and waded defiantly through enormous puddles regardless of the consequences. I was quite relieved when returning to the ship, and felt much better after a hot shower and a change of clothes. The lengths I will go to for free internet access! (This is small beer compared to the devastation that has struck some parts of the UK in the last 24 hours though, particularly Sheffield. On reflection I think I got off lightly!)

Yesterday evening was a pleasant night, there was a group of German students who were sat nearby for most of the evening, who were very appreciative, and made several requests. Was a refreshing change from the last couple of weeks, where the majority of the audiences have consisted of older people.

After lunch today I made a start on packing. I have to say that for the first time since beginning work on the ferries, I am feeling slightly reluctant to leave my cabin, the narrow rectangular dwelling which has been my temporary home for what will (by the time I leave) have been forty nights. Still, all being well I will be able to return to it in a matter of a few weeks time.

8:20 p.m. CET It seems that Sky News, in their haste to broadcast coverage of the widespread flooding that has occurred, may not have been vetting their contributions from the public quite as stringently as they would perhaps otherwise do. Apparently earlier, one presenter read out a text message that they had received live on air that read ‘The Bransholme area of Hull is now completely underwater. Now no-one is able to get in or out. This is probably a good thing.’

Wednesday 27th June 2007

11:45 a.m. Not the most eventful night last night; it never really got going properly, although there were a few people who were making appreciative noises. The sea was rough for the first time in a few weeks, and a lot of people went to bed early (Last night during my second set I thought of playing 'A Life On The Ocean Wave' for the comedy value, but I decided against it). Unfortunately this affected me too, and I was given to another short bout of sea-sickness. Fortunately I managed to sleep through the rest of the roughness, and felt fine when waking this morning. The weather seems to have improved since Monday, it's dry and bright at the moment. Not sure how long it will last, but having looked at the weather forecast I think I'll have to make the most of it!

Only two more round-trips to go now...

distinguished visitor

2007-06-25T11:18:00.000+01:00

Sunday 24th June 2007

5:26 p.m. CET The last few nights haven’t exactly been monumental but not the worst either. On Thursday there was one group in for the whole evening (who I later found out were from Worksop) who I was chatting to and had some banter with, and although they were rather merry towards the end of the evening, they were good fun and singing along to most of the songs. I also had some positive comments relating to my playing and my singing, and about a dozen requests, which was good. Also, one chap was asking if it was possible to get hold of a recording of me playing which was very encouraging!

Friday night was typically busy, and had a fairly good night, with the same group from the night before back on, and also a group of Germans sat nearby who were very appreciative. Had quite a few requests again, including some for some more obscure / complex material - one chap who asked for the 18th variation of the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, which needless to say I had to decline…

Last night was quite busy too, but didn’t really feel like a weekend eve, like many weekends of late. Had a slight complication early on in the form of the bar staff who were interfering with the volume controls seemingly at will, but I managed to swiftly correct both. Played a couple of numbers which I don’t perform very often, such as From A Distance, which seemed to go down especially well, and I played You Do Something To Me again, which yielded positive remarks. I had a fright later on when I was just about to launch into Let It Be, when just at that moment a guy walked past me who was the spitting image of Paul McCartney. Fortunately I discovered it wasn’t him, which was probably just as well, as I’m not sure what he would have said had it been the real Macca (plus I reasoned that the likelihood of him being on a P&O ferry was very slim indeed).

Gareth’s last night for a week tonight, and Marie will be covering for him once again. By the time he gets back next Sunday I will have already left, this being my last week on board, until my next contract (which all being well, should be back on this ship).

11:50 p.m. BST Again this evening was not exactly outstanding, but it was still a fairly good night. It was fairly busy, and the reception was quite warm all evening. Being a Sunday it was quite a laid-back affair (as is often the case), and for the first time I think I played as many standards as I did regular pop tunes. I had quite a few requests, including one for Dolly Parton which was a first! (I have yet to add any of her material to my repertoire…)

princess

2007-06-21T10:38:00.000+01:00

Wednesday 20th June 2007

4:32 p.m. CET Sunday night was almost entirely uneventful. Monday night wasn’t much better, although there was one group sat fairly nearby who were appreciative and were making requests, despite their increasing rowdiness as the evening drew on. For some reason, last night the sound system, which had been fine for a couple of weeks, decided that it was going to refuse to work, so I spent quite a while trying to rectify the problem, which I eventually managed to do, and the evening went fairly well after that.

The weather is excellent here in Holland today, which is more than could be said for last night; just after we had left the harbour in Hull there was a gigantic thunderstorm which made the one in Europort the other week seem like an April shower. Saw some spectacular fork-lightning over Grimsby, and it seemed the cloud was following us as the storm continued well into my third set. It did die out however, although the torrential rain continued, to the extent of flooding the ironically-named ‘Sun Deck’. It’s a shame I was playing at the time of the storm, as I would have liked to have watched it more attentively, and possibly tried getting some photos or short video footage.

Yesterday it was four weeks since I began work on the Rotterdam. The time has flown by, more so than on any of my previous contracts, which was probably helped by the fact that I have kept myself busy with one thing and another. Looking back this is definitely the best ship to work on out of the four (apart from the food, although this does now seem to be steadily improving). By the time my contract has finished, this will be the first time I will have worked every night for a whole month continuously.

11:34 p.m. BST Again quite a relaxed evening this evening. Once again I played all standards during my first (instrumental) set, which went down well, particularly with a group of friendly Spaniards who were sat behind me. My vocal sets went well too, I didn’t have many requests, but I had several people coming up making positive comments.

Just before my 10:15 set I was stood on deck as not only was there an awe-inspiring sunset, but also the Grand Princess had just left her berth in Rotterdam and was on her way out to sea, and she passed us on the channel. I managed to get a picture of her just before the batteries on my camera ran out, it’s a bit blurred but you can make it out. (That black blob to the left of her hull is a tug boat).

We caught up with her just as we were leaving the mouth of the harbour, and we went past her at close range. She really did look amazing, from what I saw (which admittedly wasn’t much), there was an oddly-shaped observation deck at the back, and there was also an open-air cinema on the roof.

I forgot to mention earlier that I had a chat with Gareth this afternoon, and he is keen for me to come back after this contract, and possibly rotate with Tim, the other pianist, who has been working on and off this ship for a while.

Thursday 21st June 2007

10:43 a.m. BST Today is the longest day!

Last night Gareth and I were looking at a map of Europort, and he pointed out a small town just up the coast to the North with a rather amusing name…

bar buzz

2007-06-17T12:22:00.000+01:00

Saturday 16th June 2007

1:35 p.m. CET Last night was a fairly average kind of evening, not really a typical Friday, until the latter half of my last set, when rather than playing a couple of light instrumentals and then sidling out the door, things gained momentum, I had two encores and several words of praise afterwards, so altogether quite an unusual sort of night, but nevertheless a good one.

One chap who approached me afterwards was a Dutch musician and music producer who amongst other things has written music for films.

Last night after I had finished I went out on deck and for the first time in a long while it was clear and I was able to get a good view of the night sky, and the lights of the Norfolk coast in the distance. More often than not, recently by the time we have set sail, there has either been thick fog, heavy rain, or both, which have usually persisted throughout the night.

Sunday 17th June 2007

11:24 a.m. BST As I’ve mentioned in previous entries, some weekend evenings tend to have a party-type atmosphere, and last evening was no exception. Had a warm reception from the audience throughout. Played five up-beat numbers on the trot during my penultimate set, which was the most I have played in succession for a while and they were all well received. One of which I hadn’t played before, namely Stuck In The Middle. Had several requests during my last set, so many in fact that I only ended up playing a couple of the songs that I had previously picked out!

another acquaintance

2007-06-15T11:58:00.000+01:00

Friday 15th June 2007

10:56 a.m. BST The last couple of nights have been a bit more of a challenge. Wednesday night I played mostly standards during my instrumental set which seemed to go down well. Later on the bar was fairly busy but the audience were slow to acclimatise. Last night was again quite slow-going at first, but generally more positive, with a few attentive groups and couples throughout. I played a couple of new songs, including Sunshine Of My Life (Stevie Wonder) and You Do Something To Me (Paul Weller).

One of the managers from Live Business, Dave Taylor, was on-board last night. Was good to meet him finally, and he spent some time in the piano bar last night and gave me some positive feedback later, which was encouraging.

apprise

2007-06-13T12:19:00.000+01:00

Tuesday 12th June 2007

4:38 p.m. CET Had a good night last night. Things were a bit slow-moving at first, but the numbers quickly picked up, as did the audience’s reception. There were several groups and couples who stayed for most (if not all) of the evening, and a few requests, including some from a couple who I later discovered were from Cracow. Two middle-aged women who had been sat behind me listening intently all evening, stayed until the end and were full of praise afterwards.

As part of my musical research, I sometimes read up on various musicians and artists on the internet. Was reading about Burt Bacharach on Wikipedia earlier on. What a career! He must be one of the most prolific song-writers of all time. You can find the article I was reading on him here. Quite inspiring stuff.

Wednesday 13th June 2007

11:10 a.m. Yesterday evening was typically quiet for a midweek, but I didn’t mind as I was still slightly under the weather. Still had a warm reception though, despite playing instrumentals for the first half of the evening. Needless to say I finished early again.

I have just finished reading ‘A Short History of Nearly Everything’ by Bill Bryson (thanks to Lewis for the recommendation). Was thoroughly enjoyable, but also an eye-opener, learned some astonishing things about nature which I never knew, and it also contained some salient points about the (sometimes catastrophic) effects of our presence on the earth and the environment. Well worth a read.

acquaintances

2007-06-11T13:09:00.000+01:00

Friday 8th June 2007

8:16 p.m. CET Both Tuesday night and Wednesday night were fairly uneventful, especially Wednesday, I think I only sang about eleven songs in total (which was the fewest for a while), the rest were instrumental. I finished early both nights. Last night was more like a weekend, there were plenty of people in the show lounge and the piano bar throughout the evening. There was a group of about a dozen older people in for the first half of the evening who were very appreciative, and there were a few other couples and smaller groups dotted about who were making requests later on. Played my rendition of Penny Lane for the first time, which went down particularly well. One chap also requested Song for Guy; it was the first time I played for several months but I managed to play it all the way through without any problems. Had a few compliments afterwards, which was encouraging, as it’s nice to know that people are grateful even if I don’t always get consistent applause.

There seems to be a good mixture of people in tonight, different ages and backgrounds. Time to start compiling my songs for this evening…

11:53 p.m. BST Had quite a good night tonight. There was a group of older people in again this evening (in fact I think it might have been the same lot from last night), and this time they stayed until the end. There were plenty of other people in too, and I had a warm reception throughout, and several requests.

Yesterday afternoon while I was using my laptop in my cabin I noticed that a new wireless network called ‘internet@sea’ had appeared. I managed to connect to it, but when I tried to load any web-pages I was forwarded to a login page. Later on I asked about it at reception but they didn’t seem to know anything about it. Still, it would be good to have internet access on the ship, particularly while at sea! I’m hoping that it’s a new thing which they are planning to roll out to everybody (certainly it appears to be new).

Sunday 10th June 2007

4:11 p.m. CET Last night was predictably busy, although early on in the evening I became afflicted with a sore throat so I was unable to sing. Nevertheless I played a variety of material, and later on in the evening I had people singing along to the some of the more up-beat tunes. I finished early again.

I was hoping to go down to the Seafarer’s Centre on this (the Europort) side this afternoon, to swim and possibly investigate the internet facilities, but as I was still feeling rough this morning I decided to stay on-board.

I’m not sure if I’ll be up to a night of singing tonight either, but I should be able to manage at least a few vocal numbers.

Monday 11th June 2007

12:46 p.m. BST Despite still suffering I managed to sing a fair bit last night, and had a pretty good night. A couple were sat nearby who had been in on Thursday night, so I chatted to them and they made a few requests, along with several others who were dotted about. Again had a few words of thanks afterwards from different people which was positive.

Earlier on I got an e-mail from Mathias, who was working as resident pianist on the Rotterdam when I was working on the York last year. His latest gig involves playing the piano aboard some kind of luxury cruise boat on the Danube!

Today Gareth (the Ent’s manager) is celebrating his birthday (Happy Birthday G!) so we are going for a meal somewhere later on. Great weather for it too, it’s excellent here in Hull today.

another u.s.o. (unidentified sailing object)

2007-06-05T14:11:00.000+01:00

Monday 4th June 2007

5:13 p.m. CET A bit of a difficult night last night, with many large groups of older Europeans; a bit of a tough crowd to entertain. I did get a visitation by some familiar faces however, in the form of some crew members from the York who were on-board, who I hadn’t seen since November. The bar was virtually empty by the middle of my last set, so I finished early again.

Continuing my theme of strange marine vessels which I began back in February when I was on the Pride of Hull, the other day while docked in Holland (in superb weather) I was doing some practice late in the afternoon and notice what appeared to be a oddly-shaped crane mounted on a ship making its way down the channel towards the sea. I went out on deck by the time it had come into view, and managed to get a picture of it. It’s a bit blurred as it was still some distance away, but you can still make it out.

Tuesday 5th June 2007

1:24 p.m. BST Yesterday evening was a nice relaxed affair, so much so that I played mostly laid-back jazz numbers in my first set, with a fair bit of improvisation, which I have been doing more since the start of this contract. During my second set I also performed Tiny Dancer by Elton John, which I have just learned. It was quiet again by my last set and I wound up early by playing some instrumentals.

la natation

2007-06-03T15:32:00.000+01:00

Saturday 2nd June 2007

5:50 p.m. CET Yesterday evening was remarkably quiet considering it was an outward journey from Hull on a Friday, which tends to be the busiest of the week. The show-lounge wasn’t really a hive of activity either. Although it wasn’t the most fulfilling of evenings, I decided that I wanted to play some material which I hadn’t done for a while, to name a few, The First Time (Ever) I Saw Your Face by Roberta Flack, A Little Respect (by Erasure, my own piano interpretation), and Everything She Does Is Magic by the Police, which went down well. I also played Little Wing by Jimi Hendrix (loosely based on the Sting version), which went quite well although most people had left by then.

It turns out that the swimming pool at the Seafarer’s Centre on this (the Dutch) side is only free to use at weekends, so I cycled down there again today. I was pleased to find that the pool and the garden it backed onto were both almost deserted, apart from the band leader who also goes there on weekends. It was lovely weather, warm with a breeze which was rustling through the tall trees lining the hotel garden. After doing some swimming I sat for a while soaking up the sun and enjoying the calm atmosphere.

Sunday 3rd June 2007

12:53 p.m. BST Despite being a Saturday, last night too seemed a bit quieter than usual for a weekend, although I still had a good night and a warm receptive audience which was the first since Monday. Had many requests, including some for artists that I don’t get asked for very often, such as The Beach Boys and Pat Boon! Since being on this ship the requests I have had have generally been more diverse than previously. Plenty to get my teeth in to for my next bout of musical research!

het onderzoeken

2007-06-01T12:23:00.000+01:00

Thursday 31st May 2007

4:12 p.m. CET Had a steady night last night, which was a welcome interlude from the busy nights of late. Despite it not being especially busy, there were a few couples who were requesting songs and stayed until the end.

The weather has been superb today, after lunch one of the guys from the band lent me his bicycle and after making my way through the freight terminal and exploring the port a bit, I rode down the path between the canal and the main road just outside the port for a couple of miles or so, passing several aerogenerators, peering down on the passing traffic from behind the trees like giant alien observers, and I also saw several big barges, some of them being shunted by tug boats down the canal. I stopped at what appeared at first glance to be an orchard, but after closer investigation it seemed to be more of an abandoned picnic area, which had become overrun by rabbits.

Having examined a map of the local area I now know that the harbour that houses the mooring for P&O Ferries is called Beneluxhaven, and the nearest settlement to the port is a place called Kruiningergors, which is only actually a couple of kilometres away. The nearest town is Oostvoorne, which is about twice that distance (as the crow flies), but would be fairly accessible on a bike. I think I will make a trip down there sometime, but I think that would be more of a day out rather than an afternoon amble.

As well as getting some fresh air and some exercise, and familiarising myself with the surrounding area, one other advantage to my small-scale expedition was stumbling across the Seafarer’s Centre, which is at a hotel not far away. Apparently they have a swimming pool which is free to use, so I will definitely be making use of that at some point during the next week or so.

Friday 1st June 2007

11:12 a.m. BST Not the most satisfying of nights last night, although it was very busy and there were people listening and making requests, the evening didn’t flow all that well, not least during the first part of the evening, when attention was diverted by an enormous thunderstorm that rolled overhead just before our departure from Europort. Before my 9 o’clock set I was stood in the doorway of the crew deck and witnessed some pretty spectacular lightning and very loud thunder. During my first vocal set I saw the sunset on the horizon, despite the huge thundercloud, which was quite an unusual and extraordinary sight. Later on during my break, after we had left the port and were out in open sea, I was watching the storm which was still very active on the horizon, with the clouds occasionally glowing and flickering silver and gold.

It wasn’t until getting ready for work yesterday evening that I noticed that I had been rather badly sun-burnt during my cycling expedition! Fortunately it wasn’t too painful and it has now largely faded.

Footnote: I have just been reading an article about Europort on Wikipedia which claims that the Pride of Rotterdam and Pride of Hull are the largest passenger ferries in the world!

Footnote 2: 'het onderzoeken' is Dutch for 'exploring'. In case you didn't know.

rejuvenated

2007-05-30T12:59:00.000+01:00

Wednesday 30th May 2007

11:40 a.m. BST Had an excellent night on Monday night. It was an average kind of evening until about half way through, when I started to get several requests and as I played them things gathered momentum. There was a group of young lads sat nearby who were requesting loads of different material, most of which was unsuitable (e.g. Van Halen), but I did end up doing a rather energetic rendition of Clocks by Coldplay, and an off-the-cuff impromptu interpretation of Take On Me by A-Ha. I also played Suspicious Minds, and there were a few women sat behind me singing in harmony. I had a mixed audience, with some Dutch and German as well as English people listening and asking for songs. I had three encores, and even had applause when I finished which is very rare!

Despite last night being very busy indeed, it was a more of a sedate affair in the piano bar, although I did end up playing a couple of upbeat numbers. There were a lot of German passengers who (as I’ve mentioned before) tend to be quite a difficult audience to entertain, but there were also some people in from the previous night, who made requests and were appreciative.

The weather has improved during the last couple of nights, and the sea has generally been a bit calmer, hence no repeat of Sunday night, fortunately…

Marie, the relief Ent’s manager, gets off today and Gareth will be resuming his position in residence.

from one extreme to another

2007-05-28T14:08:00.000+01:00

Sunday 27th May 2007

5:57 p.m. CET Last night was definitely the most successful of the week, I had a warm reception throughout the evening, and people singing along to several of the numbers. Mid-way through the evening I asked for requests and about five people came over which was very encouraging. I got chatting to a couple of groups who were sat behind me, and a few more who were drifting in and out throughout the night. It was also the first time since I have been on here that the small circular dance-floor in front of the piano (which only features on the two larger ships) got any proper use. During my second set, a group of Dutch people requested Yellow Submarine, which I (slightly reluctantly) agreed to play, and they responded by instigating some rather erratic dancing. During my last set one couple requested Autumn Leaves, which I played with a sort of gentle Latin feel, and they did a slow dance along to it. I rounded the night off by playing Nightswimming by REM (which had also been requested), followed by Candle In The Wind as an encore. I played thirty songs in total (not counting instrumentals), which is the most I have played in one evening for a few months.

Monday 28th May 2007

12:54 p.m. BST A bit of an odd night last night, to start with some gremlins seemed to have crept into the sound system again so I was without vocals for my 9 o’clock set, but it was just as well, as we had left Europort earlier than usual so it was still light, hence the piano lounge (being the right at the top of the ship, with its panoramic view) became more of an observation deck, and there were lots of people milling in and out. I managed to get things back to relatively normal by my penultimate set, and although I did get a few requests and a few people singing along to some of the numbers, it wasn’t my best night.

Unfortunately the worst was yet to come as the boat was subject to some considerable movement during the night, and I suffered a rather severe bout of sea-sickness. Usually it doesn’t affect me but there was something about the way it was last night which seemed to throw me off balance.

a life on the ocean stave

2007-05-26T12:13:00.000+01:00

Thursday 24th May 2007

5:22 p.m. GMT I am sitting typing this in my cabin having just done my first two nights aboard the Pride of Rotterdam, the other of the two P&O ships covering the Hull to Rotterdam route. My first couple of nights went quite well, although the first night was a bit of a struggle, as is often the case, the sound system wasn’t performing as well as I could have hoped, but I spent an hour yesterday sorting it out and it is sounding pretty good now.

Saturday 26th May 2007

11:06 a.m. It seems I ended my last entry rather abruptly, I think I ran out of time! As you’d probably be able to work out from the dates I have done another round-trip since then, but I’ll try and carry on from where I left off…

I have several new songs in my repertoire since my last contract, which I have been including in my sets since coming on-board. During the first round-trip I played I Wish I Knew (How It Would Feel To Be Free) by the Billy Taylor Trio (more commonly known as the theme tune to the BBC’s Film programme), Better Be Home Soon by Crowded House, The Way You Look Tonight (old jazz standard), and during the last round-trip I also played Handbags and Gladrags by the Stereophonics, She’s Always A Woman To Me by Billy Joel, and Unforgettable, another jazz ballad. I’ve got several more new songs in the pipeline.

Generally the audiences have been a bit reticent during the week, but last night was probably the best so far. There were several attentive groups and couples sat nearby throughout the evening, and I had many requests.

As it is early summer the sea has generally been very calm, with the only exception being some slight movement during the first few hours of last night’s crossing. As before when I was on the Hull, we don’t leave until later (usually 9pm from Hull, and up to 10:15 p.m. from Europort), and I hear that we tend to arrive around 7am each morning, not that I have ever been up to witness that!

Gareth is resident Entertainments Manager on this ship, although he is currently on a week’s break (he got off after I had done just one round-trip), so the new relief Ent’s manager Marie (who coincidentally is also from Nottingham) is covering.

During my induction on Thursday we were taken up to the bridge, which seemed even more high-tech than the one on the York.

Apparently the Seafarer’s Mission on the port has been closed, hence why it has taken me longer than expected to update my blog. In a moment I am going to investigate to see if their wireless network is still operational. If not I think I will either have to go hunting for hot-spots this afternoon!

12:16 p.m. Update: the Seafarer's Mission is indeed closed, but their wireless network still appears to be very much operational, hence how I have managed to publish this! No jaunt into town necessary.

new web-site

2007-04-16T12:13:00.000+01:00

Monday 16th April 2007

12:13 p.m. I have a new web-site. The address is:

http://www.charles-music.co.uk/

There's just a placeholder there at the moment, but during the next few weeks I'm hoping to add various things to it, such as demos, promo material, sample repertoire, and eventually I'm hoping to make a showreel which will be available for download.

the rough and the smooth

2007-03-24T11:39:00.000Z

Wednesday 21st March 2007

12:05 p.m. CET On Sunday night I decided to do something original and play all of my instrumental pieces during my first set in the key of C. Nobody seemed to notice! Later on there were two couples in who were very attentive, and were making plenty of requests. One of the couples were mostly asking for Billy Joel numbers, some of which I knew and played. Both couples returned on Monday night, which was busier and as such there was more of an atmosphere in the bar. Not the most attentive audience, but New York State Of Mind was particularly well received.

Like many mid-week evenings, last night started off being quite busy but the number of people in the bar declined throughout the evening, and by the end there were only a few people left, including one chap I got chatting to who had been sat nearby for most of the evening and was very supportive.

The current spell of bad weather has produced rough seas and freezing temperatures over the last few nights. Early on Tuesday morning I got woken up by one of the drawers in my cabin flying open, and various other items falling over or rolling about. Yesterday while we were docked in Hull we had hail, sleet and snow showers, at times quite heavy, unfortunately I got caught in one of them and got drenched. Last night when we had left the Humber the ship was rocking wildly, which made walking in a straight line very difficult. However by the time I went to bed it had improved slightly.

Jo, who was working as the children’s entertainer on the York last year, is in Hull for a few days, I got to see her for a few hours yesterday afternoon and catch up which was good as I hadn’t seen her since the beginning of November.

Friday 23rd March 2006

3:16 p.m. CET Wednesday night was fairly steady and a few people were in who had been in the previous night, including the same fellow who I mentioned before. There were several school groups on-board again, including one consisting of German students, for whom I did a dedication half-way through the evening. There was also a older couple in who kept buying me (soft) drinks throughout the evening, which I thought was a nice gesture.

Last night was relatively busy with a mixture of people coming and going throughout the evening and only a few groups staying throughout. Had quite a few requests too, and once again Billy Joel seemed to be a recurring choice. I took the opportunity to air some numbers that I hadn’t played for a while, including At My Most Beautiful by REM which went down well.

Early indications are that I may be spending a portion of the summer working on the Pride of Rotterdam, the sister ship of the Pride of Hull, where I was working for a couple of weeks back at the end of January.

11:18 p.m. GMT It’s been a while since I did an entry during the evening while at sea, so I thought I’d take the opportunity. Had a good night tonight, the best of the week so far in fact, it was busy for most of the evening, with most tables occupied until my last set. Had several requests, and a receptive audience throughout which was the first for a while. There were several Germans in the bar, including a group of young ladies who sat nearby for most of the evening singing along to most of the songs which helped to keep things lively! Also there was a couple sat by the piano until quite late, who were listening intently.

I managed to get hold of a photo of the helicopter that came to airlift someone to hospital last Saturday morning, from the communal computer in the crew mess.

Saturday 24th March 2007

12:44 a.m. GMT Was out on deck just now, and saw the orange crescent moon hanging low in the sky, reflecting on the sea. Quite a sight, especially as I hadn’t seen the moon at night for a few weeks.

11:44 a.m. GMT The sea has been a bit calmer the last couple of nights. Still a bit rocky, but nowhere near the level of Monday night.

party time

2007-03-18T12:58:00.000Z

Sunday 18th March 2007

10:25 a.m. GMT I awoke an hour ago to find that we were still sailing, but when I looked outside I saw that we were already on the Humber and nearing the lock and the harbour. It reminded me of when we were stuck on the river on the York last November, which coincidentally was also the time when the couple were on who I mentioned a few days ago.

Another outward sailing from Hull on Friday night and as such was expectedly busy, and mid-way through the evening became rather rowdy so I decided to lift the lid of the piano, and play several more upbeat numbers, including Great Balls of Fire which I rarely do but it went down a storm and I even had cheers afterwards! I also played River Of Dreams which was well received.

Last night was still fairly busy but generally a quieter night and so more laid back. Had an appreciative audience throughout, and some requests. Played Video Killed The Radio Star for the first time in a while, which seemed to be a popular choice. Not the most eventful night I have had recently, but a good one none the less.

I was woken up early yesterday morning by a helicopter which I later learned had come to rescue another unwell passenger. Doesn’t happen very often so to get two in the space of a month is quite unusual!

Only four more round-trips to go now. This contract has been going fairly quickly, and has been a lot less arduous than my last contract on the York last year. Also I think it was helped by having a night off a week after I came on-board, and several quiet nights throughout.

familiar faces

2007-03-16T12:52:00.000Z

Thursday 15th March 2007

1:49 p.m. CET There weren’t many people in the bar last night but those that were there seemed rather enthusiastic, in fact I had already had three requests before I sat down to play! Started off by playing mostly pop but as the evening progressed I found myself mostly playing jazz. Mid-way through the evening a couple came in who I recognised; they were on the York for a round trip at the beginning of November last year. As before I played You’re A Lady for them, and they were very appreciative. Played a few instrumentals later on in the evening as well, including Ballade Pour Adelaine, and Streets of London.

Friday 16th March 2007

11:27 a.m. GMT Last night was possibly the best I have had since I joined the Bruges a month ago. There was a good atmosphere in the bar the whole evening, it wasn’t too busy or too quiet, I had several requests throughout the evening (again I had some even before I had started playing!) and most of the people there were attentive. The proceedings flowed nicely and people were singing along to some of the songs which is always a plus. Played a couple of numbers that I don’t tend to do regularly, namely Man On The Moon, and Bright Eyes, which both seemed popular with the audience. Rounded off by playing Summertime (which was also a request from the same group who were in the night before), then I did Bridge Over Troubled Water and Yesterday as encores, which also went well. Was the first time this week that I did a full last set. Even after I had played my very last song people were still asking for more.

Last night’s success was very timely, after what had been a bit of a mixed week. It’s always nice to know when people have appreciated what I do, it makes it all seem more worthwhile.

And on that note, apparently the General Manager gave Kieran some good feedback about me earlier in the week, saying that he thought I was doing a good job, and that he had noticed that there were often several people in the piano bar after eleven o’clock; that must be a fairly new thing.

There was a spectacular sunset in Zeebrugge last night (even more so than Sunday’s), I took some photos of it which came out quite well, but don’t quite do it justice, as it looked more breath-taking to the naked eye. Here is one of them.

red sky at night...

2007-03-14T11:04:00.000Z

Wednesday 14th March 2007

10:18 a.m. GMT Monday night was fairly uneventful, except for later on when a lively group of Liverpudlians came into the bar and were requesting several numbers. Also there was a group of Germans sat nearby who stayed for most of the evening, and were making requests too.

Last night was slightly busier and the audience was more receptive. I played The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face by Roberta Flack for the first time which went well, although I think it was lost on a few people.

Mathias, who was the resident pianist on the Pride of Rotterdam for most of the second half of last year, has been on-board for the last couple of nights, to see his girlfriend who also works on this ship. Was good to see him and catch up, since I hadn’t seen him since my last contract on the York last November.

Last night when I was out on deck I noticed that the sea was almost completely calm, I have only seen it like that once before.

Apparently Peter from Live Business might be making a journey on this ship at some point early next week, which will be handy as it will give me a chance to talk with him about what work they want to offer me once this contract is over.

11:02 a.m. There was an amazing sunset on Monday night, and I took a few photos. I had forgotten to turn the flash off for one of them and I got this rather apocalyptic looking shot as a result. (More on my web-space).

Sun-day

2007-03-12T13:24:00.000Z

Monday 12th March 2007

11:42 a.m. GMT Saturday night was a bit of a struggle as the audience was fairly unresponsive, although there did seem to be a few people listening, and it was a welcome novelty to have Ida there. I didn’t have many requests, but one German bloke did approach me mid-way through the evening and asked if I could play ‘Tie A Ribbon Round The Old Oak Tree’, which needless to say I had to decline.

The weather in Belgium yesterday was heavenly, warm with a cool breeze and no cloud at all, so we decided to go down to Blankenberge for a while. Being a Sunday and sunny the beach was quite busy, and I think it was the first time that I had eaten an ice cream at this time of the year.

Was stood on deck last night before we left, and witnessed a rather dramatic sunset. Being a weekend we left slightly earlier than usual, and as such it was even lighter when we left than the other day.

Last night was a much better night with a lot more responsive audience, played several requests (including Speed of Sound by Coldplay amongst others) and as usual there were some couples and groups that stayed in the bar until the end of the evening.

more mild than wild

2007-03-10T15:09:00.002Z

Friday 9th March 2007

1:02 p.m. CET Wednesday night and last night took on a rather similar format, they started off well but the number of people in the bar gradually declined throughout the evening and by the end there were only a few couples and groups left. Wednesday night I rounded off by playing just instrumentals, but last night I managed to get a bit more audience participation, and I played a string of requests including the jazz standard Autumn Leaves, and a rather flamboyant rendition of the main theme from Phantom Of The Opera which I sang for the first time, which both went down very well.

Again last night felt more like a weekend, and in fact we had more passengers on last night than are due to be on tonight, which is unusual as Thursday is often one of the quietest nights of the week. Having said that, a good proportion of the passengers yesterday were school groups.

When we were leaving the harbour in Zeebrugge on Wednesday evening I noticed that it was still a bit light. Also when I have been on deck the last couple of times on our outward crossings, I noticed that we seemed to be a lot closer to the shore than I can remember seeing before, both on this ship and the York; so much so that it was possible to make out each of the roads from the street-lights.

Yesterday afternoon the weather was quite good so I took a walk down the side of the river, and ended up walking as far as The Deep (which I would guess is about a mile away) and back. Saw a few interesting features along the way, including a derilict pier a little way down from the ferry port (which houses what looks like a the remains of a warehouse and a disused railway siding), and a couple of wrecks a bit further down at Victoria Dock. I took some pictures which I have uploaded to my web-space as per usual. Here are a couple of them.

Saturday 10th March 2007

2:06 p.m. Last night went well, the bar was busy for most of the evening, and I even had a few people singing along to some of the songs including Moon River and Annie’s Song. Apart from that it was a fairly unremarkable night but nevertheless a good one.

It rained heavily yesterday morning in Zeebrugge but in the afternoon it cleared up so I took a walk down to the beach for an hour. It will still quite blustery though and I watched some people wind-surfing.

The weather is fairly mild and sunny today too, and with less wind, hopefully it will stay that way for the next couple of days as Ida is on-board for a round trip.

midweek-end

2007-03-08T11:27:00.000Z

Wednesday 7th March 2007

2:25 p.m. CET Had a much better night last night. The bar was busy, the audience were receptive, and the atmosphere was much more reminiscent of a weekend than a midweek evening (particularly a Tuesday which tends to be one of the quietest nights at this time of year). Another outing for Jessie last night (which I felt I played a bit better than on Saturday), plus a rare opportunity to play No Surprises by Radiohead, which was well received despite the majority of the audience being from the older generation. There was a group sat near me making several requests throughout the night, and afterwards one of the chaps gave me a rather generous tip, which was a real blessing. Also while I was packing up another chap approached me and told me that he had “only popped in for five minutes, and ended up staying for three hours”.

what's on my playlist?

2007-03-06T14:45:00.000Z

On my Napster playlist I currently have:

1. Silence - Delerium
2. Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence (Heart of Asia) - Watergate
3. Ordinary World - Aurora
4. Madame Butterfly - Malcolm McLaren
5. Electricity - Elton John
6. Moon Over Bourbon Street - Sting
7. A Spaceman Came Travelling - Chris De Burgh

a night at the museum

2007-03-06T13:06:00.000Z

Tuesday 6th March 2007

1:16 p.m. Sunday night was fairly quiet and as such my evening took the form of providing background music rather than performing. Still I didn't mind since it gave me the chance to experiment, and play songs less rigidly which was a nice change. Later on in the evening I got chatting to a couple who had been making a few requests, and the guy told me that earlier in-between songs he had started humming 'Life on Mars' by David Bowie to himself, then and I started playing it!

Last night was more busy but again things veered more towards background music. This being the case it gave me an opportunity to try out some new material, including Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm by the Crash Test Dummies, which went quite well, but overall not the best night I've had. Some comic relief was at hand though, as I joined the others in the cinema after the bars had closed to watch Night at the Museum which was very enjoyable, I would highly recommend it.

Malcolm (the relief Ent's manager) went home today, and Kieran is returning to duty as of this evening. He's due to be around for the remainder of my contract. Under three weeks to go now, this contract has been going very quickly.

lunar eclipse

2007-03-04T12:02:00.000Z

Saturday 3rd March 2007

4:40 p.m. CET Wednesday and Thursday night again were both very quiet, although there were people in both nights who were attentive and made requests. Last night was quite busy being a Friday-night sailing from Hull, and despite one rather rowdy group being in for most of the evening, it went well and there were several couples and groups who stayed until the end, and I had two encores. I also had several requests, including one for Jessie Paints A Picture by Josh Kadison which I didn’t have with me so I am going to play it this evening (and coincidentally I was already in the process of learning). Many of the people who were on last night will be doing the return trip tonight, which is always good as I can be almost guaranteed a receptive audience.

On Thursday I took a walk with Dale, Sapphire and Malcolm (who is covering for Kieran at the moment) to a small harbour down the road, it was nice and sunny although a little cold and very windy. I took some pictures which I have uploaded to my web space; here is one of the best ones.

Fortunately there have been no more recurrences of Tuesday night’s roughness, although I did get woken up early this morning by things falling off the desk due to the ship rocking wildly!

Sunday 4th March 2007

11:40 a.m. GMT Last night went well, with most of the people who had been in the night before materialising at various points. I played Jessie which went down well, and during the last set I did a bit of a 90’s medley, playing tunes by Radiohead, Oasis, and Take That. Did America by Razorlight which went very down well, especially with a group of young people who were sat nearby who I had got chatting to. Had plenty of words of thanks and praise afterwards, was another very enjoyable night.

There was an eclipse of the moon last night (at midnight rather conveniently!) so I stood out on deck after I had finished and observed for a bit. Fortunately the sky was cloudless and I was able to see really clearly. Later on after the eclipse had finished I went out on deck and the moon was shining really brightly, so much so that I could make out a bit of the landscape of the coast on the horizon.

one wild and windy night

2007-02-28T10:59:00.000Z

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

2007-02-26T12:09:00.000Z

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

2007-02-24T12:16:00.000Z

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

2007-02-22T12:20:00.000Z

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

2007-02-20T11:24:00.000Z

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

2007-02-18T14:13:00.000Z

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

2007-02-08T16:27:00.000Z

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

2007-02-04T14:15:00.000Z

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....

spot the passenger

2007-01-31T12:48:00.000Z

Tuesday 30th January 2007

4:28 p.m. CET Last night was very quiet, by the time I went back up to do my 11 o’clock set there were only three people in the bar so I decided to round things off and went downstairs to the show-bar where things were equally as slow-going. A nice breather though considering the previous four nights had been busy.

In my last entry I forgot to mention that on Sunday evening after I had finished, two people came over to take photos of me at the piano. Also last night Dave took a few shots of me for the Entertainment board in reception, I am going to see if I can get hold of a copy so I can use it for my own publicity purposes (and include it on here).

Wednesday 31st January 2007

12:48 p.m. GMT Another quiet night last night, although not quite as quiet as Monday night. I did still finish early however.

I'm over half-way through this contract now. Only 4 more round-trips to go before I return to Nottingham for my next break.

acquaintances old and new

2007-01-29T14:08:00.000Z

Friday 26th January 2007

11:40 a.m. CET Had a very good night last night, was fairly steady up until about 11:30 p.m. when a few young lads came in, followed by several more, who despite being quite boisterous, were very enthusiastic and requested several songs. A few more groups came in a bit later on, and by the end of the evening I had three encores and everyone was singing along.

I was going to take a trip into Rotterdam with Gareth (Ent’s manager) and Tim (the sound technician) today, but we decided to call it off at the last minute, due to lack of funds, and also that we would have had to get up at about 7:30am! Probably a good thing as well since the weather today seems to be less than pleasant.

Sunday 28th January 2007

1:18 p.m. CET Friday night was a steady affair, with a good number and mixture of people in the bar and several requests. Premiered my interpretations of Nat King Cole’s popular ballad These Foolish Things and Moondance by Van Morrison, both of which were well received. Rounded off my penultimate set by playing Angels which had several people singing along and three couples dancing (including one couple who I had met the night before).

Yesterday afternoon I went over to the Pride of Bruges with Gareth and met Kieron, the Ent’s manager who I will be working with on my next assignment, and Dale and Sapphire from Top Secret (who were on the PoY last summer). Had a look around the ship and it is pretty much the same as the York with a few slight differences in the layout. Has the added benefit of a personal laundry service which will certainly be a luxury! We went into town for a few hours, was good to catch up.

Last night was another busy night, again with a good number of people in the bar including a few who stayed until the end. Didn’t really have any requests but the material that I did play seemed to go down well. Towards the end of the evening I performed A Million Love Songs by Take That for the first time which went well. Rounded off by playing a reprise of Wind Beneath My Wings to which there were a few couples dancing. I even turned on the disco lights on the dance-floor!

Apparently we have the busiest night so far tonight with the most number of passengers on board since I started a week ago.

Monday 29th January 2007

11:37 a.m. GMT Last night was busy but it didn’t seem as busy as the night before. Wasn’t quite the same atmosphere either. Still it was a good night with several more requests, and I played a couple of songs that I hadn’t performed for a while, including my own version of A Little Respect by Erasure, Sting’s Englishman In New York, and also played Man On The Moon by REM for the first time.

Last night while I was wondering through the show-bar during my break, one of the officers came over to me and said that he had had a number of compliments from passengers about me which was encouraging.

Gareth (who has been covering Ent’s manager duty for the last 4 trips, the same guy who was on with me on the York late last year) gets off today, making way for the return of resident Ent’s manager Dave.

Only a week and a half to go until my next break, when I will have just over a week at home, before joining the Pride of Bruges for 5½ weeks. It will be a bit of a shame to leave the Pride of Hull as I feel like I am starting to settle in and I seem to have made a positive impression here. However there’s a good chance that I will be doing more contracts aboard this ship this year.

an audience at last!

2007-01-25T13:28:00.000Z

Thursday 25th January 2007

1:29 p.m. Tuesday night was so quiet that I didn't sing at all, and instead of turning the CD off after my penultimate break, I ended up jamming along to it! At about 11:30 p.m. I decided that there wasn't any point carrying on and called it a night.

Last night was a different story however. It started quietly but picked up significantly and I had what can only be described as a relatively normal kind of night, the first since I have been on here. I even got a round of applause after a few of the numbers, which was another first since debuting on the Pride of Hull. The set times are slightly different: officially I am still doing 5 x 45 minute sets but I am starting at 8 o'clock. This is partly because the ship doesn't usually set sail until approximately 9 p.m. I doubt I will be working until 12:45 a.m. every night for the next couple of weeks though, due to the fairly low passenger figures.

The weather hasn't been too bad, with only some slight sea movement during the last couple of nights. We had two safety drills as well, one yesterday morning and one this morning; fortunately neither of which were too time-consuming.

I have uploaded the photos that I have taken since Sunday to my web-space, follow the link on the menu on the right at the top of this page, or click here to view them. There are a few taken from the piano bar when docked in Hull, and a few taken from the deck when in Europort (Rotterdam). Unfortunately I haven't been able to take any photos of the piano bar yet, largely due to problems involving low-lighting. Hopefully I will be able to resolve this soon - watch this space!

New adventures

2007-01-23T12:11:00.000Z

Tuesday 23rd January 2007

12:16 p.m. GMT I've just completed my first round-trip aboard the Pride of Hull, one of the two larger ships which operate the Hull-Rotterdam route. The ship seems a lot larger than the Pride of York; finding my way around is proving to be something of a challenge. However, I have managed to find my way to the most important places: my cabin, the piano lounge, and the crew mess.

My first two nights on-board have been very quiet indeed, but to be expected really given that January and February are the quietest months of the year in terms of demand for sea crossings. The layout of the so-called 'Sky Lounge' is very different to that of the Moonlight Lounge (the venue on the smaller ships), a lot more like a cocktail bar that you would expect to find on a small cruise ship, and a lot more modern-looking! I am planning to take some photos within the next couple of days.

It's a cold morning here in Hull, and we even had a thin blanket of snow on arrival in the dock.

Fog

2006-12-20T13:18:00.000Z

Wednesday 20th December 2006

1:19 p.m. Despite still being on shore leave, I thought I would add a quick word for my few regulars. It would seem that Nottingham, as with most of the U.K. is currently enveloped by fog. Usually we can see much of Basford and some Derbyshire hills in the distance from our dining room window. Today it is impossible to see anything further than the next street down from us.

It would also seem that the atmospheric situation is unlikely to change any time soon either, according to the BBC Weather web-site, the forecast for Nottingham for the next five days is:

Wednesday: FOG
Thursday: FOG
Friday: FOG
Saturday: FOG
Sunday: FOG

Also the maximum temperature for Nottingham tomorrow is 0°c. Looks like we're set for a damp cold Christmas!

I don't have an enormous amount to report from the three weeks and two days since I returned home. During the first week I occupied myself with trying to do as little as possible. Since then I have been in the process of looking for temporary work. Before today my search was largely unsuccessful, however I did register with one agency this morning and that went very well. Hopefully they should be able to find me some work to tide me over until 22nd January, the date my next ferry contract is due to start; this time on the Pride of Hull (one of the larger, newer ships which goes between Hull and Rotterdam).

me at work

2006-11-28T11:13:00.000Z

Tuesday 28th November 2006

11:16 a.m. Have just found on-line the photos that the guy that was in the bar last Wednesday night took of me. There are some excellent ones. Check them out:

http://photos.jml.net/c1144548.html

He also took some more from the front but he doesn't appear to have uploaded them yet. I will have to ask him if he can upload them.

11:25 a.m. Having just been idly surfing around that site I have just discovered that the same guy who took those photos was also partly responsible for penning a ditty entitled 'Keith Chegwin For A Day', as featured on an episode of Have I Got News For You.

winding down

2006-11-27T17:42:00.000Z

Sunday 26th November 2006

2:06 p.m. CET Had another excellent night last night, even though there were no groups or couples sat piano-side for the evening, which is quite unusual. Had a good mixture of people in and had many requests, so many in fact that my first vocal set lasted an hour. The bar was still busy when I finished at 11:45 (no encores, although in a way I felt that the night had only just got going!)

Mathias came over yesterday afternoon and we were giving each other a hand with some songs. He helped me interpreting the chord progressions in Nat King Cole’s ballad These Foolish Things and the popular classic As Time Goes By, both of which I will shortly be adding to my repertoire after going through a few more times!

I have spent the last hour packing, and in a few minutes I am going to meet Gareth and the guys from the band, and go down to the terminal for a farewell drink.

Monday 27th November 2006

5:08 p.m. I am now back home, and amazed at how quiet it is!

Spent half of yesterday afternoon packing, then the other half at the terminal in Zeebrugge with the rest of the entertainments people, which was a nice low-key affair.

Last night was something of an anticlimax, but it went quite well all the same as there were a few attentive groups.

I have just noticed four unread comments from the last four weeks or so, as I had forgotten that I had turned on comment moderation. I have just published them, thank you to my contributors!

Not sure how long it will be before I am working on a boat again, but I know for a fact that I could do with at least a couple of weeks’ break.

around the world in 98 days

2006-11-25T11:45:00.000Z

Friday 24th November 2006

12:28 p.m. CET Quite a busy night last night, and as has happened a few times recently it didn’t really get going until the last set. There were still several groups and couples in at the end, and I had three encores.

Earlier on I worked out that by the end of this contract I will have done 98 crossings, each crossing being 202 nautical miles, making a total of 19,796 nautical miles (36,662.19 km) that I will have travelled on the boat this year. That's only 3,346 km off the distance round the earth!

Saturday 25th November 2006

10:53 a.m. GMT A good night last night, thankfully free from drunken geriatrics and hecklers. No encores though.

I walked down to the beach again yesterday afternoon and took a couple of photos, which I have uploaded to my web-space.

Only one more round trip to go now…

11:27 a.m. Have just been reading the shipping forecast on-line again. It would appear that a city in the south-west has got bored of its position, and is having somewhat of a personality crisis…

“LOW PLYMOUTH 980 MOVING SLOWLY NORTHEAST AND LOSING ITS IDENTITY”

a glimpse of what's to come

2006-11-23T11:10:00.000Z

Wednesday 22nd November 2006

4:16 p.m. CET A rather odd night last night, with the majority of the folk on board being from the older generation, a few of which accosted me during the course of the evening in various states of drunkenness.

Yesterday afternoon I went over to the Pride of Rotterdam with Mathias, the resident pianist from there. It was the first time I had been in the new terminal and the ship. The terminal felt like a small airport; had to go up four floors to get to the gangway leading to the ship. The ship itself is a lot bigger and more modern, it is easy to see that it was originally designed to be a cruise ship. Even walking through the crew accommodation felt like ambling through the corridors of a hotel. The piano bar is a circle shape, and is a lot more spacious and slightly classier-looking than the Pride of York’s Moonlight Lounge. There is also a panoramic array of windows, out of which it was possible to get an excellent view of the River Humber and Hull, and surrounding areas. I am due to be going across again tomorrow.

Went to Lidl again this afternoon, this time on the tram. Bought a pile of chocolate to take home for Christmas. Was nice weather today, sunny and a little chilly but not as cold as it has been.

Spoke to Peter at Live Business when I got back. Apparently the guy who was due to be taking over from me has pulled out, so there is a chance I might be staying aboard a little longer, possibly three or four trips. I am not sure yet though. During the course of the conversation, Peter told me that he was keen to use me on the larger ships next year, possibly including the Pride of Bilbao (which sails from Portsmouth).

Thursday 23rd November 2006

10:17 a.m. Again a bit of a non-starter last night, although there were two chaps in the bar for a time who I would guess to be about the same age as me, and one of them took some photos of me playing which he agreed to e-mail to me when I am back home, which should be useful for publicity purposes.

I have decided not to stay on for another week, it has been too long since I slept in a proper bed, and although it was just over four weeks since I was last at home it feels more like four months…

stargazing

2006-11-21T12:06:00.000Z

Tuesday 21st November 2006

11:43 a.m. GMT Had a reasonable night last night but not really a patch on the night before. Having said that I still had several compliments and words of thanks afterwards, including from one older gentlemen from a group who had been in all evening both nights running, which I thought was quite positive.

Went out on deck last night before I went to bed, and found that the sky was completely clear and could see a lot of the night sky, which was quite breathtaking! It’s a shame that it was so cold or I would have stayed out there longer, and as before the multitude of lights on the boat obscured my view slightly.

blog to the future

2006-11-21T11:55:00.000Z

Monday 20th November 2006

4:17 p.m. CET Just noticed that my second post from yesterday was erroneously dated in the future, I have now corrected it!

Had an excellent night last night, all of the material which I played was well received, and as is often (thankfully) the case, there was a group in for most of the evening who were sat nearby and I got a good rapport going with. So much so that the guy from one of the couples in the group gave me his business card and said I should look them up when I am in the area and they would take me for some drinks!

The new entertainments manager Gareth boarded yesterday, and he seems like a decent bloke. Will only actually be working with him for three round trips, until I disembark a week today.

Had another pretty rough crossing last night, although not up to the standards of 1st November. I forgot to say in my last entry that on Saturday night I was stood on deck during one of my breaks, and witnessed a thunderstorm at closer range than the one a few months ago. Was amazing seeing not only the lightning in the clouds, but also the reflection on the sea.

shipping forecast

2006-11-19T14:19:00.000Z

Saturday 18th November 2006

4:30 p.m. CET Had a nice time yesterday with Ida. Fortunately the public transport was a little more reliable this time round so we got to spend most of the day together.

Last night was average, not too busy despite it being the start of the weekend. One of the few Fridays when I have finished early.

Managed to squeeze in some practice this morning, before going into Blankenberge again this afternoon with some of the other entertainments crew. Did some window-shopping and had a coffee on the heated terrace of the ‘Terminus’ again. Went in the band’s van again, fortunately with no near-misses involving trams this time! Unlike the other day, today has been quite sunny but again rather cold.

The relief entertainments manager Malcolm gets off tomorrow, and a new guy comes on along with James for one round-trip, so that he can do hand-over.

Only nine nights to go now… and counting…

Sunday 19th November 2006

11:43 a.m. GMT Last night was very busy in the piano bar but it was an enjoyable evening all the same. There were several groups in for most of the evening, including a group of teachers who were sat piano-side, singing along to most of the numbers and making plenty of requests. Had two encores so didn’t end up finishing until just before midnight. The best night I’ve had for a week.

2:47 p.m. GMT Just been reading the shipping forecast on the BBC web-site. Glad we aren't sailing in the Hebrides tonight. The forecast for this region read,

"HEBRIDES SOUTHEAST VEERING WEST SEVERE GALE 9 TO VIOLENT STORM 11, OCCASIONALLY HURRICANE FORCE 12 LATER. VERY ROUGH BECOMING VERY HIGH. RAIN. MODERATE OCCASIONALLY POOR."

natural art

2006-11-17T10:50:00.000Z

Thursday 16th November 2006

12:50 p.m. CET On Tuesday night the bar was fairly busy, despite there being a relatively low passenger quota. In many ways was a similar night to Monday, was reasonable but nothing to get ecstatic about. Last night was quieter, but a fairly good night all the same. During the last set a couple came in (who I later gathered had travelled before when I was on) and requested a few numbers. I concluded with my first rendition of Heaven by Bryan Adams, which went better than I had anticipated (as it was unrehearsed).

Friday 17th November 2006

12:49 a.m. GMT Apparently the guy who I mentioned last night was singing my praises at reception after he left the bar!

I went out for my usual again walk this afternoon, which ended up being quite bracing since it was rather windy, cold and raining. A combination of the elements had created some interesting formations in the sand, and I took some photos of them with my mobile phone.

Had quite a good night tonight as well, as with many nights recently had a fairly slow start but it picked up and had a warm reception throughout the evening. Towards the end a young guy requested Don’t Look Back In Anger, so I played it, then came a small flurry of requests for songs of a similar genre to be played, so I ended up performing a couple of Radiohead and Coldplay songs, which was an unexpected and welcome conclusion to the evening.

Ida is coming up again tomorrow… (well later today actually…) which will be nice.

close shave & moving up

2006-11-15T12:07:00.000Z

Tuesday 14th November 2006

4:30 p.m. CET Had a reasonable night last night, and for the first time in over a week two couples stayed until the end, and I had some compliments after I had finished, both of which were encouraging. After plying himself with Murphys, an older chap was dancing to a few of my closing numbers. He also complimented me on my repertoire. I am fairly confident that it wasn’t just the alcohol talking!

Went to Lidl in Blankenberge with all of the band members this afternoon (in their van). Afterwards we took some coffee at the ‘Terminus’, a bar on the edge of the square, and despite the rainy weather it was very pleasant. However, we nearly had a head-on collision with a tram on the way back; I think I will be arranging my own transport next time!

(I forgot to say the other day that before he went on his break, James wrote in a report to Live Business that he believes I am now sufficiently prepared and ready to work on the larger ships.
There’s a good chance that I might be doing this from early next year. My only main reservation about going onto one of the other ships is that I won’t know anybody!)

more new material

2006-11-13T13:29:00.000Z

Monday 13th November 2006

11:32 a.m. Has been very busy the last couple of nights. By the time came for my vocal sets on Saturday night I was already on a high, and decided (with James’ impetus) to play all up-beat numbers. This I did, and they were mostly well-received. Performed Billy Joel’s River Of Dreams for the first time, which went better than I had anticipated. Also performed an instrumental version of Gershwin’s Summertime (using sheet music), which also went down well.

Last night was the first typically ‘good’ night I had had for several days. By this I mean that the crowd were receptive and I found it enjoyable instead of a bit of a chore. Premiered my renditions of Dionne Warwick’s Walk On By, and Stevie Wonder’s popular classic, I Just Called To Say I Love You. Again both were well received.

James (the Entertainments Manager) has decided to have three months' break due to family commitments. He left today. The new relief Ent's Manager, Malcolm, will be getting on for a week, then will be replaced by another guy who will be covering James' absence.

Only two weeks until I disembark now. This contract has been the slowest and most testing of the three so far.

that's what I call service!

2006-11-11T13:44:00.000Z

Saturday 11th November 2006

1:58 a.m. GMT The last couple of nights have been extremely uneventful and in some ways quite frustrating, very few people seemed to be paying any attention to my playing, so I ended up playing mostly instrumentals both nights. At least I had the benefit of finishing early on each occasion though.

Yesterday afternoon whilst in Zeebrugge I went for what is becoming my usual walk down to the beach and back. On the way there I got stopped by the Belgian police and was half-expecting them to demand half a dozen different forms of ID. Instead they asked me which boat I worked on, then asked me if I wanted a lift anywhere!!! You wouldn’t get that in the UK!

a bit of a breather

2006-11-09T13:07:00.000Z

Wednesday 8th November 2006

4:12 p.m. CET Both Monday night and last night were quiet, so I ended up playing mostly instrumental numbers, with a few vocal ones thrown in half way through the evening.

Got up early today to help with the band changeover which was pretty hectic. After lunch I went for a short walk despite it being cold, wet and foggy.

We’ve got a few large groups on tonight so hopefully there will be a bit more of a mixture of people than the last two nights.

Thursday 9th November 2006

11:42 a.m. GMT Had a good night last night, it seemed to get busier as the evening drew on which is the opposite of what usually happens, as you would expect. Had a fairly slow start, and the audience were mostly over-50s (as is often the case), but by the end I had several people singing along, and two couples were even slow-dancing to some of the more romantic numbers! Had two encores, and as a result I didn’t finish until just before midnight for the second time since the start of this contract. Also after I had finished my second set I got talking to a couple I had met on the outward journey the night before who were from Nottingham.

Another glorious day here in Hull, so I might venture out a bit later on. Not sure where to though!

[On a sporting note, just found out that Tottenham played Club Brugge at home in the UEFA cup last Thursday, beating them 3-1.]

fireworks II

2006-11-07T11:52:00.000Z

Monday 6th November 2006

4:30 p.m. CET Ida visited yesterday, despite several transport problems. Had a nice time together, and I got stocked up on essential supplies, i.e. Snack-A-Jacks, fruit juice, and Turkish Pepper (strong Swedish liquorice which I have been using as a nicotine substitute).

A largely uneventful night last night, the sea was relatively calm again, and as I was suffering from stomach cramp I wasn’t running on all cylinders.

Had our first proper boat drill since my return this morning. Apparently there is another scheduled for Friday, as we missed out last week.

Also 4 And More, the resident band for the last ten weeks, are due to be leaving on Wednesday, and another outfit known as Pink Panther are set to be replacing them. Once again I have offered my services for the band changeover.

Walked down to the beach after lunch today. It was a little chilly but sunny with not too much wind. The beach itself was predictably deserted, apart from a couple of elderly locals walking their dogs. It has been several years since I walked on a beach in November and it was remarkably pleasant.

(I did manage to see most of the fireworks display on Sunday. As before with the one in Belgium I was watching at some distance but it was still pretty spectacular.)

overtime

2006-11-05T11:51:00.000Z

Saturday 4th November 2006

4:39 p.m. CET Thursday night was very busy, largely due to a Belgian company who partially took over the ship. The couple who I mentioned were on their return trip, so I played the Peter Skellern number they requested which went down quite well. However in general it proved to be a rather testing night, as the majority of the audience were German, which as always was a bit of a challenge. And as if that wasn’t enough, we were extremely late into the dock in Hull yesterday morning (even later than on the previous round-trip) due to an unusually low tide, so much so that we ended up spending the morning crawling along the Humber waiting for the water level to rise. The majority of passengers resorted to passing the time until disembarkation in the bars, and I unwittingly consented to doing a one-off 45-minute set in the piano bar. Still I just played instrumentals, and it seemed to be well received by the passengers and officers. Plus the added benefit earning a bit of extra cash.

It was rather strange sailing during daylight hours (not something we tend to do at this time of year) so I seized the opportunity of taking a few photos. Here is one of the Humber facing inland, with Hull visible to the right of the picture, and the Humber Bridge in the distance.

Had a much more encouraging night last night, the best of the week actually. Managed to captivate the audience from the outset, which is always difficult. There were several attentive couples and groups in, not least of which an English group of students who were sat next to the piano most of the evening and requested several songs. Ended up playing allsorts, as diverse as Abba, Bon Jovi and Nat King Cole. They will be back on next Saturday for their return trip, which will be another welcome boost!

Also the MD from Live Business, Blaine Sherman was on board again last night, and gave me more positive feedback via James.

The sea was relatively calm last night, plus the sky was clear for the first time in a long time, which helped make for pleasant sailing conditions. The weather has held out today as well, has been a beautiful sunny day, if a little cold. Didn’t go further than the terminal this afternoon though, due to lack of funds.

When on my way into the terminal building earlier this afternoon, I was interested to note that there was a U.N. van parked outside.

Ida is coming up to Hull for the day tomorrow which will be nice, plus seeing her should help to relieve some of the tedium that I have been experiencing since returning to life on the ocean wave!

Sunday 5th November 2006

1:57 a.m. GMT Tonight went very well despite the average age of the audience being slightly higher than last night. Had a good mixture of people in too, and a few of them responded to my pleas for requests, among them were songs by Keane and Coldplay which I relished playing, along with Creep by Radiohead which I don’t think I have ever had requested or played before.

There is a fireworks display at Princes Quay in Hull tomorrow at 6pm so I should be able to get a pretty good view of it from the dock.

stormy weather

2006-11-05T11:46:00.000Z

Thursday 2nd November 2006

4:19 p.m. Did end up going down to the sea-front on Tuesday with the children’s entertainer Jo (it was her last day) although we ended up battling the elements as it was extremely windy and a sand-storm quickly ensued! We took refuge in The Old Barrel, which seemed to be the only bar open on the sea front (which was hardly surprising really given the time of year).

Hallowe’en fever took hold when we returned to the boat; Jo and James both got into costume and set about frightening the passengers at embarkation. Then later James made a P.A. announcement about Kids Club preceded by some blood-curdling laughter which I found very amusing! Here are a couple of photos of the festivities: James, Jo, Peter (Ship's Police) and a junior skeleton, and the resident band 4 And More, in full Hallowe'en swing.

As is often the case at this time of year there were several people on the return trip of their mini-cruise on Tuesday night, so there were quite a few familiar faces. The crossing itself was rather hair-raising as we were sailing against a force ten gale the whole way, going up to a FORCE ELEVEN at one point, without a doubt the most severe weather I’ve experienced in my whole time at sea. So much so that by the time I got up (which wasn’t early) we were still in the process of making our way into the dock.

I felt like a celebrity when I was walking back from seeing Jo off at the station yesterday: I was accosted by a young man who asked me if I was “ze singer from ze boat, ja?” Rather strange as I didn’t recognise him at all. Maybe word has got around…

Last night was extremely quiet, certainly the quietest of this contract so far. There were no more than twenty people in the whole bar all night, and by 11:15 p.m. there were only two couples left. I became friendly with one of the couples who requested several songs and I sat chatting to them for about twenty minutes when I had finished. They are back on tonight, plus they specifically requested that I play You’re A Lady by Peter Skellern on their return, so I was rehearsing earlier on.

I have to admit to feeling a trifle sheepish about my obsession with superlatives on this blog, but I suppose they are unavoidable really given my unusual line of work.

brief repose

2006-11-01T12:18:00.000Z

Tuesday 31st October 2006

12:34 p.m. CET A quieter night last night. The evening started off with quite a few people in the bar, and I even got applause during the second of my instrumental sets, which is very rare. I also had a few people singing along during my two vocal sets which also doesn’t happen very often. However the numbers started to tail off and by the time my last set came around it was so quiet that I played all instrumentals, and finished early for the first time since coming back on board.

A very sunny day here in Zeebrugge so I am probably going to walk down to the sea-front in a bit.