" .... you can ... almost fancy you hear the sea fizzling with the heat ... as we go south there is too much of the sensation of being slowly stewed." (Edinburgh to India & Burmah (sic) W.G. Burn Murdoch who sailed through the Red Sea in 1905)
I have swum in the Red Sea. Well, I've swum on Amber in water from the Red Sea while in the Red Sea, if you follow me. The chief mate surprised us this morning with word the pool had already been filled. Denis checks it out.
A few minutes later, I'm in. The sea temperature is a fizzling 32 degrees Celsius, so very pleasant. I do some (exceedingly) short laps.
The chief says the bosun's delighted the pool is ready.
Bosun: "Good, we can go swimming."
Chief Mate: "Back to work!"
However, as it's Sunday and shorter hours, some of the crew will doubtless be taking a dip (not all at once!) later.
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I was right, the pool's popular and, in other Amber sporting news, Domingo and Nathaniel are dominating the ping pong table. They certainly dominated me.
This afternoon, the second mate informs me of anti-piracy measures. By late tomorrow we'll be in the area of greatest concern and, according to intelligence reports, risk of post-Ramadan attacks in the southern Red Sea is high, especially from mid-September until the end of the monsoon. That's now.
Denis: "If I hear a knock on the door tonight, I won't answer it!"
