May 23rd 2004:

Email from Florida: It's hard to believe that I've been around the world 26,668 miles in 108 days and this was the 173rd voyage of the M V Foylebank. W crossed the equator 2 times, once southbound and once northbound. One day was lost crossing the international dateline weatbound and we skipped a Friday. Our clocks went back 1 hour 26 times for time zone differences. Isn't that a good reason for the difficulty I had knowing what day and time everyone else was on. The tropic of cancer and capricorn were both crossed twice, once each northbound and southbound. The shortest time in port was 8 hours and the longest 66 hours. We were in 19 different ports and 13 diferent countries.

Would I do it again? Yes I would. I think it would be fun to go on a shorter voyage and experience what other ships are like.

May 6th 2004:

Email from the Ship: We arrived at the beginning of Elba River going to Hamburg at 12 noon 5-6-04 and a pilot came on board at 12:30. It was a 7 hour trip on the river to the docks in Hamburg. We changed pilots 3 different times to guide us to the harbor. Hamburg is a huge harbor for container and cargo ships. I think it may be the largest harbor in the world. It was a picturesque trip on the river, passing many farms with beautiful yellow fields of cannola among other lush green fields, charming German villages, many vacation resorts, loads of activity with ferries, pleasure boats and sailboats, It was very windy and cool to be outside but I dressed warmly and was up on monkey island for awhile to enjoy the scenery.

We arrived at our dock at 6:45 pm. After we cleared customs, I was taken to a hotel close to the airport since my flight was leaving early the next morning. The ship will unload cargo and then sail to Antwerp where the Russian crew will leave and a new crew will come on. Then it sails to Hull where the British will leave and a new British crew will board. Then it goes to Dunkirk to start over.

It has been a grand, memorable adventure for me. Often my experiences were so awesome I couldn't find words to describe them. The captain and crew were were very friendly which added a lot to the enjoyment of the trip. It was a little sad to say goodbye to everyone after being with them for 108 days but we were all happy to be going home.

I read somewhere that "the sea restores your soul and broadens your perspective on life" and I found this to be so true.

May 5th 2004:

Email from the Ship: We are now passing the Rock of Gibraltor at 7:30 am Sun 5-2-04. position 36N 05W. It is cloudy and not so good for picture taking but I took one anyway. They say there are monkeys all over the Rock but they didn't get into the path of my binoculars,There are lots of ships all around. Morroco is on portside and Spain on starboard. Again, I'm told that the waters at Biscay Bay can be quite rough and may slow up our progress to Hamburg-whatever will be will be. Mon. am We are sailing north along the coast of Portugal. The ship is beginning to rock and roll.

5-5-04- What everybody told me has come true.Mon aft and Tues. day and night we were sailing through very rough waters. The ship was rolling and pitching fom heavy swells because of wind and stormy weather. Everything on the ship was on the move if it wasn't fastened down and if I tried to walk anywhere I was on the move too but not always in the direction I wanted to go. AND I didn't get seasick! We will soon be in the English Channel on to Hamburg.