Yep, Greetings from Southern Portugal, Portimoa to be exact!
At this very moment Iīm hogging one of the PCs in the lobby of Hotel Tivoli, where the entire crew of my ship is staying, which makes for a change, rebuilds/repairs/maintenance are being performed all over the ship, so at the moment itīs not a very fit place to live.

The Hotel is really nice though, great food and hospitality, though one has to observe they donīt cater too well to people that do night watches on board the ship. (SOMEONE has to make sure things do not catch fire or some other horrible thing).

My dayīs rest was rudely interrupted by the cleaning lady at least 5 times, despite the īDNDīsign on my door!
But yeah, one more (early) night watch this evening, from 18:30 ītill 1:30, and Iīve done my share for the week!

Work on the ship is progressing steadily, and we expect to be ready leave for the Caribean somewhere in early January, setting all sails and crossing the south Atlantic by way of the Canary Islands.
Which makes for a nice change of scenery, never been to that part of the world before.

Until then we can keep ourself amused with listening to the chief engineer complaining about stuff springing all sorts of leaks, while dutifully sanding/chipping/grinding away at all sorts of rust and other tarnsishes that are taboo on a big sailing ship, resting assured the people working on our new crew quarters are doing a fine job.

So, 2 more weeks in this hotel (at most), and we set sail towards the horizon once more!

Marius Hollenga
Ordinary Sailor
On Board (ish) Clipper Stad Amsterdam
Portimao, Portugal