Boat transport trauma
1. The Malta to Sicily catamaran. Just about every time I've been on this boat (4 journeys so far), I've come close to being sick. Why do they make the damned thing go so fast! Bloody expensive too! While never managing to puke, I did once come so close that a crewmember shoved a paper bag in front of my face. There are many casualties on this service. I saw people reduced to quivering wrecks on the floor, and one girl who was showing off by spinning on the revolving seats ended up puking up. Serves her right for being a show-off. The first time I went on this boat, it was on a daytrip to Sicily (I had flown into Malta). In lieu of the chunder-inducing journey to Sicily, I had to limit my intake of that lovely Italian food to give my stomach less ammo - this meant not having any ice-cream (although it was November at the time).

2. Hull - Rotterdam ferry. If you're unlucky to take this boat during high winds, take some advice from me. Don't eat anything in the evening and lie down on a flat surface (preferably a mattress). Once, I had to get out my cabin and puke in the sink. So much for my free meal. The person who I was sharing the cabin with then came back and asked how my meal was. I just didn't have the heart to say "I sicked it up in the sink and made a nice chunks-hitting-porcelain sound" so I settled for "Fine, and how was yours?” Needless to say, by the time breakfast is served, the boat is usually in calmer waters.

3. Stockholm to Turku ferry. On the overnight crossing of the Gulf of Bothnia, I was kept awake all night by a bunch of loud Italians getting noisily drunk and puking up all over the place. I took the ferry to Turku so I could explore the town before I headed off to Helsinki, but by the time I got there, I was so tired I jumped on a train straight to Helsinki. Should have got the boat straight to Helsinki instead.

4. Harwich - Hoek van Holland ferry. Finally one not involving puking. I thought I'd make use of the on-board alarm facility so I'd wake up in time for breakfast. Only realised once I had showered and got dressed that the alarm was meant for the truck-drivers who wanted to leave extra early. I had in fact been woken up at 4am and to add insult to injury, the breakfast did not open for another two hours.


Length? Those hypotenuses on the steep waves make it longer.


[EDIT:] Yay! This is the first non-repost non-spam entry not related to the recent b3ta outage.
( mistaspakkaman and the inedible shifting caterpillars, Tue 3 Jun 2008, 15:09, Reply)