I was reminded this afternoon, about the old joke, of the guy sitting by the water, with a fishing rod, and ask if the fish are biting.
He replied: unlikely, there’s no bait on the hook.
It’s just nice, to bob on the water, even if your not catching fish…
looks iydilic 
… enjoy 
…
Got to ask, where is that?
I love a sea view from land / hotel room but boats arnt for me , had a island taxi in Ibiza this year & it was that bad comming back I thought we were going to end up in the sea , awful , getting off the thing was bad enough , bloody rocking all over places , nothing to hold onto , thin blank , poor mums / dads with kids ,H&S non existent
No good for me I have a bit of a phobia of deep water after being rescued from actually drowning as a kid, if it had not been for my (late) next door neighbour who I am eternally grateful to,.I would have died at 11 years old…and I am still a non swimmer. 
Strange thing is I come from a long line of sea farers, Dad was a submariner (and still swims like a fish to this day) my Granda was in both the Royal and the Merchant, in both wars, including on the WW2 Atlantic concoys, my Great Granda was in Royal also…and then there is me who looks at that pic in horror 
The Mrs always drags me along on small boat trips on holiday, as 10cc once said ‘The things you do for love’ 
I’m ok on bigger ships ferries etc,.and I have never been sea sick on rough crossings, so maybe a bit of my heritage has rubbed off after all.
Before a ferry crossing I found it better to have a meal before boarding, once onboard straight down to the cabin and sleep,to prevent sea sickness.
It’s a tricky subject but they put four drivers in one cabin then you get a few come in drunk at 01.00 am after their bar and nightclub grab a granny night, this disturbance makes you fatigued the next day to the point of pulling over every hour for a kip.
Then the ■■■■■■■ and snoring,the top bunk ladder climbing to factor in.
It’s not allowed but sometimes I would sleep in the cab, the trick is to pull over the split curtain, and stay in the bunk until the crew have gone but they do bang the door to check if someone is inside.
If the ship catches fire, a load of ADR leakage or it sinks then I am done for as they don’t know I am down there.
On the Bilbao and Santander routes , they are luxurious cruises with cinemas, swimming pools, and a lecture on whale watching, at the end of the trip you are so relaxed you don’t want to get off.
We had to avoid France as there was a problem with Manitou and JCB for transiting France, by using Calais,Dieppe, Cherbourg, Le Havre and Boulougne there is not much in it for fuel costs and you get a good daily rest period, wear and tear is an advantage.
Henry Stephens:
Before a ferry crossing I found it better to have a meal before boarding, once onboard straight down to the cabin and sleep,to prevent sea sickness.It’s a tricky subject but they put four drivers in one cabin then you get a few come in drunk at 01.00 am after their bar and nightclub grab a granny night, this disturbance makes you fatigued the next day to the point of pulling over every hour for a kip.
Then the ■■■■■■■ and snoring,the top bunk ladder climbing to factor in.
It’s not allowed but sometimes I would sleep in the cab, the trick is to pull over the split curtain, and stay in the bunk until the crew have gone but they do bang the door to check if someone is inside.
If the ship catches fire, a load of ADR leakage or it sinks then I am done for as they don’t know I am down there.
On the Bilbao and Santander routes , they are luxurious cruises with cinemas, swimming pools, and a lecture on whale watching, at the end of the trip you are so relaxed you don’t want to get off.
We had to avoid France as there was a problem with Manitou and JCB for transiting France, by using Calais,Dieppe, Cherbourg, Le Havre and Boulougne there is not much in it for fuel costs and you get a good daily rest period, wear and tear is an advantage.
My apologies for coming in drunk and waking you Tobes.
As for the ‘grab a granny night’ ., I told her to be quiet.
The ■■■■■■■? 
…■■■■■■ shocking weren’t it ?
But to be fair I did tell her off about it, and kick her out of the cabin in the end…, c’ome on you know the quality of these women on the Rotterdam ‘love boat’
The snoring?. Aye hands up., I blame the beer. …again sorry
I’ll be a bit quiter if I ever find myself on a ferry again…cheers.
The love boat certainly had a reputation for lonely and bored housewives looking for some fun, not sure why they all fancied the coach drivers and sat behind him on the coach and give a quick flash of the underwear to wet his appetite for the cruise.
Did you leave the false teeth in or out for the night of passion with the granny?
There was…
A time when every cross channel ferry as well as the longer routes were known as ‘door bangers’.
4 to a cabin was generally the summer season when all the tourists piled on. Most of the time on Brittany Ferries you got a cabin to yourself.
I also offer my sincere apologies for ■■■■■■■ all night.
My Second World War gas mask came in to good use and the ear plugs.
Henry Stephens:
The love boat certainly had a reputation for lonely and bored housewives looking for some fun, not sure why they all fancied the coach drivers and sat behind him on the coach and give a quick flash of the underwear to wet his appetite for the cruise.Did you leave the false teeth in or out for the night of passion with the granny?
I don’t have false teeth.
My error, I meant the grannies false teeth and not yours.
Remember,Wether it’s a pub, ferry cabin or an RDC waiting room, if you do slip out a rather silent and deadly ■■■■ don’t forget to say the immortal phrase…
“Is that popcorn I can smell”? So that those around you will start sniffing the air for the sweet aroma of popcorn, only to find that it’s the pungent aroma of your ■■■■
That should keep the ones quiet for a few minutes for an interlude to hearing about how they stormed the embassy in the siege and missed the Herald by two minutes.
Henry Stephens:
My error, I meant the grannies false teeth and not yours.
I know…I was joking. 
I’m no lover of deep water and prefer both feet planted firmly on solid ground! Can’t swim either as I’m just ■■■■ scared of being in water. Not keen on standing on a bridge looking down into a river as I feel drawn in! I travelled to the UK on the Empire Windrush (hence my screen name) aged five months in 1951 and since then the furthest I have boated is to the Isle of Skye and I didn’t enjoy that short journey either. However I love visiting canals and would have loved a holiday on a narrow boat.
Pete.
windrush:
I travelled to the UK on the Empire Windrush (hence my screen name) aged five months in 1951.
Wow! That’s fascinating ^^^ . Tell me to mind my own business if you don’t want to talk about it but I’m genuinely interested in how you feel and what your experiences have been growing up in the Windrush generation.
I have been to Barbados, Bahamas, St Lucia, Antigua ( Shark sandwiches) Jamaica, Tobago and Trinidad.
The Caribbeans are the most hospitable and friendly people that I had the pleasure to meet, for Trinidad, I got a good deal at the Hilton with a nice pool but a long walk to the capital and not much to see or do on the island.
Tobago is very nice with Pigeon Point beach and a hotel that grew their herbs,fruit and vegetables and the cooking was amazing and so healthy.
Jamaica was a real eye opener with school kids that opened my hire car door and say take me home and before you know it the car is full up and now I am a taxi driver.
I forgot to lock my car door on the beach and the passport and money was still there.
For Barbados I took a big risk and didn’t book accommodation, I found a private house that took paying guests but it was in the middle of nowhere and miles away from the beaches.
Stayed one night and checked out.
I found a flyer at the the airport for accommodation available by the American Embassy in Kingston, ran by a nun who had an Indian neighbour from hell and they were always fighting over something.
St Lucia and Antigua are idyllic and very beautiful places.
The weekends are legendary with loud speakers the size of vans for street parties.
One hotel that had a chain of them with four hotels in the same resort had a bizarre policy regarding towels, my hotel had a small pool, their other hotel had a few more and bigger pools but the bigger hotel on the beach had the bigger pool but I couldn’t use their sun loungers and towels even though I was staying at one of their hotels of the same owners.
Edit to add: Referring to the hire car and giving lifts to the locals is common practice and socially acceptable due to public transport reliability and distances in the community areas.
Even a flat bed lorry or van will have people jump on the back for a lift.
Try scuba diving in the Scapa Flow to see the scuttled German navy fleet is not for the faint hearted in pitch black visibility until you hit the sea floor.
