My trip on the Jeannie Johnston trip to Dublin - day five

By the time I awoke the next morning I felt much better. I got up at around seven, put my harness on and went onto deck. On the way I passed a mirror, and my reflection was very pale - no surprise as I had not eaten anything in a day. There was a neat line of vomit on the railings where people had been sick overnight. The fresh air seemed to help, and soon I was walking around on somewhat uneasy legs. As the morning watch progressed I continued to feel better; Natasha had spent much of the previous night's watch on top of the front deck house suffering from seasickness; I could well sympathise.

Neil reported seeing Dolphins on the port side, but I could not see them from where I was sitting on top of the mooring ropes. I managed to eat half a bowl of porridge, and that helped me through as we washed down the decks once again. For lunch there was soup and home-made sausage rolls. Yet again the ship's cook had done a sterling job.

The Irish coast slowly came into sight, starting off with some wind turbines on a beach. We approached these, and the beach behind was apparently where the film 'Saving Private Ryan' was filmed. As we neared the shore a few blasts of the ship's horn signalled our approach to the captain's house, which was perched on a cliff above the beach. After this we headed slightly further out once more, following the coast northwards.

The evening watch went really well - I thoroughly enjoyed it now that the queasiness had more or less gone. There was more of the phosphorescence as the ship cut through the water, and the night skies were very clear, with three lighthouses visible to the east. I figured that at least a couple of these may have been on the North Wales or Anglesea coast, but could not be sure. The seas were fairly flat and calm (okay, they were very flat and calm), and all my queasiness had disappeared. I went to bed knowing that within twelve hours we would be on dry land, and slightly regretting that fact.