We happened upon an advert in the paper for a "two for one three day mini cruise" to Bilbao in Spain, on the aptly named "Pride of Bilbao".
A bit of a bargain at £32 each, seeing as "normal" passengers with cars pay
£400+ each for the privelige.
To cut what could potentially be a long and tedious account of three days on
a boat, it was, by all accounts, full of unexpected happenings.
Like F9 gales in both directions.
And an engine failure for half an hour in heavy swell, which could potentially
been quite interesting had it gone on much longer.
Quickly after boarding, it became apparent that we had booked onto a cross between
a floating council estate and a SAGA holiday.
Take, for example, one Stevie Young, the "comedian" (and I use the term loosely).
Now, I'm not exactly the most politically correct person I know, but his act
consisted almost entirely of jokes like "I met a dyslexic Hindu woman - she
had the spot on the wrong side of her head" etc etc.
He would occassionaly burst into what I'm sure he believed was "song" at various
intervals, inbetween laughing at his own jokes, and saying "Ladies and Genman"
a lot. He was a little bit like a cross between Roy Chubby Brown and Bernard
Manning.
But less funny. And more embarrasing.
With all the rolling and pitching, it gave me ample opportunity to wear my 3-year-old
"Rocky Bilbao" joke rather thin.
We had 4 hours to explore Bilbao before the ferry set off again. Not a bad place
for a port...much nicer than Calais.
As usual on the continent, there is no-where to buy food, and everyone is rude.
The difference being that instead of being paved with dogshit, the streets are
covered in general litter.
On the return journey, we hit heavy seas again, but, as on the way there, we
saw a few dolphins doing somersaults out of the sea.
See some pictures