Cultureshock

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Video transcript

The sound of the bugle woke me from a disturbed sleep. I opened my eyes to see the rest of my friends up and getting ready for the day ahead. I slid out of my sleeping bag and dressed. We’d not had a shower for days and it was beginning to show. I wrapped up warm and headed up onto the deck for a morning briefing. The fresh salty air soon woke me up. The grey sky looked ominous and we were informed that the weather forecast for the day was not good. There wasn’t much we could do by that point though as were already half way to France.

We quickly hurried back downstairs to a hearty breakfast proudly slopped out by the ship’s cook. Hot lumpy porridge. Not the most appetizing breakfast but we were so hungry we would have eaten anything.

After breakfast we hurriedly rushed to our cleaning duties. I’d been unlucky enough to have the ship’s toilets. A quite unusual contraption with a pump handle and foot pedal. The weather soon began to grow worse and it wasn’t long before I was feeling pretty seasick and wishing I’d finished my duties so I could go back on deck. Duties done I joined the rest of the crew and was quietly pleased to see I wasn’t the only green face amongst the group. The ship’s cook provided us with the sweetest milkiest tea and ginger biscuits which kept us warm and I was soon feeling normal again.

Several hours passed before we finally spotted the French coastline. We were all relieved. The thought of a hot shower and dry land appealed to everyone. We were soon pulling on the ropes and climbing the rigging, bringing the sails in before we moored up. Climbing up the rigging was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life. I tended to get a dose of Elvis leg every time I looked down. We finally moored the ship and before going ashore we were all pleased to meet the ship’s special visitor, David Prowse, also known as Darth Vader and the Green Cross Code man.