Thwarted Attempt to Go Ashore in English Seaside Town

Day 102, Grand World Voyage

Saturday, April 15, 2023; Portland/Weymouth, England, U.K.

Be careful what you wish for. I wished to stay on board after my knee injury, preferring to heal on the ship rather than being put off in a port. I got my wish. I just didn’t realize that meant not going ashore today.

After leaving A Coruña, Spain, on Wednesday, the captain announced a growing storm in the Bay of Biscay meant we would miss our next port of Brest, France. Apparently, these are notorious waters for storms. Instead, we would circle to the northwest and skip to our next port of Portland on England’s south coast. We still had a great deal of motion, but mainly while I was snug in bed.

Our captain tried to bring us into port a half-day early, but the ship at our berth hadn’t left, so we waited outside the breakwater until we docked this morning.

I had decided I would finally get off the ship and take the shuttle bus into Weymouth, one of many beach resort towns along the English coast. It marks the mouth of the Wey River. We figured my sisters could wheel me around town a bit, and if it proved too difficult in a wheelchair, I would just take the shuttle back to the ship.

After getting my cold-weather clothes out and bundling up against the chilly breeze, we headed off the ship. But before we could board the shuttle, one of the crew told me I could not take my wheelchair off the ship. It turns out they had provided me an “emergency” wheelchair to use. If I wanted a wheelchair to leave the ship, I would need to rent one if available. Long story (and $250) later, I have a rented wheelchair now, but it was too late for this morning’s plans.

It was a crushing disappointment in the moment, as I was suffering a serious case of cabin fever. But I got over that, and at least now am thankful I am set up to visit Dutch friends for lunch in Amsterdam in a few days. It would have been worse to have that outing canceled at the last minute, as they are traveling a distance into Amsterdam to see us.

Eloise and Elaine went ahead to explore Weymouth and then in the afternoon joined a ship’s excursion to the Bovington Tank Museum. It houses the world’s largest collection of tanks dating back to World War I, and Elaine photographed many of them.

This area of Dorset proved a good site for tank training. My sisters report that it was an excellent interactive museum, and I’m sure my nephews would have loved it. I recall taking my younger nephew to the World War II Museum in New Orleans when he was about 12. I was amazed that he could stand in the doorway to an exhibit and name every firearm – type, manufacturer, country – in the room. “Aunt Jo, I use them all in video games,” he said. That’s boys for you!

In Portland we docked at a new pier built in part for cruise ships. We are the first ship of the season, and they celebrated with a robust send-off. A great choir performed for 30 minutes while the last tour buses unloaded.

And they wheeled out the canon to send us on our way. I was fortunate to see it all from the balcony.

Finally, the medical center obtained my fancy brace – one that everyone thought would be too short until they saw it just fit me. I kept telling them that while I am five-foot-three, so much of that is torso that I need to shop for tall swimsuits. This brace gives me the support to prevent twisting, while allowing doctors to slowly increase my range of motion.

My goal is to be pretty mobile by May 12, when the world cruise ends and my sisters depart. I’ll still be in recovery and taking it easy, but I’ll be able to manage on my own without a wheelchair or crutches. It looks like I’m on track to meet that objective!

Today marks the start of the last four weeks of this 128-day cruise. I know that the time will fly, especially with lots of ports for the next few weeks before crossing the Atlantic Ocean back to Florida.

I remind myself that while the time seems short, it’s significantly longer that the total cruise length for most cruises. And, of course, I will still have about 10 weeks left as I then stay onboard until July 22.