So we have just arrived in Dakar, the weather has been unseasonally dry with blue skies and not a drop of rain in sight!
After a detour to Antwerp and a little rough weather in the Bay of Biscay we sailed for 6 days to Senegal bathed in sunlight and fed to within inches of our lives.
The Italian Chef has seen to it that our waist sizes wont be the same ever again, four courses for (every) lunch and dinner isnt healthy for anyone!
In our spare time, of which there is a great deal, we have cobbled together a little compilation of photos and very poor videos as we learn the finer details of video production thanks to our new gift.
Bare with us as we hone our skills somewhere between here (Senegal) and Vancouver!
Rusty and Squeak x
BUENOS AIRES to QUEBEC (via Ushuaia!) 
Hi there. I am also thinking about taking a cargo down to BA from the UK. Crossing the Atlantic on a boat has always been something I wanted to do. I have a couple of questions: 1) is there internet access on the boat? I could do a lot of work during those long hours out at sea. 2) did you need VISAs to step out in the various ports on the way to BA? I am Italian, and I should not have many problems. But my girlfriend is Chinese and it is usually a major headache to get VISAs for her. Thanks, Sam
Hi Sam, So glad people are still reading our blog, we hope its been worthwhile. Sadly there is no internet access on this ship. Although there is a computer that all the crew & passengers use for email. You can use this computer (which may have a queue of people using it) but it uses a Public sent / received email provider – no privacy. It is also heavily limited in the file sizes you can send and receive (due to the satellite connection) Grimaldi arranged all visas for the countries we stopped in. An agent would enter the boat and inspect all of our passports and stamp them with temporary entry permits. In effect the passengers are issued with Temporary visas (like the crew) which gives them permission to go on land. However as for your girlfriend, there were no Chinese passengers with us so I wouldn’t like to say she will definitely be treated in the same way. Don’t rely on getting ashore, there were ports we though we would get onshore but didn’t and we were a little disappointed. If you ‘need’ to get ashore (eg for email), the disappointed may be worse! Sorry I cant be more specific! Good luck, you will love it! 🙂
Chris Granger http://www.ccgadventures.wordpress.com
> Date: Sun, 29 Dec 2013 15:06:55 +0000 > To: chris.granger@hotmail.com >
Hi Chris, thanks for your quick reply. Getting off the internet may actually be a good thing for my sanity, but it would certainly limit my ability to work during the trip. I guess I will have to arrange things in advance and save all the documents I need to work on an hard drive rather than relying on internet searches and dropbox. Not a deal breaker. More serious is the VISA situation with my girlfriend. Given that they organize the VISAs, I will ask Grimaldi about it. I also noticed that they do not disembark vehicles in BA anymore. They do it in Montevideo, Uruguay. Another thing to think about. Thanks again for your help, and best wishes for 2014
Cheers
Sam
sixth try…..Hi have pressed a few buttons and hope this works.
Your cabin, small but compact with all essentials including plugs varies for computers,video’s and the cabin staff even dusted the top of the cupboard.Food sounds great you will bounce it all away when you start biking
lots a luv yer mum/in law
Hello Chloe and Chris
Bin there, got the tee shirt, seen the video. more needed about your interaction with the crew-are you getting to know them or are they keeping their distance. What nationalities are they-all Italian?
Dad xxx
wonderful!! I cried all the way through — it was the music you understand !!!
Mum xxx
Looks very civilised!! And glad to see you had a pedicure done Chloe before your biking adventure, essential preparation?! Rob is also very impressed with the dining hall and the 4 course menu, (doing the card according to my husband?!) . . happy sailing x x x
Nice tune! Your cabin (especially the bathroom) looks cosy! Lol hope the crossing of the great ocean is smooth! 🙂
adios amigos! :p xx
Ha Ha, Class!
This doesn’t portray two people (or certainly one anyway) going slowly insane on a cargo ship to South America in any way what so ever.
Your not drinking sea water are you? I seem to recall that has a funny effect on people.
2 weeks into the 4 week crossing, I’m looking forward to the next post closer to Buenos Aires 😉
All the best guys!
Good effort Granger. Perhaps try rendering a bit higher than 240p next time – the resolution is quite low, especially for the photographs. You look like you’re entertaining yourself well though.
I am liking the dining hall. I was expecting it to be more pirate-esq, but it looks very civilised indeed.
High5.