Day 3 Sunday 4th September Transit to Scrabster
Breakfast was in the mid section restaurant, the Peninsular. After breakfast I went out on deck at the stern to look for dolphins and any passing ships. The good news was that the weather had picked up after the ‘rough’ seas overnight and I had clear views all around. Oriana was scheduled to run at over 20 knots to get to Scrabster early on Monday morning.
I was joined out on deck with lots of photographers including a fellow camera club member who like me was looking for images for competitions. Luckily for me he was an expert on birds and was able to give me a running commentary on what we were watching. There was enough wildlife about for everyone to be able to catch an image.
The day was clear enough to see aircraft passing overhead on their way to Ireland.
Lunch was in the Peninsular restaurant was a salad followed by fishcakes accompanied by a bottle of London Pride then it was back out on deck at the stern.
A yacht passed by on the starboard side under sail and alongside it I could make out a pod of dolphins. But by then it was too far away for a picture but this did give me hope that there might be more in the area.
But instead of dolphins my first clear image was that of a seal that suddenly bobbed up and then moments later again only this time with a fish in its mouth.
We were close enough to Scotland to be able see this lighthouse.
We then began to see dolphins way away on the starboard side. The pod then came closer and closer to Oriana. As the dolphins were still a long way from the ship the sequence was shot with 560mm of lenses.
With the help of my photographic compatriot I was able to identify Ailsa Craig away on our starboard side.
We ran into a few rain showers but thanks to the way the decks are on Oriana we could still watch the sea and stay dry. After the rain had passed we watched another pod of dolphins. Again they were some way away from Oriana so I was using 560mm of lenses.
As we passed Stranraer we could see a ferry in the port and then a few dolphins were just lazily swimming very close to the ship (for a change!).
My last image outside on deck was that of a fishing boat in The Minches.
After a day out on deck it was time for a spot of reading while the quiz was on in Taverners and then a quick visit to Andersons for a quiet time as the bar wasn’t open. As this was the first formal night of the cruise we had to leave Anderson’s Bar at 6 pm.
The Captain’s cocktail party for us was held forward in the Crows Nest. I met some fellow Facebook cruise group members for a friendly update on cruising with P&O. The Captain told us in his speech that tomorrow would be a maiden call for Oriana at Scrabster.
Dinner was the Marco Pierre White menu, asparagus spears with egg and Parmesan cheese, beef soup with marmite (!), beef followed by pear tatin.
Later that evening as we left the casino Captain Cook was entertaining fellow passengers with a lively version of Delihah in The Taverners Bar which somehow rounded off a perfect day.