Up the creek without a paddle… But plenty of Charlie
The plan today was to head back down to the marina with Richard and take Charlie the boat out for the day, so up good and early, packed our bags and had a spot of breakfast then straight down to the marina we went.
As usual in Dubai it was a gorgeous day and in the sunshine Charlie looked even better, all white and shiny and lovely. After a days boating fun Jo, Mandy, Georgie and I will be staying on the lovely Charlie in the lovely marina for the next 3 nights until we head back home to the UK. Bags dropped off Jo, Georgie and I all went to the local supermarket on the marina to by supplies for our time on board, of course we came back with far oo much food of everything but at least if we got marooned we would be good for a week or two.
Supplies supplied and packed away in the small but perfectly formed galley we had a short safety talk from captain Richard about what to grab if Charlie sinks and where the life jackets are etc. Then with civilised roar the engines fired up and we all sat up on the fly deck as Richard to OK us gently out of the marina and into the open sea… At which point shirts came off, beers where opened and the throttle was wedged open.
For such a large boat I was not expecting it to have the kind of power that it did, there was a slight wind at sea and that made the sea a little choppy but Charlie cut right through any waves in its way with a kind of rowdy elegance. As the wake behind the boat got bigger so the amazing skyline of Dubai slowly sank out of view and into the haze that hangs over the city. We followed the coastline all the around the giant Palm Jameira and got to take a look see at the awesome Atlantis hotel from sea, a side of it that I’m sure only few people will ever get the chance to see and regardless of the fact we were there the day before it was still just as impressive. Staying with the coast we passed the newest development The world… The one where they are making loads of new islands off shore in the shape of the countries of the world. At this point Georgie the newly appointed galley wench emerged from the galley with armfuls of delicious grub for us to enjoy as we turned down the creek and away from the open sea. Heading up the creek it was hard not to notice the fact we were on by far the finest most luxurious boat there, every other boat seemed to be either the Indian trade boats piled high with goods or cross creek ferries jammed with people going back and forth in the burning sun, such stark contrast does make you feel a little bad, but I suppose that’s a good thing, some of the tourists taking the local way across the creek on the small ferries were even taking pictures of us gently plodding along sipping beers and generally looking like rock stars or something. This really wasn’t helping Georgie or I to re-adjust to normal life again but fuck it… When were we ever going to do this again!
We didn’t go right up the creek, after all on a boat like this there were no paddles… So we turned about and started on our way back, again following the coast but this time sweeping in nice and close to the Burj hotel, an amazing sight from any angle but again getting to see it from the sea was something special. By this point Jo had fallen asleep and was napping on the fly deck and Georgie and I were laying out on the front deck enjoying the sun and being back on the water and back with Jo and Mandy after so long. We roared past the spot where they are set to moor up the QE2 soon and turn it into a floating restaurant then slowed up to gently sway back into the marina for the night. Richard executed a textbook spot of reversing and then had to dash off to meet family at the airport in Abu Dabi, leaving Jo, Mandy, Georgie and I alone on Charlie for the night.
We all got settled in and unpacked and had planned to go out for dinner at one of the many marina restaurants but while at the supermarket Georgie had spotted some inspiring ingredients and decided to take on her role as galley wench very seriously and cook us all a wonderful dinner on the boat… And wonderful it was, with a backdrop of one of the shiniest cities in the world we all sat aboard Charlie and ate and drank until it was time for bed…
