Adventure on the high seas

Sailors call the Bay of Biscay “Vomiting Venus”. It’s one of the most challenging and feared bodies of water anywhere, notorious for mountainous swells and fierce storms that have sunk countless vessels over the centuries. Even before we depart on Brittany Ferries’ sleek new ship Salamanca that links Ireland directly with Spain, my stomach heaves from a pungent fishy smell, lurking in the bowels of ferry ships the world over.

A terrible sailor, I’m keeping ...