I'm afraid I'm going to have to start changing names and other references to protect the innocent, namely me. This way I'll be able to write freely about my experiences at sea without fear of legal reprisal (although I may suffer personal reprisals if individuals recognize themselves).

This is a good time to start this policy as there are some new recruits I want to talk about, and some others I'd like to dig into a bit more. But let's start with the new recruits.

Antonin is from Russia, and he plays trumpet. So far he seems to be very stiff and formal, but perhaps that's because he's new, and doesn't speak much English (much to our musical director's displeasure). Other horn players in the band say he plays out of tune, but I haven't noticed this. I think they just don't like him. He's certainly not as bad in that department as at least one other trumpet player we've had on this ship.

Eddie, our new trombonist, is from the US. He's a bit of a mystery so far, but being a red-head, I think he should be watched and I'm keeping my eye on him. From what I can tell on the other side of the bandstand, he seems to play well. In any case, I haven't noticed anything glaring to be amiss - unlike the last trombone player, who had problems things like sound and pitch. Eddie is here only until our 'real' musical director, who is also a trombone player, returns on the 7th of February.

Chas is our new, but also temporary, tenor sax player. He's been musical director on other ships, and knows Eddie and our musical director, both of whom he has worked with before. Chas has long hair, eats mainly meat (and lots of it!) but he plays well and has a sharp, if somewhat cruel, sense of humour. Chas hails from around Boston.

Jason, from Calgary, is our new alto player. He, too, has been playing on the ships for several years, and knows some of the other new guys. I'm not sure how long he's here for. Maybe a long time, but probably not.

For now, our drummer is Joe, from Nyawk (Mount Vernon, actually). He's our newest addition, so I don't have much to say about him yet. He plays well, but we haven't tried a show with him yet. Joe is also a temporary hire, until our 'real' drummer returns from Poland later in February. Maybe.

You already know the others from previous posts, but I'll identify them by their new names here.

Guitar: Juan, from Argentina. Small, squirrellike, and almost out of control when he gets excited. But he's a good guitarist, and he reads very well, being also a violin player. All he needs is a tight rein on his training bit and a little more time to learn the idioms. Juan is my cabinmate.

Trumpet (we have two trumpets): Tony. Tony has perhaps taken one or two too many contracts on ships. He's a reasonably good player, but his attitude to the gig, and his whole approach to life, is entirely negative. He'd make a good curmudgeon if his sarcasm were seasoned with wit, but unfortunately he produces few quotable or memorable comments. I have a feeling he works behind the scenes in devious ways – private chats with musical directors and so on.

Musical Director: Eric, from England. He's the one with the nervous twitch that comes and goes depending on how many competent English speakers there are in the band. Eric plays keyboards, and is a good musician and a good bandleader. He's been extremely busy since he took over for our regular MD. Personnel changes, schedule problems due to outbreaks of disease, etc. etc.

We also have an entirely new cast of dancers and singers as of last Sunday. I'll fill you in on these guys as I get to know them. One of the dancers, Tiva, is Eric's girlfriend.

Tomorrow we have our first rehearsal with the new cast, so I'll have more to say in a few days.