Swor Down Under: ship

Showing posts with label ship. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

July 3, 2012

I had a peculiar dream last night, in which all of the people I met in Australia were exact copies of the people I left behind in the US, so I could accurately predict their behaviors, and we all got along as if we were old friends, though we'd only just met.

It is too windy to hang the hammock this morning - gusts up to 20 miles per hour. The temperature is 11.77 °C (53 °F) when I visit the bridge at 0900, where I speak with James and 3rd Officer Yap. The former was in the Royal Navy for 9 years; he worked in the engine room. He asks Yap if he wants to be a captain some day. "No," he answers. "I am just trying to make money. I want to work maybe 5 years and then go home." It turns out, he is interested in art, but wants to teach at the sailing academy.

James has a GPS, a Garmin Nuvi 40, which he bought to get around Australia. He offers to sell it to me for half the price he paid (which he doesn't remember), but doesn't want more than $80 for it. At lunch, he suggests that if I can pay him in US dollars, it would be even better, since he will stop there on his way home, and he'd like a little spending money. I return to my cabin and tally up my remaining cash. $82.50. I give it to him a couple hours later, when he pokes his head into my open doorway as he's coming in off the deck. He tells me he is planning to get off in Melbourne to get some beer. He drinks, on average, four cans a day, so a case won't even last him a week, and the ship's store doesn't open nearly that often.

I go up to the bridge around 1430 and the 2nd Mate introduces me to the new 2nd Mate, who we'd taken on in Sydney. He is also Filipino, in his mid 30s. Our old 2nd is getting off in Melbourne with us, to fly back to the Philippines.

Monday, July 2, 2012

July 2, 2012

Journal notes:

Arrival in Sydney
Meeting our new passenger, James
East Gardens Mall
Pagewood Rex Hotel
Waiting, waiting, and more waiting

Pictures:

June 30-July 1, 2012

I'll cover both days in the same entry, because nothing much happened. Seas were a bit rougher than previously. Winds permitting, I spent most of the daytime hours reading from my hammock. We are headed more southerly now, and the weather is turning cooler. On 30 June, I could go outside in shorts and a fleece vest. On 1 July, I opted for long pants and socks. Temperatures were in the upper 60s (~20 °C) during the days, maybe somewhere in the 50s (12-13 °C) at night. On 30 June the weather was clear most of the day. 1 July was cloudy, with maybe a couple of light showers. There's a drought back home. Dad's email said it was 107 (41.7 °C) at the farm. He had been target shooting, but had to quit because he was afraid of starting a fire. Mom's email said there was a record high in Nashville - 109 (42.8 °C).

At breakfast on 1 July, the chief engineer turned off the air conditioner for the first time since I boarded in Savannah.

Friday, June 29, 2012

June 29, 2012

Journal notes:

Farewell, Eric
The bus stop beggar
The bus ride (and subsequent hike) to the zoo
Leaving New Caledonia

Pictures:

Peacock

White-throated pigeon

Barn owl

Pacific flying fox
It's a fruit bat, and thus has no echolocation

Parakeets and budgerigars (budgees)

Short-billed Corella

Eclectus parrot

Sulphur-crested cockatoo
They are quite common in northern Australia, and are terribly noisy when you're trying to sleep in a tent.

Wrinkled hornbill

Royal parrot

Galah
I thought this was something special until I drove through central Australia.
They are everywhere, and in huge flocks.

Rainbow lorikeet

Peregrine Falcon.
The fastest animal in the world, it divebombs its prey from above, reaching speeds in excess of 200mph

Kagu. It is native to New Caledonia and is listed as an endangered species

Farm animals - goat and deer

A better shot of the deer

Spiders in the trees above the walkway

These protest signs were hung on the way back to the shipyard. Although the island is no longer a French colony, I believe there may still be some discrimination against the native population.

June 28, 2012

Journal summary:

Noumea, New Caledonia
Noumea Museum
St. Joseph's Cathedral
La Table
Tjibaou Cultural Center
Olympic Celebration
I finally get my hammock

Pictures:

Tjibaou Cultural Center

Jean-Marie Tjibaou

June 26, 2012

Journal notes:

Noumea in two days. We will have a shore crane this time
I make sweet tea for the first time since leaving the South
I discover the red binder with tourist maps. Gee, that might have been useful to know about.
The second engineer's stories

"Sarah"
The Romanian seaman, buying toys for his children
The Romanian seaman's unplanned family reunion in Brazil

Bounty rum - good stuff
This entry has some explicit language in it. If you wish to read it, but without the swearing, you have some options, depending on your browser:

For Google Chrome, you can install the F Off! plugin. I recommend this if you are trying to keep your children from being exposed to naughty words.
For Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Opera, you can install F-Stop. Note that when hovering the mouse over censored language, the original profanity will appear when using this plugin.
For Internet Explorer, please download and install one of the other browsers and plugins.

This entry also has some "sailors' stories," which some may find inappropriate. I have included them in the interest of providing an accurate depiction of life at sea.