I write this on December 31st, not being sure when I can post it!
The ship travels at a speed of about 14.5 knots across seemingly endless ocean. The Captain explained that this slowish speed is to save fuel and be more pollution conscious. He also admitted that the company saves money, which he says is the real reason. I thought it was interesting that heavy fuel, which the ship uses, had an international limit at 3.50 % sulphur content. As of January 1st, 2020, the international regulation will change to a 0.5 % sulphur cap. A drastic reduction. In some places, including San Francisco, the Panama Canal and certain ports in China, this number will eventually be set at 0.1% sulphur limit. Our ship has already changed fuel to the new sulphur percentage. We will have a Chief Engineer change in Singapore and the present Chief Engineer has had to use up a certain “tank of fuel” before he can make the switchover. This makes me feel like I know what’s going on at sea, but I when I try to be less of a “shore person” (or Land Rat) in the Captain’s eyes, he just laughs at me. Shore people are hilarious. At the beginning of the 35 day trek, I sometimes saw another ship on the horizon every 3 or 4 days. By the time we were past South Africa, I saw one or two every day. Heading toward Indonesia and now approaching Singapore, we are on an oceanic freeway! We meet or pass seven or eight a day and more, though they are still at a distance. The crew is at work. They are very kind and help make my time aboard as pleasant as possible, but I try not to interrupt their work and spend most of every day in my own company. Nothing changes much from day to day. As Stewie says, “Every day is Monday!”
( Cookie=cook Stewie=steward,)
Stewie getting ready for Christmas
I like to walk on the U deck, and do most days. I prefer counterclockwise (Don’t ask me why: Is it because I’m right handed? Dunno.) so when I want to walk 5km (the usual) I go 3 rounds clockwise, starting on the starboard side and then go 4 rounds my favourite way (counterclockwise) cutting off that 4th round at the ⅔ passage to make a total of 6.75ish rounds. I mark my rounds with seven little pieces of broken metal I’ve found, since I get thinking and forget which round I’m on. I forget to use my markers sometimes too though, so measuring the walk is obviously just for fun!
Vicente is the Deck Fitter, called Fitter by the crew. I’m not sure what that means or what he does, but when I am walking on the U deck, he is often concentrating on something from a crouched position or standing position, pulling levers, sautering (welding?), tightening stuff with big tools in his hands, one of them being a wrench. Sometimes he has a clipboard and pen. He obviously knows what he does! Like all of the crew on the busy deck, he wears red coveralls, protects his ears, wears gloves etc.
He seems happy to share his deck with me. I encounter him there the most often, but occasionally in other places on the ship in the course of a week. “Good morning, Madam!” “Good afternoon, Madam!” He always smiles. He comments on the beauty of the day, answers questions thoughtfully, laughs delightedly with the crew, nods when listening to them. I heard him speak lovingly of his 21 year old son “Vincent” and his 18 year old daughter. He always has an aura of kindness and compassion around him it seems. I once shared a taxi with him on the shore leave in Kingston, when we had a very pleasant conversation, especially while we were waiting. I wonder if others feel so happy and warm when they encounter him. I think they must! In vain I have tried to get him to call me Lynne instead of Madam. I said, “But Vicente, we’re friends!” “Ok,” he replied, “You can look me up on facebook.” Here he is, on a merchant vessel at sea, one of those people on earth who reminds the rest of us what grace looks like.
When at sea, the swimming pool gets re-filled every couple of days. Depending on where we are, the water will be warm or cold. The pool is about 5m by 3m and I isolate each limb in a figure eight pattern and sometimes use the loop that is attached by a rope so you can “swim” without going anywhere to practise your strokes. The salt water is wonderfully buoyant and smells nice. Chief says it smells alive. (Chief Officer Vasily is called Chief or Chiefmate by all the crew. Even Chief Engineer is called Chief Engineer, usually not Chief. Only Chief is called Chief, but I think equally often Chiefmate) I take a sauna once a week or so before my dip in the pool. Luckily, Fraser recommended downloading podcasts, so I can listen to interesting radio programs this way while I climb on the cross trainer in the “gymnasium” beside the pool a couple of times a week. I will have to wait until mid-January to swim again though, when we will next be only at sea. The pool will remain empty while we go from port to port through Asia.
Luckily, Jean and Alice recommended that I get a kindle! I have a big library in one little wee “book”, and I don’t even need my glasses since I can set it to a larger font. I have read some terrific books. I highly recommend “Born a Crime” by Trevor Noah and “The Nature Fix” by Florence Williams. I’ve enjoyed “Take This Bread” by Sara Miles , “Marley Was Dead” by Lenny Everson, “The Book of Tea” by Kakuzo Okakura, “Messy Maths” by Juliet Robertson (outdoor math activities in kindergarten), “Five Love Languages” by Gary Chapman, “My Life with the Eskimo” by Vilhjalmur Stefansson, published in 1913--this was really interesting to me, since he had really bang on forward thinking (over a hundred years ago) about the problems that would come of shutting away ancient cultures and traditions of the aboriginal people of those territories. Plus it was exciting to read about the Northwest Territories, having been there so recently myself. My main reason for wanting to go there in the first place was because of having taken a correspondence course about 17 years ago called “The Geography of Northern Canada” out of Athabasca University, which I loved, and it had me dreaming of going into the NWT “someday”, and the explorer I chose to write my essay on was Vilhjalmur Stefansson! I have re-read David Copperfield (Dickens) and Pride and Prejudice (Austin) --delighful! I have re-read the whole Earth Children’s series (Jean Auel). I have enjoyed Moby Dick! I wasn’t sure about Moby Dick (Melville), having a modern sensibility about killing whales, racism and sexism, but I had no idea it would be such a fun book. Especially at sea! I’ve just started a book recommended by my friend Bill, “Enlightenment Now: the case for reason, science, humanism and progress” by Steven Pinker--sounds good eh? It is easy, in this luxurious life, to read a book or a novel every day, which I have certainly taken advantage of. “The Divine Comedy” by Dante is heavy slogging though, I’m still in Purgatory, and I am also slogging through a translated detective story I found in the passenger recreation room, by Patricia Cornwell called “Cadavre X”, en francais, which hasn’t been so easy! Le passe simple is not so simple I find, especially when mixed with present tense dialogue. I do use googletranslate as my dictionary when I need to, although it doesn’t help too much with the slang. The weird thing is that the body is found in a container on a shipping vessel!!!!
I had the great fortune of being invited to the semi-finals of the basketball tournament. Team 1 vs. Team 3. It’s a 3 person vs. 3 person game using one basket. I followed some players down, down, down into the belly of the ship, past the huge, hot and loud engine room, past some loud, gigantic machines to the VERY LOUD and hot steering room which is where the basketball court is. I was grateful to have my fancy musician’s ear plugs! I didn’t know which team was which or who played on which so I cheered for everybody (although I doubt they could hear me!). I cheered for every basket. I couldn’t help cheering a little louder when Vicente scored one, but I don’t think anyone heard the difference.
Chiefmate wore a wonderful yellow basketball uniform that said “Hydra” on it and I loved watching him play with the crew. Everybody tried their best, laughing at mistakes, cheering each other on, sweating, competitive, playing their hearts out. I learned that Team 3 won, although I had no idea who they were. I loved being the fan. Even the Raptors couldn’t have given me more pleasure.
A few weeks later, I peeked in at the ping pong tournament to watch a few action-packed games.
I love their healthy ways of having fun.
The Christmas party was such a joy! It took place on a sunny and hot afternoon on the E deck: December 24 at 16:30, somewhere in the Indian Ocean.
There was one long table made of several tables covered with a festive red tablecloth. The one long table showed, as Santa Claus (2nd Engineer) often said to the crew in the course of the party, that we are all one family, officers, crew and even passenger. I had a nice chat with Victor (AB, whiuch means able-bodied seaman) who was beside me as we ate. What a feast! They had roasted a whole pig on a spit outside on the barbeque and served other wonderful dishes like shrimp kabobs, steak, and dumplings, the delicious Polish cabbage dish that Captain, Chief Engineer and 2nd Engineer made, the beautiful and yummy cake that Alina (4th Officer) made and a fruit dessert that John Paul (Stewie) made. I made cookies too.
Santa Claus gave each crew member (and one passenger) a gift if they told him they were good all year. Otherwise, there was a stick behind the stairs going up to F deck. I assured him that I was good, so he gave me a beautifully wrapped truckload of chocolate. It seems that everyone was good as I never saw the stick! He had the crew join him one by one, giving them their gift and telling each one how much they are appreciated and part of one family.
When he got to Stewie he said that now that Stewie had his gift, he expected perfect eggs for breakfast--this is obviously an in-joke, as he said the same thing to Cookie! He and Chief Engineer and the Bosun (like a foreman) have been together on trips with this same shipping company for 13 years. They became very sentimental when it was Bosun’s turn. I enjoyed their moment. I was let in on the deeper respect they have for each other underneath the respect the entire crew outwardly shows. This professional respect is necessary when on these long voyages together. It was one of the first things that I (and Heinz) noticed when coming aboard.
Then came the awards ceremony. The winners of the basketball tournament were awarded with medals. The MVP award was presented by the Captain. Chief Engineer awarded the 3rd place team. This was Alina’s team, and after receiving her bronze medal, and a handshake, she was kissed on the cheek as well. This put everyone in uproar! She took the teasing with ease and a dignified smile, as she must, as the only seawoman aboard. I was asked to present the awards to the first place team, and the crowd insisted that I kiss each one. So I did. I put the medallion around each neck, shook each winner’s hand and kissed each 1st place right cheek. Ohhh--the uproar!
In order to award each team in their turn, someone ran up to the navigation deck and/or down to the engine room to replace the person on watch so they could receive their award. This taking of turns on watch throughout the meal, throughout Santa’s gift-giving and throughout the awards ceremony was one of the most delightful and generous things I saw, each person scrambling to get to the post quickly in order to give another a Christmas pleasure.
As if on cue, at the end of the ceremonies, a tropical storm blew up! It started with a sudden strong wind and I saw sparks from the barbeque flying past the end of the table against the now dark sky. At first I thought that someone had lit fireworks for Christmas, which seemed oddly dangerous. Seconds later, the wind was twice as strong and sheets of rain covered our Christmas table. Everyone jumped into action. They saved the electric equipment first and then quickly put food and dishes into containers and boxes to take indoors. I helped too, ignoring the protests of the crew (I’m the “passenger” aka Queen of Leisure). We got everything in, the Captain commenting to me, “This is life on the sea.”
I changed into dry clothes, then joined the crew in their recreation room where I played cajon with the guitar players and tried to sing along. Eventually, the karaoke started and Bosun became Tom Jones and Englebert Humperdink and sang to me as the love of his life. I returned to my cabin with a light and laughing heart.
At 2 am, Santa Claus’ alter ego tiptoed down to C deck, then D deck and E deck, up to G deck and ending back on F deck, hanging carefully prepared socks (containing chocolate, candy canes, Santa hats and the other sock in the pair) on 24 door handles. She was very frightened of getting caught, but didn’t! On 3rd Officer John’s door there was already a sock hanging from a magnet. Santa had to make sure she didn’t laugh aloud and wake the deck! She carefully wrapped the sock around the bottom of the prepared sock as if the prepared sock was put inside the expectant sock. All without laughing aloud!
The next morning, on Christmas Day, the passenger (lazy Queen of Leisure), slept in and skipped breakfast. Later, John (3rd) and a few other crew members thanked her for something to do with socks. She looked at them bewildered saying, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
A Christmas I will never forget.
so lovely
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