Well eh it's now about 1o'clock I should be in my bunk, but eh for the first time since we arrived here in the Caribbean, I've got internet connection. We're at anchor and I finished my waych an hour ago... life's still good! tomorrow we'll drop our guest's of, and rush to St.Maarten to pick up the owner and his friends and family who will join us for the New Years cruise... I just wanted to upload what i've written on the crossing, it might not be alot, but at least it's something...
We celebrated christmas with a crew only barbeque on a beautyfull beach in the Tobago Cays, I fell asleep in a beach chair after showing some locals how to paralyze a lobster... hehe they didn't know that trick, but eh in return they showed me a new way to kill and prepare these strange animals... it sounds absolutely horrible i know, but i find it very interresting!
I'm dropdead tired, and tomorrow I'm going in to the 12-4 watch, still starting at 8 though, so it will be a 12hour straight day of work for me, i should be in sleeping by now...
I wish you all a Happy New Year... may the new year be better than the best one so far.... I send y'all sunshine (i've had too much already) and loving thoughts...
take care, and keep your feet warm....
Ninon
oh and by the way...
Dear C.
Congratulations!!! i'm very happy for you, and very much looking forward to your polterabend and for obviuos reasons your wedding... let me know as far in advance as possible so i can make sure i'm in the country. I wouldn't want to miss out on your big day!!!
Dear Taz!
Congratulations!!! I'm happy for you that it wen't quickly and with out any problems! looking forward to see the little wondergirl in may when i get home...
Take good care of yourself and your little family...
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Martinique-Barbados
At sea Martinique-Barbados 20 Dec.2007
We left Fort-De-France, Martinique, yesterday but since we are not allowed to be at anchor without prior clearance (Customs, immigrations… etc) the Captain decided to go at anchor in Grand Anse, Just around the corner from Fort-De-France, since we just “checked out” we couldn’t go ashore. A pity ‘cause maybe it was our last chance in the next coming weeks with all the cruises, the schedule for that looks absolutely crazy. Anyway we had a nice afternoon/evening at anchor, had a few beers, went early to bed and had a good night of sleep! I needed that, I think we all did. So now we are on our way to Barbados to pick up the 26 Americans for the next coming Christmas-cruise…
I was very happy to leave Martinique, I didn’t like it there. It was a strange place, people where not so friendly as they are on other of the Caribbean islands and eh well I don’t know, just not a nice place. The night before yesterday we went out, we where supposed to have dinner all of us, but eh it was my dear friends last evening on board, so we decided to leave a bit earlier and catch up on all the girly chitchat before she left, when we finally met up with the rest, they where paying their bill and was ready to go back to the ship, so eh we joined them and started walking back, at some point just before the gate to the harbour I was walking about 100m in front of the rest, so I turned around a corner and walked towards the ship, I noticed that a white car followed me around the corner. There was a truck parked and behind that one the car stopped, I didn’t really pay attention to it, but somehow I must have, ‘cause when this tiny little guy jumps out of the car and tries to steal my handbag, (which I would never carry if I was alone) I hold on to it and tell him that he shouldn’t even try ‘cause “I have friends behind me” he got surprised, he looks at me, like “what are you doing? You’re supposed to just give it to me” he tries again and by then I shouted straight in to his face that he shouldn’t do it ‘cause I wasn’t alone, with one arm I held on to my belongings and turned away from him and pushed him away with my elbow, again he looks funny at me, but then a colleague of mine comes running around the corner, and three other big guys and two girls right after, he runs off really scared, and tries to catch up with his “colleague” in the car who drives off really fast… it all happened within 2min, and honestly I think that the guy who tried to rob me, got more surprised than I did, both because I kind of fought back and because all of a sudden, I was not alone, we where 7! If he had succeeded he probably would have been very disappointed, I had a pair of flip flops and 5euros… I never carry my money in my bag, and normally I would never go out with a handbag in place like that. The risk is just too big, it’s like walking around with a pink neon sign *BLINK* “please rob me, I’m a stupid blonde” *BLINK* being a white blonde girl, is usually enough to make it risky. No need to make it worse by carrying a little handbag and too much jewellery, which I don’t normally do either, not even when I’m not at work, I never really liked wearing all that stuff anyway, except maybe a watch, but that I usually leave at the ship when we go out anyway. So my golden rules, is not to wear a lot of jewellery, watches, high heels or hand bags, when I go out in places, where a white blonde girl could never be a local. So far it has kept me out of trouble, the one night, I didn’t stick to my “rules” some moron tried to rob me, so eh I guess I’ll stick to them from now on!!!
Well apart from this, our stay in Martinique has been relatively uneventful…
As I wrote we are now on our way to Barbados, to pick up cruise guests. We will sail them to some fantastic places and tender them a shore and while they are away, we’ll clean, clean, clean and do the dishes… we have a saying on board for these situations,
“sailors is what we are and cleaning is what we do!” we will stay in the sea watches, which will mean that none of us, will be able to go ashore at any time the next coming weeks! That’s not entirely true, since we have Christmas coming up, we are thinking that since the guest will have a fantastic dinner in the longroom and there’s not enough place for us in the crew mess we might get to do a Crew-only barbeque on the beach… that would be nice, but eh since we as Quartermasters have be a good example at all times, and my watch normally does the evening dishes, I volunteered to do them. It was a “split-second” decision, at a moment where I could only think of reasons for me not to like Christmas. But now when I come to think about it, it will most probably be one of those evenings, where I wished I was there, not because I’m a big fan of Christmas, but because it will most probably be a really nice evening. But oh well somebody’s got to do the dishes, and then hopefully I get New Years Eve of!!!
Oh well “tuff titties” as we also say a lot out here, there always has to be some one to do the dirty jobs at the most inconvenient times…
As in now for example, where I have to be on watch in 15min, I’d rather just, turn this thing of, turn around, turn my mp3 player on and listen to Kasper Winding reading Winnie-the-Pooh and fall asleep in the mean time. But eh no, 4hours of watch is coming up… So eh I’ll better stop for now and continue some other time, hopefully I’ll soon have a chance to actually put this on the internet instead of just writing stories to myself…
Laterrrr Ninon
We left Fort-De-France, Martinique, yesterday but since we are not allowed to be at anchor without prior clearance (Customs, immigrations… etc) the Captain decided to go at anchor in Grand Anse, Just around the corner from Fort-De-France, since we just “checked out” we couldn’t go ashore. A pity ‘cause maybe it was our last chance in the next coming weeks with all the cruises, the schedule for that looks absolutely crazy. Anyway we had a nice afternoon/evening at anchor, had a few beers, went early to bed and had a good night of sleep! I needed that, I think we all did. So now we are on our way to Barbados to pick up the 26 Americans for the next coming Christmas-cruise…
I was very happy to leave Martinique, I didn’t like it there. It was a strange place, people where not so friendly as they are on other of the Caribbean islands and eh well I don’t know, just not a nice place. The night before yesterday we went out, we where supposed to have dinner all of us, but eh it was my dear friends last evening on board, so we decided to leave a bit earlier and catch up on all the girly chitchat before she left, when we finally met up with the rest, they where paying their bill and was ready to go back to the ship, so eh we joined them and started walking back, at some point just before the gate to the harbour I was walking about 100m in front of the rest, so I turned around a corner and walked towards the ship, I noticed that a white car followed me around the corner. There was a truck parked and behind that one the car stopped, I didn’t really pay attention to it, but somehow I must have, ‘cause when this tiny little guy jumps out of the car and tries to steal my handbag, (which I would never carry if I was alone) I hold on to it and tell him that he shouldn’t even try ‘cause “I have friends behind me” he got surprised, he looks at me, like “what are you doing? You’re supposed to just give it to me” he tries again and by then I shouted straight in to his face that he shouldn’t do it ‘cause I wasn’t alone, with one arm I held on to my belongings and turned away from him and pushed him away with my elbow, again he looks funny at me, but then a colleague of mine comes running around the corner, and three other big guys and two girls right after, he runs off really scared, and tries to catch up with his “colleague” in the car who drives off really fast… it all happened within 2min, and honestly I think that the guy who tried to rob me, got more surprised than I did, both because I kind of fought back and because all of a sudden, I was not alone, we where 7! If he had succeeded he probably would have been very disappointed, I had a pair of flip flops and 5euros… I never carry my money in my bag, and normally I would never go out with a handbag in place like that. The risk is just too big, it’s like walking around with a pink neon sign *BLINK* “please rob me, I’m a stupid blonde” *BLINK* being a white blonde girl, is usually enough to make it risky. No need to make it worse by carrying a little handbag and too much jewellery, which I don’t normally do either, not even when I’m not at work, I never really liked wearing all that stuff anyway, except maybe a watch, but that I usually leave at the ship when we go out anyway. So my golden rules, is not to wear a lot of jewellery, watches, high heels or hand bags, when I go out in places, where a white blonde girl could never be a local. So far it has kept me out of trouble, the one night, I didn’t stick to my “rules” some moron tried to rob me, so eh I guess I’ll stick to them from now on!!!
Well apart from this, our stay in Martinique has been relatively uneventful…
As I wrote we are now on our way to Barbados, to pick up cruise guests. We will sail them to some fantastic places and tender them a shore and while they are away, we’ll clean, clean, clean and do the dishes… we have a saying on board for these situations,
“sailors is what we are and cleaning is what we do!” we will stay in the sea watches, which will mean that none of us, will be able to go ashore at any time the next coming weeks! That’s not entirely true, since we have Christmas coming up, we are thinking that since the guest will have a fantastic dinner in the longroom and there’s not enough place for us in the crew mess we might get to do a Crew-only barbeque on the beach… that would be nice, but eh since we as Quartermasters have be a good example at all times, and my watch normally does the evening dishes, I volunteered to do them. It was a “split-second” decision, at a moment where I could only think of reasons for me not to like Christmas. But now when I come to think about it, it will most probably be one of those evenings, where I wished I was there, not because I’m a big fan of Christmas, but because it will most probably be a really nice evening. But oh well somebody’s got to do the dishes, and then hopefully I get New Years Eve of!!!
Oh well “tuff titties” as we also say a lot out here, there always has to be some one to do the dirty jobs at the most inconvenient times…
As in now for example, where I have to be on watch in 15min, I’d rather just, turn this thing of, turn around, turn my mp3 player on and listen to Kasper Winding reading Winnie-the-Pooh and fall asleep in the mean time. But eh no, 4hours of watch is coming up… So eh I’ll better stop for now and continue some other time, hopefully I’ll soon have a chance to actually put this on the internet instead of just writing stories to myself…
Laterrrr Ninon
Martinique
Martinique 15.Dec.2007
Finally 2 days ago, we had land in sight, St. Lucia. Eastern Caribbean. It was a really fast crossing, record for this ship! 13 days (actually only 12days and 14hours!!!) under sail alone, not a single engine hour! Many Nice!
We dropped our anchor in Rodney Bay, in the middle of the night, so I was sleeping and didn’t see land until early the next morning, but it felt so nice to get up on deck, look around and see green mountains, turquoise water and sandy beaches… it wasn’t like arriving in paradise, but still it felt really good! We worked hard all day, putting boats in the water (our sloop and the Rib) preparing swim stairs and all those things that in a few days will be standard procedure every single day!!! So eh next time we have to be able to do it in less than half the time, yesterday it took us approx. 6hours, the coming weeks we should be able to do it in no more than maximum 2!!!
But eh everybody was a “bit” loony, behaving really silly and talking a lot of blahblah, it was a good day though and finally we cold sit down easily and enjoy our food, without it coming flying trough the longroom! I’ve been waiting for that, for what seems like a loooong time, but actually it was only for 2 weeks! My watch got the afternoon off, so at 15.30 we left the ship and 20minutes later I grass between my toes! How that feels after 2 weeks off only water, water, water, water is difficult to describe, even though this crossing was very short, it still feels…
Wow have to continue later, gotta get some sleep, I’m the lucky winner of the watch tonight, so I’ll be the designated sloop driver, making sure people get safely ashore and back to the ship later on, completely wasted, and most probably very annoying, loud and misbehaving… just like we’ve been the last couple of days, so eh I can’t complain, really! Oh here goes the anchor… now we are in Martinique…!!! Oh well I’ll hopefully have time to finish this later…
It’s now later, I still want to finish this, but eh I’ve sailing the sloop, for the past 4hours, it’s now 00:36 and I’m absolutely nacket! (Wonder how to spell that?) Oh well not know! I’m soaking wet too, ‘cause we had a squall, luckily no wind, just rain, lots of rain! It felt like taking a shower, the sky just cracked open for about 7min and since we where sailing the sloop, we couldn’t seek shelter! Squalls are so unpredictable, we had one earlier sailing from St. Lucia (first port of call in “tha Caribbean) it lasted for about 20 minutes and came with not only rain but also 40knots of wind… crazy but very good! I went out last night, so it was a rough wake up call, about 4hours after I got out of bed! I wasn’t really awake when it happened, but I surely was afterwards!
The funny thing about squalls is that they usually come without a warning, of course we can spot them on the radar, but sometimes they catch you by surprise. So in a squall we often have to act fast! Really fast, take sails away, preferably before they hit you! But hey that’s all part of the fun of sailing. It was a good day today, my AB (Able Body sailor, who’s the second in command after me in the watch (I’m obviously second in command after the mates, who’s after the captain, which pretty much ranks me and “my” AB pretty low in the hieraki)) is a happy unit, and thinks I’m the coolest Quartermaster around, all because I let him do the manoeuvring… easy “good-will” points, but very nice!
Oh mymymy time is passing so quickly… it’s now 00:56 I think it’s about time to get out of my wet clothes, hit my bunk, and hides under my nice feather duvet and dream sweet dreams!
Finally 2 days ago, we had land in sight, St. Lucia. Eastern Caribbean. It was a really fast crossing, record for this ship! 13 days (actually only 12days and 14hours!!!) under sail alone, not a single engine hour! Many Nice!
We dropped our anchor in Rodney Bay, in the middle of the night, so I was sleeping and didn’t see land until early the next morning, but it felt so nice to get up on deck, look around and see green mountains, turquoise water and sandy beaches… it wasn’t like arriving in paradise, but still it felt really good! We worked hard all day, putting boats in the water (our sloop and the Rib) preparing swim stairs and all those things that in a few days will be standard procedure every single day!!! So eh next time we have to be able to do it in less than half the time, yesterday it took us approx. 6hours, the coming weeks we should be able to do it in no more than maximum 2!!!
But eh everybody was a “bit” loony, behaving really silly and talking a lot of blahblah, it was a good day though and finally we cold sit down easily and enjoy our food, without it coming flying trough the longroom! I’ve been waiting for that, for what seems like a loooong time, but actually it was only for 2 weeks! My watch got the afternoon off, so at 15.30 we left the ship and 20minutes later I grass between my toes! How that feels after 2 weeks off only water, water, water, water is difficult to describe, even though this crossing was very short, it still feels…
Wow have to continue later, gotta get some sleep, I’m the lucky winner of the watch tonight, so I’ll be the designated sloop driver, making sure people get safely ashore and back to the ship later on, completely wasted, and most probably very annoying, loud and misbehaving… just like we’ve been the last couple of days, so eh I can’t complain, really! Oh here goes the anchor… now we are in Martinique…!!! Oh well I’ll hopefully have time to finish this later…
It’s now later, I still want to finish this, but eh I’ve sailing the sloop, for the past 4hours, it’s now 00:36 and I’m absolutely nacket! (Wonder how to spell that?) Oh well not know! I’m soaking wet too, ‘cause we had a squall, luckily no wind, just rain, lots of rain! It felt like taking a shower, the sky just cracked open for about 7min and since we where sailing the sloop, we couldn’t seek shelter! Squalls are so unpredictable, we had one earlier sailing from St. Lucia (first port of call in “tha Caribbean) it lasted for about 20 minutes and came with not only rain but also 40knots of wind… crazy but very good! I went out last night, so it was a rough wake up call, about 4hours after I got out of bed! I wasn’t really awake when it happened, but I surely was afterwards!
The funny thing about squalls is that they usually come without a warning, of course we can spot them on the radar, but sometimes they catch you by surprise. So in a squall we often have to act fast! Really fast, take sails away, preferably before they hit you! But hey that’s all part of the fun of sailing. It was a good day today, my AB (Able Body sailor, who’s the second in command after me in the watch (I’m obviously second in command after the mates, who’s after the captain, which pretty much ranks me and “my” AB pretty low in the hieraki)) is a happy unit, and thinks I’m the coolest Quartermaster around, all because I let him do the manoeuvring… easy “good-will” points, but very nice!
Oh mymymy time is passing so quickly… it’s now 00:56 I think it’s about time to get out of my wet clothes, hit my bunk, and hides under my nice feather duvet and dream sweet dreams!
The Atlantic
Atlantic Ocean... 11.12.07
It’s 16:39 I’m off, lying in my bunk, listening to music enjoying being alone for a second, it doesn’t happen a lot… I tried a few days ago to write an email to my blog, but eh somehow it didn’t work, so eh I’ll just save it on my laptop and post whenever possible, it won’t be long… we crossed the 1000Nautical miles limit a few watches ago, so we expect to see land within the next 36hours, if the wind is with us and everything goes as planned... it would mean we did and amazingly fast crossing, 2700nm in about 11-12days. Not bad at all, they’re setting our stunsails up on deck, I should probably be there and de interested, but I’m not, so eh I’ll stay here in my cosy little bunk, writing this and mentally prepare myself for yet another night watch, I actually like them, I like just sitting in the dark and gazing at the stars thinking about nothing and everything all at the same time… the last few days, I’ve been thinking a lot about people I loved so much who are not here anymore! The other night I was standing on the Foc’s’le (the most forward part, where we keep a look out at all times) all alone keeping a sharp lookout for dolphins and icebergs (there’s none, it’s about 25* Celsius at night)… but eh I was thinking about my father, wondering if he knew what I am doing and if he’s still around somewhere, asking if he could still feel me, at that exact moment I saw a shooting star. Hmm I don’t know how much meaning I should put into it, but it did something to me… apart from that, I’m all good. Still having a good time, still enjoying it, mentally preparing for all the boring cruises we have coming up, Christmas and New Years at some beach bar in the Northern Caribbean. This is not a complaint, but I will miss the night of the 24th of Dec. I miss meeting up with people after midnight and have a good time together! I wish I could be there!
Well in mind I am…
I’m looking forward to get rid of these old farts we’ve got onboard at the moment, in general they’re really nice, I’m just tired of people!
We are heavy rolling in the infamous Atlantic swell, and it’s impossible to sit relaxed at the table eating with a fork and a knife and at the same time have a glass of something in front of you, everything slides of the table, even though there’s plastic-thingy on it. It’s been like this for the past week-10days and they still try, so everyday they smash at least 3glasses and cover the entire longroom in coffee, milk, juice, soup or whatever liquid they can find. Eating was supposed to be really nice, but by now especially the crew (the guests are still learning) are all eating like animals. Your arm around the plate holding on to it and to a glass, in the other hand a fork. You ask he person sitting next to you to hold on to your glass for a sec while you cut up everything on your plate in to eatable bites, then you just chow down your food. Meanwhile, glasses with whatever is flying cross the room ‘cause some old fart lost his balance, while trying to cross the longroom, with a plate, a bowl of soup, cutlery, napkin and a glass of wine, obviously no hand for the ship so he and his food ends on the lap of the captain of another guest. They apologize and try again! Waiting for somebody else to clean up their mess… anybody who knows me, know I like food, I enjoy sitting down having a nice chitchat while eating, now it’s just impossible! But eh that’s life… maybe the day after tomorrow we are at anchor and can eat nice and relaxed and then go for a swim! Uh that’s gonna be very nice too… a swim! It’s hot, and the sea looks so tempting, but eh I can’t even touch it, so I have to wait a bit!
We’ve had fair winds all the way, making good speed, so we haven’t done the same as last year, where we had a Mid-Atlantic Swim stop. That was crazy, swimming in the middle of the ocean, knowing there’s more than 4000meters to the bottom!
Oh by the way, we’re not alone on the Ocean, we’ve met several little yachts all participants of the ARC (Atlantic Race Challenge) they too left Las Palmas and are all going to Rodney bay on St. Lucia, since we’re a bit early, we’ll go there too, before dropping of the guests in Fort de France, on Martinique. From there we go to Barbados to pick up the guests for the Christmas cruise.
Oh well it’s dinner time, circus time… the animals are being fed!
It’s 16:39 I’m off, lying in my bunk, listening to music enjoying being alone for a second, it doesn’t happen a lot… I tried a few days ago to write an email to my blog, but eh somehow it didn’t work, so eh I’ll just save it on my laptop and post whenever possible, it won’t be long… we crossed the 1000Nautical miles limit a few watches ago, so we expect to see land within the next 36hours, if the wind is with us and everything goes as planned... it would mean we did and amazingly fast crossing, 2700nm in about 11-12days. Not bad at all, they’re setting our stunsails up on deck, I should probably be there and de interested, but I’m not, so eh I’ll stay here in my cosy little bunk, writing this and mentally prepare myself for yet another night watch, I actually like them, I like just sitting in the dark and gazing at the stars thinking about nothing and everything all at the same time… the last few days, I’ve been thinking a lot about people I loved so much who are not here anymore! The other night I was standing on the Foc’s’le (the most forward part, where we keep a look out at all times) all alone keeping a sharp lookout for dolphins and icebergs (there’s none, it’s about 25* Celsius at night)… but eh I was thinking about my father, wondering if he knew what I am doing and if he’s still around somewhere, asking if he could still feel me, at that exact moment I saw a shooting star. Hmm I don’t know how much meaning I should put into it, but it did something to me… apart from that, I’m all good. Still having a good time, still enjoying it, mentally preparing for all the boring cruises we have coming up, Christmas and New Years at some beach bar in the Northern Caribbean. This is not a complaint, but I will miss the night of the 24th of Dec. I miss meeting up with people after midnight and have a good time together! I wish I could be there!
Well in mind I am…
I’m looking forward to get rid of these old farts we’ve got onboard at the moment, in general they’re really nice, I’m just tired of people!
We are heavy rolling in the infamous Atlantic swell, and it’s impossible to sit relaxed at the table eating with a fork and a knife and at the same time have a glass of something in front of you, everything slides of the table, even though there’s plastic-thingy on it. It’s been like this for the past week-10days and they still try, so everyday they smash at least 3glasses and cover the entire longroom in coffee, milk, juice, soup or whatever liquid they can find. Eating was supposed to be really nice, but by now especially the crew (the guests are still learning) are all eating like animals. Your arm around the plate holding on to it and to a glass, in the other hand a fork. You ask he person sitting next to you to hold on to your glass for a sec while you cut up everything on your plate in to eatable bites, then you just chow down your food. Meanwhile, glasses with whatever is flying cross the room ‘cause some old fart lost his balance, while trying to cross the longroom, with a plate, a bowl of soup, cutlery, napkin and a glass of wine, obviously no hand for the ship so he and his food ends on the lap of the captain of another guest. They apologize and try again! Waiting for somebody else to clean up their mess… anybody who knows me, know I like food, I enjoy sitting down having a nice chitchat while eating, now it’s just impossible! But eh that’s life… maybe the day after tomorrow we are at anchor and can eat nice and relaxed and then go for a swim! Uh that’s gonna be very nice too… a swim! It’s hot, and the sea looks so tempting, but eh I can’t even touch it, so I have to wait a bit!
We’ve had fair winds all the way, making good speed, so we haven’t done the same as last year, where we had a Mid-Atlantic Swim stop. That was crazy, swimming in the middle of the ocean, knowing there’s more than 4000meters to the bottom!
Oh by the way, we’re not alone on the Ocean, we’ve met several little yachts all participants of the ARC (Atlantic Race Challenge) they too left Las Palmas and are all going to Rodney bay on St. Lucia, since we’re a bit early, we’ll go there too, before dropping of the guests in Fort de France, on Martinique. From there we go to Barbados to pick up the guests for the Christmas cruise.
Oh well it’s dinner time, circus time… the animals are being fed!
Atlantic
At sea, 4th Dec.2007
Well here I am, crossing the Atlantic Ocean; once again... it’s never really the same, obviously! But it’s all good, right now, nobody had a mental meltdown yet, everybody is doing just fine, for a lot of people it’s their first crossing ever, right now I’m just waiting for an opportunity to cross the Pacific… well I guess I will get the chance someday!
Actually there’s not much to say, not much to tell, not much is happening.
Every morning I get up at around 7.30 do my best to be awake and on deck 7.55 in time to get a handover and to take over the watch at 8o’clock sharp. I then say good morning to my crew and our guests, drink my “wake-up” cup of tea, smoke a cigarette, and try to come up with a plan for the coming 4 hours. Usually my plan involves teaching the guests and educating my crew… sometimes very difficult at 8 in the morning. Luckily, there’s usually not that much to do, so we do have the time to hang around and wake up. Very Nice! We hardly touch the sails or the braces. 1mile out of port, we set the sails, and eh they pretty much stand the same way… we’ve done a minimum of trimming. A pity, cause it’s good training for everybody. But eh it gives us time to do other stuff, like chipping rust, sanding, painting, varnishing and such. At 10 we have “smoko” (smoke & koffee) for about 30minutes… nice and relaxed. 11.55 we gather at the bridge for another handover, only this time I get to hand it over and go off… run down to the long room, have lunch change clothes and get back on deck around 12.30 for 4hours of maintenance. Today I was taking of varnish and sanding like crazy… at 15 we have another “smoko” and at 16 we are off, for real. NO maintenance or anything, just relaxing and maybe get a little nap. The Last couple of days, I had booked appointments at “Pfnille´s beauty Salon”
Just great hanging out doing Girly stuff, like footbaths, pedicures, facials… etc. Not something I do on a regular basis, but I enjoy it and of course we have a lot fun whilst doing it…
At 19.55 I’m back on the bridge, handover, taking over the watch, looking at the stars, drinking my tea and smoking my cigarette, getting used to the dark. The first hour or so, we take care of our inside cleaning jobs, (mostly just cleaning toilets, nice eh?) After that we do some more training and educating of both guests and crew, at 22 we have a special Blue Watch (that’s us) midnight Herb session, basically we meet up and drink green tea and tell each other fairytales while looking at the stars… 23.55 we gather at the bridge, hand over, go the long room, get a glass of wine or beer, and then meet up on deck for a last gaze at the stars, before hitting the bunk once again… So everyday pretty muck looks the same as the one before… except Sundays! Sundays we’re “off”, which means we only do watches, no maintenance! So last Sunday I was lying flat on the sloppdeck, working on my sailor tan. (T-shirt, shorts and socks) trying to even out the stripes, unfortunately I fell asleep. But I’m okay, not red or anything. Pure luck!
Tomorrow it’s “Sinta Klaes” a Dutch Christmas tradition, I’m not sure what it’s all about, but I guess I’ll find out. But eh it will be nice break in the daily routine. Not that we really need a break yet, we’ve been on our way for less than a week, and it hasn’t been loads of hard work so far. It will be when we get to the Caribbean, full on cruises, fancy, pansy rich people, wanting to be wined and dined and entertained by “The Nautical Circus”
No complaining… they are the reason I get paid to do this, it can’t be all sugar and candy, take the bitter with the sweet.
Oh well dinner is served and Pfnille’s off too, so eh I guess we’ll do something crazy….
Well here I am, crossing the Atlantic Ocean; once again... it’s never really the same, obviously! But it’s all good, right now, nobody had a mental meltdown yet, everybody is doing just fine, for a lot of people it’s their first crossing ever, right now I’m just waiting for an opportunity to cross the Pacific… well I guess I will get the chance someday!
Actually there’s not much to say, not much to tell, not much is happening.
Every morning I get up at around 7.30 do my best to be awake and on deck 7.55 in time to get a handover and to take over the watch at 8o’clock sharp. I then say good morning to my crew and our guests, drink my “wake-up” cup of tea, smoke a cigarette, and try to come up with a plan for the coming 4 hours. Usually my plan involves teaching the guests and educating my crew… sometimes very difficult at 8 in the morning. Luckily, there’s usually not that much to do, so we do have the time to hang around and wake up. Very Nice! We hardly touch the sails or the braces. 1mile out of port, we set the sails, and eh they pretty much stand the same way… we’ve done a minimum of trimming. A pity, cause it’s good training for everybody. But eh it gives us time to do other stuff, like chipping rust, sanding, painting, varnishing and such. At 10 we have “smoko” (smoke & koffee) for about 30minutes… nice and relaxed. 11.55 we gather at the bridge for another handover, only this time I get to hand it over and go off… run down to the long room, have lunch change clothes and get back on deck around 12.30 for 4hours of maintenance. Today I was taking of varnish and sanding like crazy… at 15 we have another “smoko” and at 16 we are off, for real. NO maintenance or anything, just relaxing and maybe get a little nap. The Last couple of days, I had booked appointments at “Pfnille´s beauty Salon”
Just great hanging out doing Girly stuff, like footbaths, pedicures, facials… etc. Not something I do on a regular basis, but I enjoy it and of course we have a lot fun whilst doing it…
At 19.55 I’m back on the bridge, handover, taking over the watch, looking at the stars, drinking my tea and smoking my cigarette, getting used to the dark. The first hour or so, we take care of our inside cleaning jobs, (mostly just cleaning toilets, nice eh?) After that we do some more training and educating of both guests and crew, at 22 we have a special Blue Watch (that’s us) midnight Herb session, basically we meet up and drink green tea and tell each other fairytales while looking at the stars… 23.55 we gather at the bridge, hand over, go the long room, get a glass of wine or beer, and then meet up on deck for a last gaze at the stars, before hitting the bunk once again… So everyday pretty muck looks the same as the one before… except Sundays! Sundays we’re “off”, which means we only do watches, no maintenance! So last Sunday I was lying flat on the sloppdeck, working on my sailor tan. (T-shirt, shorts and socks) trying to even out the stripes, unfortunately I fell asleep. But I’m okay, not red or anything. Pure luck!
Tomorrow it’s “Sinta Klaes” a Dutch Christmas tradition, I’m not sure what it’s all about, but I guess I’ll find out. But eh it will be nice break in the daily routine. Not that we really need a break yet, we’ve been on our way for less than a week, and it hasn’t been loads of hard work so far. It will be when we get to the Caribbean, full on cruises, fancy, pansy rich people, wanting to be wined and dined and entertained by “The Nautical Circus”
No complaining… they are the reason I get paid to do this, it can’t be all sugar and candy, take the bitter with the sweet.
Oh well dinner is served and Pfnille’s off too, so eh I guess we’ll do something crazy….
Thursday, November 29, 2007
OKAY!!!
Hmm i guess you're right...
I've just been told that i just should be happy to be away from rainy, grey, cold Denmark!
And you're right, i should, and I am... it was just that Playa del Ingles, was not really that great!
Anyway... i start working tonight at 18... and then tomorrow morning at 900 we'll depart from Las Palmas!!! so just a quick "see you"
Can't hardly wait to go back at sea... mmm nice! sailing... aaahh
take care and have fun!
*Ninon
I've just been told that i just should be happy to be away from rainy, grey, cold Denmark!
And you're right, i should, and I am... it was just that Playa del Ingles, was not really that great!
Anyway... i start working tonight at 18... and then tomorrow morning at 900 we'll depart from Las Palmas!!! so just a quick "see you"
Can't hardly wait to go back at sea... mmm nice! sailing... aaahh
take care and have fun!
*Ninon
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Gran Fu*ç%&$ Canary!!!
Bvadr... oh mymymy... I've only been here for a few days, it's not even high season... but it's absolutely horrible!!! i really don't like this place!
well anyway apart from me being in a really shitty mood right now, i'm all good! Mentally preparing for the coming crossing... makin gsure I have enough cigarettes, english tea... a friend taught me to only drink Tetley's and since there's a zillion brits coming down here, when they want a break from rainy old England, i bought it at the supermarket! not all is bad down here...
anyway actually i don't have much to say... as mentioned very early in this post, i'm in a shitty mood, so i think i'll find my bed and musicthingy and see if i can get some sleep!
Oh by the way, i was driving in the mountains today... Crazy!!! but so much fun, at least for me, i'm not so sure that my 2 passengers felt just the same... but i liked driving in the mountains (actually there's only 1, so i guess i was driving on the mountain... went to Las Palmas to do some shopping, didn't buy a thing, got semi-depressed about the sizes... waste of time i know...
well i was on my way to bed... oh and 1 last thing, i got my ticket from Surinam to Mexico city! the most outrageous itinerary! I'll be flying from Paramaribo in Surinam to Port of Spain on Trinidad, from there to Miami, Florida and then finally i'll get on a plane that lands in Mexico City... craazy! it will take me more than 14hours, see that doesn't make much sense to me...!
Now it's really time to go, i hear my bed calling!!!
laterrrr *Ninon
well anyway apart from me being in a really shitty mood right now, i'm all good! Mentally preparing for the coming crossing... makin gsure I have enough cigarettes, english tea... a friend taught me to only drink Tetley's and since there's a zillion brits coming down here, when they want a break from rainy old England, i bought it at the supermarket! not all is bad down here...
anyway actually i don't have much to say... as mentioned very early in this post, i'm in a shitty mood, so i think i'll find my bed and musicthingy and see if i can get some sleep!
Oh by the way, i was driving in the mountains today... Crazy!!! but so much fun, at least for me, i'm not so sure that my 2 passengers felt just the same... but i liked driving in the mountains (actually there's only 1, so i guess i was driving on the mountain... went to Las Palmas to do some shopping, didn't buy a thing, got semi-depressed about the sizes... waste of time i know...
well i was on my way to bed... oh and 1 last thing, i got my ticket from Surinam to Mexico city! the most outrageous itinerary! I'll be flying from Paramaribo in Surinam to Port of Spain on Trinidad, from there to Miami, Florida and then finally i'll get on a plane that lands in Mexico City... craazy! it will take me more than 14hours, see that doesn't make much sense to me...!
Now it's really time to go, i hear my bed calling!!!
laterrrr *Ninon
Friday, November 16, 2007
Trains...
Well eh here I am, sitting in the train, 2,5hours to go... what to do?i was looking at people... not much fun today, normally i can easely entertain my self for quite some time by just looking at people, listening to their concersations and making up stories about them, where they're going, who they are and how they are as persons. Not today, today all the "channels" are closed, i don't get anything from anybody, and actually i don't really care, i just want this train ride to pass A.S.A.P... now is the time where i wish i had a car... There's plentyof reasons why i don't have a car, and why i shouldn't get one, but right now i wish i had one... I love driving, far away if possible, especially at night... oh well *snap outta it* i don't have a car, it's not even dark yet, and news flash i'm sitting in a train... to make it even worse, in the "Family wagon" or what ever you call it... so eh a lot of mall noisy children, i usually don't care too much about it. I think the parents are more annoyed than me... Well if it would be considered okay for an adult to scream and shout because of long, boring train rides i would do the same...! what would be people do about it??? probably not much, maybe look at me strangely as if I needed medical assistance, but I don't think znybody would actually ask me, if i was okay or if they could do anything to help me out of my misery.... maybe they would find another place to sit, and secretly blink at eachother, whispering "what a loony", but i guess nobody would take 5minutes to talk to me.
I remember one train ride very clearly, a day i'll never forget. I was sitting in a train from Graasten to Copenhagen, only an hour earlier i was told that my younger brother had died. I was sitting in this train, crying my eyes and my heart out for about 5hours, randomly talking on the phone, or crying, screaming and explaining somebody in the other end what had happened. I remember there must have been at least 5-7 other persons sitting pretty close to me... One of them, a middle-aged woman, sat right across me for 5hours and not even looking at me... she did every thing she could to pretend i wasn't there... i've rarely felt so alone and alienated. surrounded by strangers who all work so hard to pretend you're not there... did i break the unwritten rule of not showing feelings in public spaces??
mmm oh well i gotta go... i'm almost there... jubiii
*Ninon
I remember one train ride very clearly, a day i'll never forget. I was sitting in a train from Graasten to Copenhagen, only an hour earlier i was told that my younger brother had died. I was sitting in this train, crying my eyes and my heart out for about 5hours, randomly talking on the phone, or crying, screaming and explaining somebody in the other end what had happened. I remember there must have been at least 5-7 other persons sitting pretty close to me... One of them, a middle-aged woman, sat right across me for 5hours and not even looking at me... she did every thing she could to pretend i wasn't there... i've rarely felt so alone and alienated. surrounded by strangers who all work so hard to pretend you're not there... did i break the unwritten rule of not showing feelings in public spaces??
mmm oh well i gotta go... i'm almost there... jubiii
*Ninon
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Some bonus info...!
I thought i would add this too my blog, actually it's a profile, but eh it's kind of a indication of what i'm made of... i think?
In my short life I've...
Seen "the Forbidden City" in Beijing,
Touched a dolphin in the wild,
Build a snowman in the mountains of Norway,
Been to Carneval on Trinidad,
Went to school in Venezuela,
Crossed the Atlantic ocean on a fullrigger (i'm leaving in less than a week for what will be my 6th Atlantic Crossing)
Read loads of books,
Seen Ben Harper live and cried,
Met a guy who i believed was the love of my life,
found out he wasn't,
Buried my father,
Seen my sister turn 18,
Been at a baseballgame in NYC,
Had a drink on Bourbonstreet in New Orleans,
Seen the sun rise over Copenhagen,
Been swimming in the middle of the Atlantic,
Spent a new years eve on Cap verde,
Had Ice cream in Napoli,
Had a summer fling in Barcelona,
Been snorkeling with a Barracuda,
wished upon a shooting star,
Taken away sails in a storm in the North sea,
Walked 25km in the rain on the Azores to find a dry spot,
Spent christmas in Portugal,
Seen a man get killed in a hit'n'run,
Heard the grass grow,
Went to Sheffield to see Red Hot Chillipeppers live,
Seen Jack Johnson Live in Wales (of all places...),
Seen a Ferrari on Kurfurstendamm in Berlin,
Heard the F1 cars in Monaco,
Been lobsterfishing with the locals on Tobago,
Climbed the rigging to be first to see land,
"drowned" in mud on Roskilde festival,
been a bit depressed 'cause life didn't turn out the way I hoped,
seen sea turtles,
seen snow in Grand Canyon,
searched high'n'low for licorice in South America,
Been at anchor in a Mangrove forrest,
Been sunbathing on "my own" tiny island,
Eaten snake in china,
Stood on the great chinese wall,
Been dancing barefooted under a palmtree,
Seen whales,
Seen familymembers get sober after many years of drinking,
worked with "trouble" kids,
visited people in jail,
had friends in refugee camps,
Flown over the Everglades,
Been to Disneyland (horrible place),
seen Pulp Fiction too many times,
Made friends from all over the world,
Been crazy in love,
Had my share of problems,
Traded fresh fish for baked beans (to everyody's content)
Walked around Amsterdam high on (surprisingly not weed) life,
Seen the sun rise over Mississippi,
Seen Alhambra,
Seen Rolling Stones Live,
I've seen a lot, I've been many places, but still i haven't done or seen anything... there's so much more to se and to do. I can hardly wait to get out there...Coming up is an Atlantic crossing, a few months in "tha Carib", Mexico, the East coast of the US and before returning home, another Atlantic crossing... Should i mention that this is all work, I don't get to decide where to go or when to go there... many of the places i've been has been job related. so eh I'm not sure if you can call me lucky. But it's true, i'm living my dream... sometimes lacking bits'n'pieces to make it absolute... but I'm not complaining. Even though my life hasn't always been this easy, i've made the right choices for my self... very early on i decided, that if i wanted the most out of my life, if I wanted to be happy, i had to take charge and not just go with the flow... won't even think about where i would've been now if hadn't done that... And eh it's not always as easy as i may make it seem like, i too have my moments where nothing is right and where it feels everything and everybody is only working against you. Somehow i manege to dig myself out of that black hole...
But i'm stronger and more optimistic than ever.... for somewhat odd reason!
oh my my my...
Life is beautiful... The world is my playground!!!
In my short life I've...
Seen "the Forbidden City" in Beijing,
Touched a dolphin in the wild,
Build a snowman in the mountains of Norway,
Been to Carneval on Trinidad,
Went to school in Venezuela,
Crossed the Atlantic ocean on a fullrigger (i'm leaving in less than a week for what will be my 6th Atlantic Crossing)
Read loads of books,
Seen Ben Harper live and cried,
Met a guy who i believed was the love of my life,
found out he wasn't,
Buried my father,
Seen my sister turn 18,
Been at a baseballgame in NYC,
Had a drink on Bourbonstreet in New Orleans,
Seen the sun rise over Copenhagen,
Been swimming in the middle of the Atlantic,
Spent a new years eve on Cap verde,
Had Ice cream in Napoli,
Had a summer fling in Barcelona,
Been snorkeling with a Barracuda,
wished upon a shooting star,
Taken away sails in a storm in the North sea,
Walked 25km in the rain on the Azores to find a dry spot,
Spent christmas in Portugal,
Seen a man get killed in a hit'n'run,
Heard the grass grow,
Went to Sheffield to see Red Hot Chillipeppers live,
Seen Jack Johnson Live in Wales (of all places...),
Seen a Ferrari on Kurfurstendamm in Berlin,
Heard the F1 cars in Monaco,
Been lobsterfishing with the locals on Tobago,
Climbed the rigging to be first to see land,
"drowned" in mud on Roskilde festival,
been a bit depressed 'cause life didn't turn out the way I hoped,
seen sea turtles,
seen snow in Grand Canyon,
searched high'n'low for licorice in South America,
Been at anchor in a Mangrove forrest,
Been sunbathing on "my own" tiny island,
Eaten snake in china,
Stood on the great chinese wall,
Been dancing barefooted under a palmtree,
Seen whales,
Seen familymembers get sober after many years of drinking,
worked with "trouble" kids,
visited people in jail,
had friends in refugee camps,
Flown over the Everglades,
Been to Disneyland (horrible place),
seen Pulp Fiction too many times,
Made friends from all over the world,
Been crazy in love,
Had my share of problems,
Traded fresh fish for baked beans (to everyody's content)
Walked around Amsterdam high on (surprisingly not weed) life,
Seen the sun rise over Mississippi,
Seen Alhambra,
Seen Rolling Stones Live,
I've seen a lot, I've been many places, but still i haven't done or seen anything... there's so much more to se and to do. I can hardly wait to get out there...Coming up is an Atlantic crossing, a few months in "tha Carib", Mexico, the East coast of the US and before returning home, another Atlantic crossing... Should i mention that this is all work, I don't get to decide where to go or when to go there... many of the places i've been has been job related. so eh I'm not sure if you can call me lucky. But it's true, i'm living my dream... sometimes lacking bits'n'pieces to make it absolute... but I'm not complaining. Even though my life hasn't always been this easy, i've made the right choices for my self... very early on i decided, that if i wanted the most out of my life, if I wanted to be happy, i had to take charge and not just go with the flow... won't even think about where i would've been now if hadn't done that... And eh it's not always as easy as i may make it seem like, i too have my moments where nothing is right and where it feels everything and everybody is only working against you. Somehow i manege to dig myself out of that black hole...
But i'm stronger and more optimistic than ever.... for somewhat odd reason!
oh my my my...
Life is beautiful... The world is my playground!!!
Hmmm
*Sigh* babysitting my 3 year old cousin... he was not to hapy about it, but now he's fast asleep! nice and quiet, mmm candles and tea... almost alone! the tv is making noises in the background, there's an election in a few days... it drives me crazy! all those politicians are talking blahblah with no exception!! some times I'm embarrased to be danish, oh my god, we are getting so narrowminded and hateful... what happened? where did everything go wrong? *sigh* oh well in my naitivity i hope and believe, that if i behave diffently i can change, maybe not the world, but hopefully my surroundings... well it might not work but i'll try!!! I'm not a happy hippie or anything, i just hope for a more peacefull world!
wouldn't that be nice...???
wouldn't that be nice...???
Getting Started!!
Hmm i don't really know how to get started, but eh... i'll give it a try...
A little bit about me... just to get things started...
i thought this would be so easy, but eh guess not really...
I work on a fullrigged sailing ship as a quartermaster, and honestly?
I love my job...
i work 2months, then I'm off for a month.
right now I'm at home, it's late at night and i probably should be sleeping... but eh i love the nights... the hours between midnight and the first daylight are my favorite time a day, i love being home alone at night, just goofing around... listening to the nightradio, drinking seriuos amounts of tea, drawing things that nobody will ever see, writing long letters, smoking cigarettes, thinking... speaking of tea, be right back, i'll just put the keddle on...! ah nice cup of Tetley's (a british friend of mine introduced me to Tetley's, now I'm addicted) it's now 330 in the morning... the city is so quiet, it's dark, a few candles, fresh cup of tea, alone... uh i love being alone... not all the time of course, but when ever i get home from work i really need to be just me! i usually spend a lot of time on my own, what i really like is to go for a long walk around the dity and then after some hours of walking meet up with a good friend... my mind is so much clearer, and i can better listen.... I'm not the best listener in the world, but i'm working on it. It's just that whenever people tell me something i've usually experienced something similar or heard a story about someone, and it's not because i don't want to listen, i think i just want to let people know, that whatever problem they might have, they're not alone.
Luckily i have good friends who can tell me to shut up every once in a while...
oh well it's running late and i have to get up early tomorrow to meet a good friend who finally got a chance to get out the house for a few hours without her sons, they are absolutely adorable, both of them, but it's also nice just to be with her. i invited her to lunch, to give her a break!! she really deserves it... she's such a wonderful mother and i wish that more children where like hers... but every supermom needs a break! one day when i get my own kids... shouldn't go there... before i get kids i should find somebody to have them with and quit sailing... not something that's gonna happen anytime soon i guess! 'cause as i said i love my job, and who want's to be with somebody who's away 8months a year?? yeah well for some it might seem like a brilliant plan... but eh then they're not for me anyway! not that you should be together 24/7 but still more than 4months a year prefereably (can't spell that word, sorry)
oh well my tea is almost done, i'll smoke just one more cigarette before i go to bed... tell people on Flork that i'm trying to write a blog. then go to bed!!!
hehe just looked at Flork... hehe got a message! nice!!! i'm not totally alone...
never lonely, just alone... mayor difference...
Oh well it's now 4 o'clock... nightynight and sleep tight!
uh all of a sudden it wasn't that difficult, once I got started... Many Nice...
oh well G'night!
A little bit about me... just to get things started...
i thought this would be so easy, but eh guess not really...
I work on a fullrigged sailing ship as a quartermaster, and honestly?
I love my job...
i work 2months, then I'm off for a month.
right now I'm at home, it's late at night and i probably should be sleeping... but eh i love the nights... the hours between midnight and the first daylight are my favorite time a day, i love being home alone at night, just goofing around... listening to the nightradio, drinking seriuos amounts of tea, drawing things that nobody will ever see, writing long letters, smoking cigarettes, thinking... speaking of tea, be right back, i'll just put the keddle on...! ah nice cup of Tetley's (a british friend of mine introduced me to Tetley's, now I'm addicted) it's now 330 in the morning... the city is so quiet, it's dark, a few candles, fresh cup of tea, alone... uh i love being alone... not all the time of course, but when ever i get home from work i really need to be just me! i usually spend a lot of time on my own, what i really like is to go for a long walk around the dity and then after some hours of walking meet up with a good friend... my mind is so much clearer, and i can better listen.... I'm not the best listener in the world, but i'm working on it. It's just that whenever people tell me something i've usually experienced something similar or heard a story about someone, and it's not because i don't want to listen, i think i just want to let people know, that whatever problem they might have, they're not alone.
Luckily i have good friends who can tell me to shut up every once in a while...
oh well it's running late and i have to get up early tomorrow to meet a good friend who finally got a chance to get out the house for a few hours without her sons, they are absolutely adorable, both of them, but it's also nice just to be with her. i invited her to lunch, to give her a break!! she really deserves it... she's such a wonderful mother and i wish that more children where like hers... but every supermom needs a break! one day when i get my own kids... shouldn't go there... before i get kids i should find somebody to have them with and quit sailing... not something that's gonna happen anytime soon i guess! 'cause as i said i love my job, and who want's to be with somebody who's away 8months a year?? yeah well for some it might seem like a brilliant plan... but eh then they're not for me anyway! not that you should be together 24/7 but still more than 4months a year prefereably (can't spell that word, sorry)
oh well my tea is almost done, i'll smoke just one more cigarette before i go to bed... tell people on Flork that i'm trying to write a blog. then go to bed!!!
hehe just looked at Flork... hehe got a message! nice!!! i'm not totally alone...
never lonely, just alone... mayor difference...
Oh well it's now 4 o'clock... nightynight and sleep tight!
uh all of a sudden it wasn't that difficult, once I got started... Many Nice...
oh well G'night!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
