WELCOME AND ENJOY READING!!!


Just a little bit of everything, thoughts, dreams, hopes, experiences... whatever i can think of really!
I was thinking of using this as my "travel diary"...
so friends and family (and who ever is interested) knows where abouts i am and what i'm doing...
I apologize before hand for, spelling errors and such, and for not opdating it on a regular basis, but as a sailor, my access to the Internet is depending on where in the world I am and not always existing... But i'll do it whenever i get the chance... deal? good!
thanks for understanding...
oh and by the way... i write this in English for some dark reason, maybe to practice...?
*Ninon


Friday, March 28, 2008

Baltimore... where did the sun go??

Uha chilly... it's cold!!!
I'm on gangway watch, our first night here... it's freaking cold!!!
my hands are icecold so it's gonna be a short one!
I'm back in Baltimore, man it brings back a lot of memories... good ones!
i'll tell you more about it after i've put the snorkeling gear away. my night orders, apperantly the officers don't think we'll be needing that for a long time to come!!! so eh i'll just get that out of the way and then i'll be back...
I'm gonna do it.... right now!!!!


eh i don't feel like doing anything, i just want to go back to my warm bed, cuddle up with my nice duvet and my new best friend, my mexican blanket... mmmm

oh well goggles and fins here i come... i said "be gone!" (i'm working on my magic spells... still need a lot of practice though!)

*Ninon

Better late than never... Surinam river 29th of Jan.2008

At anchor Surinam River (in front of the presidents house) 29 Jan. 2008-01-30


As you can see we’re still at anchor on the river, tomorrow is my last working day! Tonight is my last night watch, it’s not that late, I’m again the designated RHIB driver, tendering crew ship/shore and back again, I guess it will another long day… but fu*** it as mentioned, tomorrow is my last day, so I will survive. Next tender is in 15minutes.
Leaving this country to go to Mexico City is going to be difficult, I’ve had a hard time getting a ticket, I still don’t have any, but luckily the Bosun is working on it, since he’s going the same way.
Maybe I’ll be on my way the 4th, I hope! If so we’re gonna rent a car and drive around for 2days, exploring, adventure, maybe a glance at some full on rainforest! Not bad at all! Hehe it’s gonna be fun, the Crazy Cook, the bosun and me! I’m ready for it and up for anything that smells like adventure… but the first night I’m gonna rest, sleep. Sleep, sleep! I found a nice little guesthouse with a little swimmingpool!!! Great! A night or 2 there and then I’m rested and ready for what ever.
Oh it’s time to go, there might be somebody waiting for me at the quay! I can always hope at least!

Oh my good the captain, is on deck… I better look busy, but then again, I’ve been busy all day so even though I’m officially still on deck working it’s accepted to take it easy as long as something gets done, so eh as always after a rain shower we wipe it off to prevent the big drops off water to make air bubbles in our nice varnish. It’s a shitty job, (there’s so many varnish surfaces) but somebody’s gotta do it! And since I’m on watch, it’s me…
Oh it’s time for another tender…
Laterrrrs

15 minutes later, I’m already back again, there was nobody to pick up, so eh I guess they’ll all be there for the last tender at 23, so eh another late night! Tomorrow is even worse, an evening sail, from 16-24 on my last working day!!!! Totally not fair, but then again, we’ve been here for a long time and in total we only have 3 events, so eh we’re not complaining. We even had the time to have an entire day off! Very nice, I really enjoyed it even though it was on a Sunday. Which of course is a bit boring when everything is closed, but since we couldn’t do anything really, we decided (oh gotta go)

I’m back again, but only to say I’ll be back when ever I get the time, I’m off now, I want a cold a beer a chitchat with the rest and then off to bed.

But eh stay tuned, for a little bit longer, more will come, I promise!!!

*Ninon

Surinam River 23rd of Jan.2008

At Anchor, Suriname River 23 Jan.2008

Again we sailed fast, so we arrived here yesterday, 4 days ahead of schedule, time for some full-on maintenance, we where sailing close hold, all the way, which means we had a constant heel of about 20* some times more sometimes less, but it’s very tiring not being able to walk in a straight line everything you do takes a lot of energy, just sitting down to eat can be such a hassle… on top of that not too much sleep… today I’m absolutely wasted! I was actually off last night, but I stayed on deck talking for just a little too long, I was in bed before midnight, but I now regret I wasn’t in bed before dinner! We are now in the so called “tropical watches” which is, like most things in life, both good and bad… we start working at 7o’clock, which is very, very bad. The only good thing about is that the temperature is acceptable, but the bad thing is we’re not awake enough to get any work done!!! We have HOT lunch!!!! On deck, who wants to eat pork chops and mashed potatoes at noon when it’s at least 35* and the humidity is absolutely ridiculous?? so eh nice! After lunch a small siesta, and then dinner at 18… to give you an idea of what I’m doing, the diversity of my job. This is what I did today!

6.15 1st wake-up call
6.43 Tumbled out my bed. Very confused and a bit late
6.58 On deck with a cup of tea, ready for the daily info from the Captain
7.09 Inside Cleaning, toilets, showers…. Etc
8.06 Check that my watch had cleaned properly
8.09 Explain my watch how to clean with their eyes open
8.25 Tripple check while doing the dishes.
8.40 still not good enough, but couldnøt be bothered to bitch about it any more.
8.53 prepare for coffee break, (read, making tea and coffee and carry it all up on deck
9.30 SmoCo (Smokes and Coffee)
9.42 Carry dirty dishes down and wash it… + whatever dishes the cooks might have
10.32 finish of a mast inspection, so harness on and up climbing
11.17 Write it all down for the Bosun
11.30 Prepare for lunch on deck
12.04 Lunch break
12.32 Since I was on watch I had to do the dishes so I did, including cleaning the galley
14.30 I baked fresh rugbrød (Danish bread)
15.07 Helped the cook a bit, with preparing some extra goodies for dinner.
15. 25 Back on deck teaching a new guy some knots
16.05 SmoCo
16.26 Prepared the RHIB
17.03 Crashed in my bunk… ZZzzz
17.40 Back on deck, dinner!
18.02 First tender ashore
19.03 Tender ashore
20.00 Tender ashore
21.05 Tender ashore
22.07 Tender ashore
23.04 Last tender back to the ship… unfortunately, the 3 tenders before that there was nobody, so I had to do 3 and everybody was pissed drunk…
00.05 Put the RHIB back on deck, platform back in…
00.25 Zzz at last….!!!

Pyh long day…. Good night!!!

Monday, March 10, 2008

Back at work

I'm back in the grind... but eh i just want to tell you about the last night in Mexico...
it was absolutely amazing!!!! by far one of the best in Mexico!!!
oh my oh my.... where to start???
i did get a book, Chuck Palahniuk's "Stranger than fiction"... (I haven't started yet)

Anyway, i'll dream my way back to my last day in Mexico City and see if i can tell you the story!

I'll try to start where i left, I walked around for a bit, just where evere my feet was taking me... After a few hours i got hungry, you do after all that walking and seeing, so i went to the Salon Corona to get one of my favorite tacos, just as a last one before leaving, i forgot it was saturday, so there must have been 200 others with the same idea so people where lined up in the street to get a seat... but eh lucky me, somebody at the bar noticed i was alone so they offered me a chair at the bar, even better than a table, so i sat down ordered my taco pastor and a beer... just a small one with salt and lime... it only took a few minutes then i was chatting with the guy sitting next to me, so i had another taco (they're small)... An older lady, her daughter and the daughters 2 friends took the corner, standing on the street ordering, so i helped them out, passing lime for their beers, napkins ekstra chilli, guacamole and whatever you need when eating tacos... soon i found myself having a very funny conversation with the lady, Celia the rest joined in, we had more tacos, more beer and more fun!!! When she found out that my middle name was Josefina like her daughter, she was sure that we where meant to meet! and she gave me her address and told me, that next time i come to Mexico city i should come stay at her house, she would cook me some proper mexican food and her daughter, Josefina and her friends could show me around!!!
It turned out that Josefina's friends, Aldo and whats her name?? was like children for Celia, and as she said she had love enough for one more... As i was talking to Josefina and Aldo, (the last girl hardly said anything, and i never got her name) about going out in Mexico City i had to admit that I hadn't really tried it... 1,2,3 i was invited to join them the same evening! They walked me back to my hostel, i had a shower and a little nap and put on the nicest clthes i could find in my backpack... luckily i bought a really nice shirt the same day, so had something else than just a t-shirt... As i was waiting for them i felt so happy, they gave me such a nice feeling, a feeling of being with good friends, even though we've never met before... When they came I was standing outside talking to some other people i met earlier that day, a bunch of backpackers discussing where to go next... When they saw Josefina all dresses up, walking straight through the crowd to give me a big hug and tell me that the cars was waiting, they could hardly stop looking, 1, because she looked great, another beautiful mexican girl. 2. because they knew that i hardly knew her and i guess they wondered why/how i dared to trust a bunch of mexicans to take me out and bring me back safely!!! well there wasn't any doubt in my mind that i could trust them. So i happily went with them... We got to this fancy nightclub, a guy parked our cars and we got in front of the line, because Aldo knew the right people, I felt like a superstar!!! got guided trough the crowd and got a table and a bottle of overprized, but imported Vodka!!! I had a great time, the 6 of us, laughed and danced all night, i tried so hard to speak spanish, oh my god, do i wish i also spoke it fluently like the rest of my family... well we maneged, and at one point, i just talked, not caring to much about how wrong it must have sounded...
I got invited to Josefina's wedding in August (My only wish for my birthday is a ticket to Mexico in august, i checked, I am off) that could be so much fun...!!! i would love that!
I got back around 6o'clock in the morning, happy, happy, happy!!!
I slept for only a few hours because 2 girls in my room got up, packed and left before 10!!! so eh i got up as well, showered and packed...
Went down, met some of the backpackers from the day before, talked for a bit, prepared myself for going to the airport, when Aldo walked trough the door!!! He thought it was the only right thing to do, take me out for lunch and drive me to airport, after all I was now one Celia's Daughters, so in some strange way where now family!!! Okay, i had no complaints, even though i was a bit hungover, it sounded like a great idea to have something to eat before going back here.
We went for the very last Tacos at Salon Corona, and then he drove me to the airport!!! Service!
When we got there it started raining, like if somebody opened the fossets and wanted a shower... at some point even with thunder and lightning... As Aldo said, the city is very ugly when it rains like that, so it was Mexico's way of saying, No Te Vayas!!!!
Well i didn't wanted to leave... I really didn't! And oh my god, do i ,miss it!!! can hardly wait to go back, hopefully in August, at least for a few weeks!!!

I was standing in the airport hugging my blanket (my new best friend) thinking about all the things that had happened in Mexico, and i total i loved it!!! i would do it all over again if i could!!!

I had a boring flight, with a lot of turbulens to LAX (i know my itinerary was insane) a few hours to kill at the airport befor my next flight, by then i was hungry again, but my only options was a Mexican place and a Mc D... I guessed that the mexican place would be terribly disappointing, so i went to the Mac, knowing what i was gonna get, deepfried cardboard with too much ketchup and maybe a stomach ache when i was done... That's exactly what i got!!!
So my next flight was not to great, stomach ache and an aisle seat next to a couple that combined took up their own seats and the larger part of mine, they had to put the armrest up otherwise they wouldn't fit in the seats! I'm sorry to say this, but it's not really fair that i only have half my seat and have to sit even more uncomfortable than normal so that they can fit their fat asses in theirs. hmm anyway i made it to Washington DC where i only had about an hour... so i thought i had to give up the idea of smoking a cigarette, but to my great surprise they had a smoking area, in an American airport!!!! CRAZY!!
so i was happy to board my last flight from DC to St. Shithole even more happy when i found out that we where only 25 pax on the airplane, it fitted 138!!!! So my blanket and I was fast a sleep before take-off taking up 3seats!!! i slept all the way and woke up when the pilot announced that we were approaching the Island....
I called the ship, the rhib was on it's way to the airport, so i walked down to the dinghy dock and had an icecold "Carib" while waiting!
Got back to the ship and i must admit it was a bit overwhelming with all theese people that i knew... i just got used to be anonymous... Had a great dinner ashore with Pernille and passed out before midnight, by then i had been on my way for about 36hours...
Next morning Bright and early we started working at 7 had a siesta from 12-14 and finished at 18... I was not in the mood for working at all, so i was lucky to do a lot of tendering between the ship-shore that day!
I'm still not really in the mood, even though i had half a day of the other day and we don't work too hard... in my siesta's i crash in the sun dreaming of Mexico!!! if i try hard enough it's almost like being there...

Tuesday morning we leave this place and head for Bahamas and the US... Can hardly wait to get under way and set sail, maybe then i'll get back to a place of mind where i actually enjoy my work and being back onboard!!!
Until then, i drag my self out of my bed, still sleeping with my blanket, not ready to let it go yet!!! luckily the days pass relatively quick!!!
Soon we'll be in the US and I'm looking forward to Baltimore, NYC and Boston and primarely the crossing back!!! so i guess that soon i'll be happy that i'm here...

well now i gotta go, the last tender back to the ship is in 15minutes.... Pernille and I found a cafe wtih wi-fi so we've been sipping café Latte with Bailey's and netsurfing!!! Not bad at all!!!
A very nice to spend our evening, but now i have to go...
Keep your heads up high and your feet warm!!! i'll be home before you know it...

*Ninon

oh by the way, i finally finished "Snow" a fantastic book....

Saturday, March 1, 2008

Getting ready to leave Mexico!!!

Hmm here i am, back in Mexico City... it was a long busride, luckily a had half a spacecake, so i sleept pretty much all the way... 13 hours, they only showed 1 movie, so it was relatively quiet, except the guy in front of me who was moaning and groaning all the way, and the little chuppy kid, who ate too much candy and greasy stuff so he was sick at least 3 times this morning, i'm sure his mother would have been there for him, a hand on his forehead or something, but she was so big, that she had such a hard time getting to back of the bus, that she didn't even bothered moving!!! very charming!
I didn't really wanted to leave Puerto Escondido, it was amazing there... i really enjoyed just hanging out on the beach... (i'm still reading "Snow") doing as little as possible!!! next time i go to Mexico, there will definetely be a next time, i want to see more of the coast of Oaxaca... Mazunte, with the little Sea turtle research center, Zipolite, Huatelco... and maybe even move down to Chiapas, everybody says is great there...
But that's all for next time... now i'll go out and look around, buy a new book, something a little lighter than Orhan Pamuk, he writes very beautifull, but eh heavy stuff...
As i told my mom on the phone, I was hoping that if i was reading something intellectual, i would stand out a little from all the other stranded Blonde barbies lying on the beach... yeah well i'm not sure it worked excatly as i was hoping fore... but never mind, it's good reading just a little to heavy for me right now... so i'll find the American bookstore and find a new book...
oh well i better go out there...
laterrrr
*Ninon