Category: Journal
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Just off the boat
Read more: Just off the boat56 km, 4.25 hr Writing this post felt a little like a grade school report on “what I did on my summer vacation”. Sorry if you find it rather verbose, but everything is so new to us here it’s difficult to know what’s important and what isn’t. At the Internet café last night, we discovered…
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Adrift in Italy
Read more: Adrift in Italy28 km, 2.5 hours We are off the ship and on dry land, but we are certainly feeling adrift in Italy. In hindsight, we are thinking it rather foolish that we arrived in a non-tourist area of Italy. The captain gave us the option to stay on the ship until Naples and we foolishly declined.…
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The waiting game
Read more: The waiting gameWe are adrift outside the port of Gioia Tauro in Southern Italy. The ship arrived at 1 pm, and we were looking forward to the scheduled docking at 3:00 pm. Once we arrived near Gioia Tauro, we were informed that the pilot was rescheduled to arrive at 6 pm. We are now being told that…
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A day in Barcelona
Read more: A day in BarcelonaWe arrived in Barcelona on time and the pilot was ready to bring us into port a little earlier than originally scheduled. By 9 am, we had nicely backed into our birth. It is always quite impressive watching how the ship in maneuvered into port. It was raining outside, heavily at times. Our vision of…
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A week at sea
Read more: A week at seaMonday On Monday afternoon the third engineer gave Scott, Becky and David a tour of the Engine room. Becky was immediately surprised at how spacious it was and also how cool it was. She was afraid it was going to be oppressively hot; however, they appear to have good ventilation, such that it was quite…
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Pirates, pigs, and parties
Read more: Pirates, pigs, and partiesHave you ever seen a movie that involves container ships and pirates? Often the pirates are shown with cloth tied over their head and over their faces, only exposing their eyes. This is what the deck crew often look like when they are working (painting or cleaning). The head protection (usually an old T-shirt) keeps…
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Grease, fires, and immersion suits
Read more: Grease, fires, and immersion suitsMSC Alessia somewhere in the North Atlantic Ocean This was our first day truly at sea. We awoke to a blue sea with no sign of land. We are moving across the ocean at 22 knots. At this location there is a 25 – 30 knot wind, so on board we feel winds up to…
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A day in Freeport
Read more: A day in Freeport50 km, 3hr The day began with a call to weigh anchor. We were permitted to go forward and watch as the anchor was being brought in. Becky is constantly amazed at how the procedures used here are pretty much the same as the ones she learned as a sea cadet on the YAGs. The…