So a little news update from drewland. I’ve now finished the second week of a three week rotation. The first week was practical training which was mooring lines, and marlinespike. Nothing new there – this week has been a little different. I’m on “day work” which just means that each day we’d muster up at 0800 after breakfast and be assigned jobs in different sized groups.
Today I had the job of lashing benches tables chairs, an acetylene bottle, and weird rusty steel bracket thing. I spent most of the time, sitting on a bench busting out whippings on the ends of all the lines I had to make up. That took quite a while, but I learned a new – and very nice looking – whipping from the bosun here. It’s his version of a sail makers whipping, and doesn’t involve a needle, but still does a cherry job of a whippin’ the end of three strand line.
Tomorrow I have CC duty which just means I’ll show up at the mess deck at 0630 and wash dishes and wipe down tables for all three meals. It’s not all that bad, as I get nice breaks between meals, and I really enjoy bs’ing with the kitchen staff. It’s long been a part of Drew-lore that two people you want on your side: 1st mate, and the cook. Either of them can make your life nice, or hell depending on their moods.
We had some bitchin’ weather last night too. The decks of the ship are numbered, from the top down, 04, 03, 02, 01, 1, 2, 3, 4. The 04 is the helo (hee-lo, as in helicopter) deck. There isn’t enough room for a helicopter to land up there, but it’s what we call it. Anyways, I was lounging about in my rack, and I heard water splash against my window. It was only spray – wave hits, water shoots up, wind blows it against the ship’s house and my porthole – but I’m on the 02 deck. It is approximately … 20 feet off the water? Apparently the wind blew 40 knots last night, and it was steady too. I went up to the helodeck just to check it out, and it was awesome. I could look up at the stars, and they were just as steady as ever, not caring about the weather way down here. I could see the glow of the masthead light moving back and forth with the sway of the ship against the bright, still stars and milky way. I don’t know what the seas turned into, but the ship was barely moving. I got a great nights sleep. Plate steel double insulated bulkheads, thick porthole glass, 30 feet of draft – besides the constant 2-3 degrees of starboard list, it was smooth sailing even with that crazy wind and waves outside.
Sailing on one of these ships truly is much easier than my tallship experience. In fact, doing it now, I can’t imagine working for years aboard a tallship making money that I need each year to support myself. Over the years, I think the waves and sea would just beat the life right out of me. Being protected like this makes me think a career in it would be much more comfortable than I originally thought I’d be in for.
We’re pulling into our first port in two days: Balboa Panama. We’re not sure if we’re going to be at anchor, or on a dock yet. They said we probably won’t know until the last minute. I’m looking forward to a little internet time, printing off a few pictures, and perhaps skyping the family to say hello.
Another night down and away on the Ship. It’s been a real nice time so far. I’m getting to know people here a little better, and even settled into a little routine of a work out (not every day!), reading, doing some work here and there, and watching some star trek deep space nine. My roomies are pretty tolerant of this scifi, so I appreciate that.
It’s a fact that I get all happy when I run. Well, I’ve been able to get on that horse here since I arrived, and have been feeling great the whole time.
It’s real different being on board a 500′ steel ship as opposed to 120′ wooden sail boat… it just weighs soooo much more which really makes it move different. Compared to a sail boat, it’s about as steady as land! Not to say I’m sure it gets a rollin’ from time to time. But even then, nothing like the little ships I’m so used to. There is a strange sensation running on the tread mill on the 4 deck. It should be about 20 feet under the water line, and when the ship pitches or rolls a little, my weight changes so it’s something like 180 give or take 10 pounds depending on if I’m falling or being pushed up by the movement of the ship. It’s totally weird – but still something I can get used to.
I wish I would’ve brought a few more pictures of Alison – I think when I get to port, I’m going to find some place that can print digipictures, peruse my gallery there on the internet, and print a few. I miss and love Alison, and I simultaneously love being out here at sea as well.
There are connecting decks below the weather deck, so I could go all day w/out stepping foot outside. On sailboats, not going outside would consist of small triangle of going from my rack, to the galley, to the table to read; but on the Ship, I can go to class, a gym, a mess deck, two or three different hang out areas with tvs and movies, up to the bridge to see where we are, or to do laundry – never having stepped outside. Boating on a whole new (commercial) scale.
Some of the new friends I’ve made are very young. There are plenty of them on here. I learned today that these two gentlemen I have in mind have never had a girlfriend. What a shame! There was this nice girl sitting by herself right behind their backs, so I ingratiated our group onto her bench. They totally ignored her – so weird. I will have to give them a little more of a man to man pep talk next time I throw them into the fire like that. “Ask her questions, listen to what she says, be interested and witty.” You’d think this would be obvious enough…
Oh, I also learned there is a Texas engineer named Conteh on board with me. I find this great, because Conteh is one of the most common Sierrea Leonian names. He moved out of Sierra Leone about nine years ago. He and I are going to exchange stories here in the next few days. I’m curious about how he got out of Sierra Leone, and what he things of some of the changes his country has been going through recently. I look forward to more conversations with Conteh. (we often go by last names around here)
Off to bed – it’s splicing tomorrow. I imagine I’ll be teaching that class…
7/3/09 – alongside the dock, Long Beach CA
Today is the third day of my trip to South America. Here is the itinerary that we will be following:
Long Beach, CA 6/30 – 7/5
Catalina Island, CA 7/5 – 7/7
Balboa, Panama 7/18 – 7/21
Valparaiso, Chile 7/31 – 8/3
Guayaquil, Ecuador 8/10 – 8/13
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico 8/22 – 8/25
Vallejo, CA 8/30
The summer for me started two months ago. I was hoping to get a job at a tug company in Norfolk VA, but it fell through and I opted to work at the boathouse at CalMaritime. It ended up being a real fun 2 months, although I was ready for it to end. This cruise is an important part of my time at CalMaritime, and my career after school – as it will probably be pretty similar to a job I may get after school. Needless to say, I’m a little nervous of all sorts of things: getting sea sick (again), missing my girlfriend, not liking it, and just hating on the whole experience. Buuuut, it’s three days in, and I don’t feel like any of those things will be a bit of a problem. Or, at least they will all be within acceptable limits. So far life aboard The Golden Bear has been fairly regular. All the cadets on board are divided into three groups called “watches.” This translates into two days of ship work, and one day of watch, then we start at the beginning of the rotation again and around and around we go. Day work begins at 745AM with lining up and being counted and inspected. Immediately afterwards, we’re divided into smaller groups usually with some upperclassmen in charge of a group of lower classmen. Today I helped out a small team of four guys organize and clean out our paint locker. Judging by how many gallons are in the paint locker, and what color we’ve got – I can guess pretty closely as to what kind of painting jobs we’ll be doing.
Yesterday, we loaded 70 pallets of frozen, chilled, and dry food (called “stores” on board a ship) into it’s appropriate locations in the lower decks of the ship. Three big 18 wheelers from Sysco Systems showed up and began unloading the pallets onto the dock next to the ship. From there, cadets used a pallet jack to roll the pallet onto a cargo net. We then lifted the pallet off the dock and over the cargo hatches where we lowered it down to more waiting cadets to assembly line the individual boxes into it’s appropriate locations.
I haven’t had watch yet, only a few day work shifts – so I’ll save the description of that routine for another day. More later, drew
So it seems that after this much traveling, I should do another blog. I should check my blog and see where I left off!…
Looks like last we spoke, I was in Freetown.
So I had this grand plan: forego the immediate free plane ride back to America and travel around for a while. And what better way to see Africa, then making my way north via roads and sleeping the same places other travelers sleep! I wish I had known what I was about to be in for.
West Africa is NOT for tourists. I was there with Amistad, and I had a wonderful time. I could come back to the boat in the evenings for free room and board. The food was clean and prepared in a clean kitchen. The plugs are 110 volts. I got to meet some great friends at the US embassy and hang out in their apartment. And let me tell you, working for The Man in foreign service is a great way to fly.
Wow, just perusing these pictures brings back a lot of memories. If you’re interested in looking at them, click on pictures on the front page. I’m good about writing descriptions for all of them, so sometimes that’s a better way to get a feel for what was going on. Certainly, more of a visual experience anyways – but for those of who prefer reading (boring!) I’ll keep writing.
Africa is a hard place to be. You can’t drink the water. You can’t eat the food. Take a moment to contemplate those last to statements. … okay. They add up to: you’re fucked. Once I left Amistad, the only meal that did not make me sick was some flatbread I’d bought at the store, then I would spice it up with a little something I call: peanut butter and Nutella. It was a tortilla and a reeses pieces every day for lunch and dinner. I got tired of that real fast, and tried to eat something. Diarrhea city. I think overall I lost about ten pounds in as many days.
Jesus H, there was this one time – and I don’t know what possessed me to listen to this guy, but I went to “pick up Alison” in Conakry Guinea. My “guide” had this plan that when we got to the border, we’d get out of the taxi and get on an okada (motorcycle taxi, really a lot of fun in a city!) then simply blow through the border without paying the $100 fee that all Americans had to pay. He’d also mentioned in off handed conversation before, that I’d failed to pick up on, that he and Gina, a fellow American Amistad crew mate, were almost deported from Mali and forced to go back to Conakry and fly back to America. The only reason they were not deported was because there was no money, and the guards didn’t want to have to drive them all the way back. So here I am, in the customs office sitting across from the head honcho of the Guinea border. He’s looking over my passport, which I probably shouldn’t’ve given him in the first place and he sees no visa. We’re arguing, partly in English on my part, and my guide in broken French. The guy crosses his arms over his chest and gives me this look of: you’re fucked buddy. Turn around and go back. I don’t care where, just back and out of my office. Luckily, my guide has a brother a few doors down who gets me stamped and into Guinea. What an ordeal. Of course, when we’re there, I’m expected to pay for everything, which doubles everything: me and my guide. End of the story, three days later, $600 out of pocket, and Alison and I cross the deck of Amistad, safe at last. Needless to say, next time I go to enter to Guinea and Mali, I check to see if I need visas, and I buy them!
The first night in Conakry Guinea was after a long drive over the a shitty potholed road that I’d traveled down three times already. After riding in the bush taxi, you have red dust on your goddamn eye lashes! It’s lame. The taxi drivers are out to extort all the money they possibly can from us. Alison and I were routinely lied to, stolen from, and mislead all through our experience there. We had these two dead beat taxi drivers drive off with our change – laughing. True story from Conakry Guinea.
Alison and I went out to see some music one night to a jazz club. It turned out to be more of a rock club, but the music was sound and I enjoyed myself.
So like I’d said, we wanted to travel over land, see the sights. But, what ended up happening was a string of bad luck interspersed with some memorable times. By the time we got to Bamako Mali, I had a fever that went from utterly down and out to not bad to bad, to good, then back to the beginning again. I don’t get sick very often, but my body and mind was being attacked from all angle here. I felt so sick, I went to the hospital to get a blood test for malaria. I’d get fleeced everywhere I’d go, I was being poisoned every day from bad food and water, it was dirty, smoky, crowded, and generally exhausting. I had to get to Europe.
From Bamako Mali, Alison and I bought two (expensive) plane tickets to Lisbon. The second I arrived my friend Rafael picked us up from airport. I got a hot shower, nice bed with clean sheets, and some amazing tasting water. Alison said it was only because I’m used to the balance of chemicals in the water, but I’m telling you: the shit tasted good. I tasted better than it’s tasted in months.
I did meet a few Italian dudes who’d came for the sights and were, in fact, going to see them. The things in Mali are: Timbuktu, a big mud house, and this other thing… but I was in no shape to see anything, so we bugged out of there.
Ah, here’s something: no running water. electricity only 60% of the day, other than that it’s generators. No sewers. No trash service. These cities are CROWDED. Every single day of the week, people burn their trash right in front of their houses. You cough and hack all the time. Another thing I realized is that America is not in the world’s good graces right now, but we do have things figured out. We have business, imports, exports, and all the basics figured out. Our dollar may be doing poorly: but our houses have electricity 24/7. I can go to California for school if I want. I have opportunities to go places, learn things, be entertained, make/save money, drive a car, play glof blah blah. The list of things goes on and on of why America has if figured out – like most of the world.
For those of you who have not been to Africa, you can read this stuff and think about it – but the true measure of what I’m talking about will never hit home. I cannot sum up, in words or pictures, my experience there. I’m not saying it was amazing, beautiful nirvana where all of human kind certainly emanates from – on the contrary, it made me sick as hell. I can tell you that nothing I say can prepare you for going to this place. You know those annoying tour buses that drive around with tinted windows, people looking out snapping pictures and never setting foot outside of their AC buses to meet the locals? Well, if you’re considering going to Africa, think twice, and think: tour bus. Tour it, the whole way – pay for the coddling, because the other side of that coin just isn’t worth it.
It’s Alison and I’s second day together cruising around Freetown, and today has been a productive and fun day for sure. In the morning, we met a few friends: Samuel and Mabinty. Mabinty showed up in her newly repaired car, so that instantly made the rest of the day very easy. First stop was the bank to get a little money out of there – er wait, was it lunch… what did I eat for lunch? Hmmm Ah, first stop: look up a party acquaintance at the Special Court, then the bank, then a nice little cafe called Bliss. I think the owners of this place, Bliss, are certainly from a different country and had the idea for ambiance, menu, and amenities dialed out for Americans, Europeans and rich westerners. For us, it certainly was a blissful experience. Except for a little mild indigestion I got from my chicken wrap (which was superb and toasted) the place is nice. Tables, chairs, air conditioning, bakery with tasty homemade junk food, latte, cappuccino, mocha, it was wonderful. Oh they had doughnuts too! We bought a box of their delicious baked goodies to bring back to the boat.
The Special Court was a pretty neat place. The dude that we met there, Peter Anderson, was very informative, and gave a wonderful talk question and answer about the history of the special court and some of the people tried and convicted there. I’m sorry I’m such crap about remembering names and places, I don’t think I remember a single one right now… anyways, the campus was nice – holding cells – 18 in total, they were holding 8 at the time we visited. The courthouse is supposed to resemble large scales, but to me it looked more like an open book. Pretty place, nicely terraced lawn leading up to the two main courthouses. They also had this large, humvee war vehicle looking thing. It had a line of four large knobby wheels on each side, armor and guns all around.
After the Special Court, we went to Bliss (see above), then for a little shopping to two markets.I got two cool items: a string of glass beads of different colors for 40,000 Le ($13) and a africana outfit (pants and shirt) made in China but very classy with some linen in it for 80,000 Le ($26). It’s a sweet looking getup, all I need now is a little round hat to top it off – or a bald head. Alison said I looked like some sort of guru in it.
In our near future, we have to look. So there you have an exciting day in the life of Drew and Alison in Sierra Leone Africa. Forward to a possible ride with Amistad from here to Dakar. After that, we hope to ride the train or bus to Dogon Country in Mali for trekking, then to Morocco to see some sights, and catch a $5 plane flight on Ryan Air up to Europe.
On a personal note, I’m extremely happy that Alison has been able to join me here. Since April I’d been trying to get her along with me on Amistad’s ticket, but they have jerked me around the entire time. Not pleased with them. But I am pleased that Alison as taken matters into her own hands: gotten all the vaccinations, all the visas, picked up the plane tickets on her own, and been able to join Amistad – despite their lack of organization or interest – as a volunteer. I feel like I’ve sorta been holding back for her to get here before I really start having fun. Certainly not the way to be, but it was sorta the truth for me. In fact, Eve said that she felt there was some sort of little string that kept me from going off the deep end. I had hoped that Alison would soon be with me. Ah yes, and my perseverance has paid off in spades.
mr Drew The pictures will keep flowing, and the blogs trickling. Hope everyone is well, drop me a line if you’d like. It’s always nice to hear from old and new friends.
I realize that I should probably start writing about Africa before Alison shows up and after she shows up. For me, this is a real turning point in the entire trip – being as how I’ve been thinking of her most of the time. After working my second yard period contract in a row, I was happy to stand on the dock and watch Amistad sail away with out me. I remember standing there on the dock with one friend of mine, and picking up water bottles after the festivities because Long Wharf was back to a ghost town after the boat had left. It would feel like only a blink of an eye before I was able to join them again in Falmouth England. The first leg students had disembarked in Falmouth, and left double crew there to take the boat from Falmouth to Liverpool where we would meet up with our second leg students and say good bye to the first leg crew. That trip was a real puker for me. I wrote this horrible blog about motion sickness somewhere on the Amistadamerica.org website. Long story short, I made it to Liverpool alive. This second leg of the trip was scheduled to be six months for the long crew (myself and three others). There were many port stops – I should try to find them all… ain’t no time like the present right?!
08/26/07 Liverpool England
08/29/07 Bristol England
09/05/07 Scilly Isles, England
09/08/07 Tor Bay, England
09/11/07 Dover, England
09/12/07 Tilbury Landing, England
09/14/07 London Bridge, Canary Wharf, London, England
09/26/07 Falmouth, England
10/04/07 Cascais, Portugal
10/13/07 Lisbon, Portugal
10/24/07 – 11/11/07 Cascais, Portugal
11/17/07 – 11/22/07 Lanzarote, Canary Islands
11/28/07 Porto Da Palmeira
11/29/07 – 11/30/07 Ilha Da Boavista, Cape Verde
12/07/07 White Man’s Bay, Sierra Leone, Africa
12/09/07 Freetown, Sierra Leone, Africa
12/18/07 at anchor off Freetown, Sierra Leone, Africa
Well, that’s an exciting looking itinerary isn’t it? Many of those stops weren’t really planned, but se la vie, especially onboard a ship when all sorts of things can go strangely and not according to schedule.
Bristol was a wonderful city. Lots of neat life to be had there, friendly people, nice pubs around. I’m going to suggest to Alison that we try going there and staying for a month or so. She and I have limited time, so I want us both to decide what to do during our vacation time. Perhaps living and working somewhere is not what she has in mind?! Heh
Dover was really impressive. The entry to the harbor has big walls, and bright light houses. The cliffs of the mountains are steep and beautiful, rising quickly behind the mass of the city by the water. I think it was actually the little harbor boat that impressed me a lot too. They had these nifty blueish running lights making them look like they had a landing pad on either side of the boat.
London was… it could’ve been much better. I think our arrival and advertising for our open boat was done very poorly. For the whole time we were open, only a few hundred people came by. Sounds like a lot, but really it was a slow trickle pretty much the whole time. One thing I can’t complain about though was the weather – I remember it being wonderful the whole time we were there.
Portugal was pretty neat. The dock we were at there in Lisbon was mediocre but the boats coming and going – it was impressive to be sure. And the other tallship folks were so friendly. Many of our crew got tours aboard other ships. I got to go aboard a Finnish ship. I can say without a doubt that our two “interpreters” Alexandria and Renato really made the experience of Portugal a special one. Had we been there without their support, surely the student tours wouldn’t’ve happened, and we would’ve missed out on many things that Portugal has to offer. I had one of the more amazing meals I’ve ever had there in Renato’s company. It was wonderful to be out with them, and I’ll never forget it.
So how about a moral to this story?: Six months is a long time to be apart from family and friends and home. I’m moving into another part of my life. I have the four years pretty much planned out in a maritime academy, and living with Alison. I’ve spent so much time thinking about what that will be like… I don’t know if I’ve really lived like I normally do while she’s been gone.
As we went further down south, the weather gradually was getting warmer and warmer. Our first developing country stop was a small island that we stayed at for only a few hours. I think it was Cape Verde. I was surprised at how poor everyone was. Freetown Sierra Leone. By far and away the most successful and busy dockside tours we’ve ever had. The estimate for the week was 15,000 people across our decks. Luckily, the first day I had off. I heard it went to hell in a hand basket. The local police had no idea how to handle all these people and it was chaos all day long. When I arrived on Tuesday, Mike Moreland had designed and executed an excellent plan for keeping people moving through the boat, and in an orderly fashion. The rest of the week was only fine tuning the experience for everyone. They were busy days, and our patience was always wearing thin, but I could tell how much our presence there meant to the locals. Sengbe Pieh is on the 5,000 Leone note for God’s sake. Now that I sit here and write this, it seems like a long time ago that we had all the students and rest of the crew onboard – and now we’re down to a skeleton crew just maintaining each day. Doing a little work here and there, but mostly relaxing. From the looks of the logbook, I think most of the crew left the boat on 12/22/07 and we’ve been running on this short crew the whole time. There are three watches: Even and Barry, Drew and Gina, and Rev. Paul and Johnny. On 01/15/08 Gina will be leaving, and two days after Alison will be showing up and Drew and Alison will make up the second watch until the new crew and students come to Sierra Leone to relieve us and take Amistad to her new destinations.
Now, more than ever, I feel like a sailor. I answer with out hesitation when someone asks me what my day job is: sailor. Sometimes people do a double take because there aren’t that many sailors around all that much anymore. I suppose they’ve gone the way of the farmer: machinery and technology has taken us so far, you simply don’t need that many people for the job anymore. To ship 5,000 cars from America to China? To harvest 1,000 acres of corn? Hmm I might say you’re just as likely to run into a sailor in the shopping mall as you are a farmer. Well, I’m about out of steam for the moment – from now until Alison gets here, it’s a safe bet that I’m maintaining Amistad and trying to stay out of the full sun. Until next time, mrDrew
Okay, so I’d said, maybe one per year, well I feel like rambling more than that, so here I go again. A while ago I wrote a blog entry for the Amistad website (I’ll copy and paste it below) titled something like: “I didn’t sign up for this!”. Then I started reading Moby Dick. I’ll be a while in finishing that one, fer shure. But, I found this quote that is sorta similar – and it’s from someone famous so I’m not that crazy!
“Now, when I say tat I am in the habit of going to sea whenever I begin to grow hazy about the eyes, and begin to be over conscious of my lungs, I do not mean to have it inferred that I ever go to sea as a passenger. For to go as a passenger you must needs have a purse, and a purse is but a rag unless you have something in it. Besides, passengers get sea-sick – grow quarrelsome – don’t sleep of nights – do not enjoy themselves much, as a general thing; – no, I never go as a passenger; nor, though I am something of a a salt, do I ever go to sea as a Commodore, or a Captain, or those who like them. For my part, I abominate all honorable respectable toils, trials, and tribulations of every kind whatsoever. It is quite as much as I can do to take care of yourself, without taking care of ships, barques, brigs, schooners, and what not. ” … “No, when I go to sea, I go as a simple sailor, right before the mast, plumb down into the forecastle, aloft there to the royal mast-head. True, they rather order me about some, and make me jump from spar to spar, like a grasshopper in a May meadow. And at first, this sort of thing is unpleasant enough. It touches one’s sense of honor, particularly if you come of an old established sense of honor, particularly if you come of an old established family in the land, the Van Rensselaers, or Randolphs, or Hardincanutes. And more than all, if just previous to putting your hand into the tar-pot, you have been lording it as a country schoolmaster, making the tallest boys stand in awe of you. The transition is a keen one, I assure you, from schoolmaster to a sailor, and requires a strong decoction of Seneca and the Stoics to enable you to grin and bear it. But even this wears off in time. “What of it, if some old hunks of a sea-captain orders me to get a broom and sweep down the decks? What does that indignity amount to, weight, I mean, in the scales of the New Testament? Do you think the archangel Gabriel thinks anything the less of me, because I promptly and respectfully obey that old hunks in that particular instance? Who ain’t a slave? Tell me that. Well, then, however the old sea-captains may order me about – however they may thump and punch me about, I have the satisfaction of knowing that it is all right; taht everybody else is one way or other served in much the same way – either in a physical or metaphysical point of view, that is; and so the universal thump is passed round, and all hands should rub each other’s shoulder-blades, and be content.” Moby Dick, Herman Melville
I think this guy Mellville really has a point. There is a lot of work that I do onboard that is demeaning as hell. Every morning, I’m on my hands and knees scrubbing shit out of the toilet, and wiping the floor (sole) of the boat with a sponge. It’s part of our morning routine for sure – but later in the day, I have respect and am a competent sailor. I remember a few jobs that I’ve had in my life where I sit/stand there and ask myself “what the fuck am I doing right here, when I could be doing something else?”, and I’ve certainly been in that position before as a sailor. But here, as I start off every day doing something that I feel is below me, I’ve been able to reevaluate my position on doing menial jobs that simply need to get done. I may be scrubbing a toilet right now, but I’m also sailing a wooden schooner from Europe to Africa. There is a bigger picture, I knew it, but I hadn’t really lived it. Now I have.
Drew Kerlee – Deckhand – SV Amistad – Leg 2 Monday, 03 December 2007
During this last leg of our trip, reaching through the trade winds has been spectacular. I remember a certain evening about three nights ago while we were still in some stronger trade winds. I was steering and every single person on my watch was below doing various different things. I think Hannah was navigating, Molly was working on her chart, and Lesandra was undoubtedly on a boat check. When I stood to on the starboard side of the wheel I could see nobody. Everyone was asleep, and those who were awake (mywatch) were engaged in very quiet late night watch rituals. We were cruising right along in a brisk 12 knot breeze making around 8 knots.
So there I was, sitting with Ella sharing a pint of beer.
D: sooooo, this is a neat place isn’t it?
E: yeah, cool we found it
D: uh huh
E: don’t you have a birthday coming up sometime soon?
D: uhhhhh (thinking, she’s right. She’s about to ask me how old I’m going to be. How old am I going to be? What year is it anyways?) Yeah, on the 18th. I like carrot cake (trying to change the subject)
E: yeah, I like carrots (zero hesitation) so how old are you going to be again?
D: uhhhh (pause… thinking… oh com’on, I know how old I am… now wait a sec… was I just 28, or was I waiting to be 28?) uhhhh
E: heh heh (he still looks bewildered and lost in thought) wait. Are you serious? You don’t remember how old you are?
D: (damn! She called me on it already. Damn that was fast. Now how old was I? 27, 28, 29, 27, 28, 29, 27, 28, 29) Well… I seem to remember being 28, or was it that I was waiting to be 28? (at this point I’ve lost all inner monologue) I can’t be 30 can I? I mean, I’d remember 29 wouldn’t I?!
E: you are serious! You don’t remember how old you are?!
D: (hell, there’s no point in trying to remember now) Hold on a sec (I grab my bag for a pen, and the receipt) Okay, I was born in 1978, and right now it’s …
E: 2007, oh my god!
D: right right, so 2007 minus 19..
E: I can’t believe you’re doing this
D: ah ah ah – …minus 1978 is…. 29. Now does that mean I’m going on 29, or that I’ve now reached 29? (why is she hiding her face from everyone in here? Is it because I look so old?!)
E: hahah
So here it is October 17, 2007 and I’m about to turn 29 years old. I’ve never really freaked out like this before about birthdays. I think my episode a few weeks ago in the pub was probably the extent of it. I keep complaining to people around me about being old, but I don’t feel shocked at it anymore. It does have me thinking about lots of things though. I mean, I remember when stuff like: annual income, and the possibility of a family didn’t cross my mind. It wasn’t long ago when all I could think about was tomorrow, or maybe next week. Right now, I find myself anticipating for the next four years. I’m thinking about big questions that I don’t remember ever thinking about before. Something about my 28th birthday didn’t seem like a big deal. If someone asked me if I considered myself a kid or adult, I felt like an old kid. Now if you ask me I wouldn’t even think twice about answering: adult. It’s not that I have things I consider adults having like a career, wife, children, mortgage, astronomical credit card payments, or an expensive car – but I grasp all those things. “Adult” is in my head.
Something quietly switched over while I was 28 and I didn’t realize it until just now. I’m sure 29 isn’t a universal age, but for me it’s the magic number.
Do I have any advice for younger people? Yup:
Did you have a good time when you were in college? (hopefully they say yes) If you could be 18 again would you do it? For me: I had a great time in college, but I wouldn’t do it again. I am truly excited for the rest of my life. I’m not in any rush to graduate from college, get a career, house, children, wife, nice car et cetera; but I am really looking forward to those times. I can practically see myself signing the paper, opening my first big pay check, throwing my hat in the air, saying “I do”, and day dreaming about what to name my son or daughter.
There was no way I could’ve said that four weeks ago.
Do I have any questions from someone who’s already turned 29 and lived through it?
When you turned 29, did you imagine you’d be where you are right now?
Check back with me in a few days, and I’ll let you know what happens. But for right now, I’m going to enjoy the next 21 minutes of being 28 – and go to sleep.
Hola Folks, I’m currently in Cascais Portugal. It’s a beautiful little city on the water with some pretty buildings, quaint shops and even a few beaches. Amistad is scheduled to be here for three more days, then we’re off to Lisbon Portugal for a grand entrance. We did our usual trick of stopping someplace before hand to get spit and polished up for our entrance into the city we’re supposed to be in.
I don’t really remember the last date that I wrote all of you, so I’ll just give you a brief update on the most recent happenings. Today, our normal captain Eliza showed up. Captain Steve will be getting off the boat today or tomorrow I imagine. I’ve worked with Eliza before, and although it will be a different feeling boat with her onboard, I’m looking forward to the change of pace to be sure. Our most recent passage from England to Portugal took us along the outskirts of the infamous Bay of Biscay. As we were so far off shore, the passage was relatively easy. I got my normal sea sickness half of the way across, but I discovered a wonderful motion sickness pill called Meclazine. It’s good stuff, and really took care of my problem. I imagine that the longer I’m in this biz, the more chemically dependent I will become on the stuff! Ah well, could be worse right?
My parents are finally getting ready to make their own move to Bedford England. They will have just missed me, as they will be arriving in three days from now! And this will mark the first time all the Kerlee’s are out of the country. How wonderful ?
For me, falling into the routine of the ship has been a small challenge, but my love of the sea has been holding me interested and engaged during my stay here. I look forward to applying to the maritime academies in January from Sierra Leone. I can’t wait to get on with my life, move forward in a career, and shack up with the new love of my life: Alison. I’ve been getting occasional emails from Jensen as well. He and Tina are traveling around Asia somewhere. I think I may get to see Jensen pretty soon in some capacity as well. He and I did have great times living together in Hawaii, so it might be time for an instant replay of the house at Barenaba Ln, but hopefully in Vallejo California.
Well, I’ve wondered on for long enough. I will upload a bunch of pictures to my website (pictures.kerlee.com) as soon as I get a good internet connection to send them off. Hope everyone is well – wish you were here!
