FlyingDutchman

#FishFinAddicts : Memories of the Siletz, Salmon and Sandy Rivers Fishin...

2021-10-15T13:14:00.001-07:00

A Tale of Shad Salmon and Sturgeon on a Willamette Spring Day

2015-06-01T14:27:00.001-07:00

American Badass

2013-11-02T16:05:00.004-07:00

Just had to post this:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=625265647500549&set=vb.192780127519099&type=2&theater

Come Sail Around the Planet With Me: as in Circumnavigate

2013-11-01T12:48:00.000-07:00

A few years ago, I went on a military mission on one of the fastest ships on the sea. I am proud to say that our mission undoubtedly saved many of our service members from horrible mutilations and death!

If'n ye has a bit 'o time availablt to ye - I suggest ye click down belowdecks on me SEA Blog Links to read the swashbuckling accounts of this mission along with other high seas misadventures, close encounters, pirates, sharks and all manner of other mayhem.

Here be the link right here: http://chuckfasst.blogspot.com/2011/06/sea-blog-life-of-seafarer.html

Our Naval Master@Arms security. Two of trhese guys stayed with us throughout our time inside of the Persian Gulf.

This is the medal we received for the successful completion of our mission

Our ragtag crew or globe trotting SeaFarers :-)

I stand here holding up the Oregonian ;-) Don't ask

M1A1 Abrams. Its like the BIGGEST tank in the world!

USNS Algol. Yes it is a Maersk ship, running similar missions to the one that is to be featured in the upcoming Pirate movie and yes our "Pirate Watches" were interesting. The Maersk ship in the movie was taken over by pirates just a few months after this mission

Here is my 10 Part Vid Series on my time in Diego Garcia

2012-01-06T16:10:00.000-08:00

WELCOME Seafarers, landlubbers, flatlanders, scalawags and whomever ye may be. This here be my account of time spent in my final mission as a US Merchant Marine. The little known atoll of Diego Garcia located smack dab in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Be advised - there is a lot of fishin' in these here vids.

Click the link below to see my 10 part video series along with some later found bonus footage of my final Shark battle off the stern of the ship in the wee hours of my final night:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2A6A8B34DB742815

Just click on the links below at the bottom of the page to see all the other Sea Blogs

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2A6A8B34DB742815&feature=plcp

Take a peak at Part 10 here and I will show you around the ship:

Now, if'n ye he a hankerin' ta read all about it, then here be me complete Sea Blog on this entire mission:

http://chuckfasst.blogspot.com/2011/06/sea-bog-diego-garcia-whole-account.html

Sea Bog: Diego Garcia The Whole Account

2011-06-16T20:52:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Diego Garcia:I have been here working away on the USNS Lopez for almost 4 months. I am getting "short" now, meaning I am about to be out of here soon, probably for good. I have been posting updates and pics to my MySpace and Facebook pages. Realizing not everybody uses that I am posting the last couple of blogs here. Additional updates and pics can be accessed at:www.MySpace.com/FlyingDutchman2/blog

If you would like to read about more sailing exploits, just click the "more" button at the bottom of the blog. And click the pics button for more pics of this place, and others. You can find more at:
http://www.facebook.com/.

Just punch in Chuck Fasst. And I have succeeded in posting one vid Up on

www.YouTube.com

Just punch in Racemup

NOTE: I have since departed this amazing place and am posting my final Sea blogs and pics of this Diego deployment to this site, "Blogger.com" This will probably serve as the final resting place in cyberspace for all of my sailin' adventures along with some pics and all of my future updates. So, again I ask you to "subscribe". It benefits me to have you subscribe. Perhaps, sometime in the far off future your subscriptions, comments and click thrus on my sponsoring ads here may help me to receive some kind of a pittance of remuneration for my efforts. Har, har!

Even if you are not into fishing. You might get a kick out of some of the shark fishing action scenes that I will be posting whenever I can next make the time to get at it at the editing desk, as the Internet service was the absolute worst in Diego and it was ALL I could do to post up what I have so far. My final vids on YouTube will show more of what goes on, on the island and the ship. So, "friend" me on YouTube or subscribe to my channel for the next vids.Feel free to hit the "Thmbs up" (or down) and leave comments. Pleeez!

Being that this is a "Blog" That means that shit is out of order when you try to read it. If you scroll down to "Sea Blog 1" you can read from the beginning accounts of my sailing adventures that were posted up a few years back. Note: Scroll down and watch to your right for "Blog Archives" and click on the earlier Blogs. If you scroll down to Sea Blog date June 16, 2011 you will see a prelude to this account of Diego Garcia - the rest of it is right below:

Diego Garcia is the place where I started my so-called shipping career in 2005. And this could very well be the place where I will end it as well. We will see how things go. And here you go - the complete written compilation of my 2011, Diego Garcia mission:

I be awishin' ye many red skies at night, Arrrrr.....

Diego Garcia 2/8/11

Life at Land’s EndThere has been scuttlebutt about the ship going to an interesting country in a while for an exercise. But rumor mostly. The military likes confusion - makes intel that much more secure. Now maybe another ship will be doing that. This ship will not traverse the Suez canal. Something to do with our payload as well as piracy but - even more so - expense. Seems we are not willing to pay the exorbitant fees the Egyptians would extract from us to traverse that canal. Is all fine by me, under the circumstances. That is one narrow stretch of water and with those steep hills on either side of that hostile territory..... No thanks! Plus, by now everybody knows what has been going on in Egypt lately.

In fact - we won't even go back thru the Philippines way due to the Malacca Straights and piracy. We will sail clear around the horn of Africa. Hell, who knows what were gonna do! All I know is this: The ship is scheduled for dry dock. I guess it will be laid up on the East Coast.

I tell you what - there is nothing like a surreal place like this to make you appreciate much more - life's little pleasures. For instance, I have a plastic water bottle I brought from the hotel in Bahrain. It was set out as a complimentary item. I stuffed it in the side of my backpack and brought it to the ship. Good thing, cuz there are NO bottled water here. So I refill it from the drinking fountain and place it in the little mini fridge. It just fits under the little mini freezer (now full of squid bait). That makes it so cold that little ice crystals form near the top. What a refreshing treat that is on a hot, sweaty day :-) !

　It's Friday

Seems there have been radical shifts in the jet stream around the planet in recent years. No concrete explanation for it. But things are different down here, I say. But, is something to do with how the jet stream swirls around the upper regions of the polar ends of the planet. Occasional wisps of the cool jet stream occasionally whisk down across the face of the planet all the way to the equator - drastically changing weather patterns in many areas worldwide. Been going on for a number of years now. Whatever kind of weather I was expecting to be around here - I guess I can forget it. It seems everything is changed.

I've been checking out some DVDs from the ship. They are made for airplanes and such, so don't have the Director's cuts outtakes and the like but at least there is a movie. Last night I found Avatar, I've been waiting for so long to see. I eagerly came down and plugged it into the computer. Only to get a message stating that my computer is from the wrong part of the world. Turns out most of these DVDs are of the overseas type that won't play on American players :-( ...So, much for life's little pleasures.

Bowling Night

I was finishing up my 1600-2400 watch a coupla nights ago and I came up from out of the holds to a huge storm. I was surprised because it had been such a peaceful night before I went down. They canceled the last launch, leaving two of our guys stranded on the isl. The following night the same thing happened again. It is Tuesday night, bowling night on the isle for this ship at the little 4 lane bowling alley. A bunch of mates like to go there and have a howling good time. I would have to wait for the 2000 launch if I wanted to go. That wouldn't put me at the alley till about 9PM. Too late, I think. Dunno if I'm up to that activity just yet anyway.

One Stuck Lizard

I'd been painting this frame work last night and the Bosun asked me to touch up a spot they found underneath when they tipped it up. I get over there and right on top on the corner of it sits a little lizard. He's stuck - all 4 feet and belly. He evidently crawled onto it when it was layed over, drying last night. He had his chin resting on a forepaw (claw?). And was twitching. I whipped out my knife and proceeded to carve off his hind feet and belly (and NO I didn't cut off his feets!). So I had ahold of his tail and was able to carve free his front feets leaving no more that a little belly scales stuck to the paint job. He immediately slithered to the crate beneath. Later I saw him scampering across the deck toward a hatch cover. Next time I looked he was gone for good. But he has a black tail now. So, I will be keeping a lookout.

It's Fry Day No, not THAT day. But it is another day now. Recently, I completed that Emergency Diesel Generator job I was put on after I arrived (the pic posted on Facebook). I was refurbishing the exhaust stack which is at the stern where I could often get protection from the sun. Now I have been moved up more toward the bow where the sun really beats down. It has cleared up today. Its almost a Dog day except for a little breeze. I got a little burn. So, I expect there will be many fry days.

Feb 15, 2011

Soon I would be more concerned about other things such as how I would get through this experience, working every single day for four months, mostly 12 hour days in this hot place. I can now say that I have made it over one week. If I make it 2 weeks, I should be good to go as a general rule out here. Yes, comms are difficult out here - then you stack on top of that more computer probs with my laptop. I am able to get online some and plan to post occasional updates and hopefully I will eventually get some video edited and posted to YouTube.

Anyone reading this who may have a comment, an experience to share , a joke or whatever - feel free to comment some how or whatever.

1/24/2011

This morning we headed out to sea. All the ships here do that regularly. We will be back long before this ever gets posted. Getting underway is not an “all hands” operation like most ships who tie to piers. Here the Chief Mate, the Bosun and a couple others go to the bow and pull the anchor as the Captain, Mate and AB on watch steer it away.

As I watched from down on the rail I thought I spotted a sub being led into the mouth by the pilot boat as a squall approached. This sight again gave me pause for thought - just how mighty our military power is and the importance of military might to so many countries around the world.
Which leads to this thought - Given the highly technological age in which we live in now and the progression of civilization down through the centuries; In comparison to the wild animal kingdom - just how far HAS mankind progressed as a species?

Soon the squall enveloped the sub and spread across the mouth of the lagoon. I watched the squall line as it approached our ship. The breeze along with the encroaching clouds brought with them a refreshing chill in the air - from the earlier tropical sun. With these squall lines, you can just about count down when the first raindrops will hit. I could tell it was another Sou’easter as the ships at anchor ahead of us swung around their starboard anchor chains to face into that direction. All the ships behind would soon follow suit - then swing back as the squall departs as if choreographed.

I was reminded of yesterday when a small one came through and a small rainbow became perfectly visible off the starboard stern. We could see both the beginning and the end of it almost within grabbing distance. We searched in vain for a pot ‘o gold. We are headed out into the ocean where wild fish do run wild. The fish out here are behemoths and I will have plenty more to say about this. Anyone who fishes will want to friend me here for updates. I expect you will be amazed.

We are about to have a fire and boat drill. Now I will have to get out for that. I am second man on the hose meaning I have to suit up - something I have to get better at.

WTF What the HELL is going on here???

Sea Blog 2/25/11

A Fishin' Mission in Diego Garcia

This is the scenario: You will be transported to a tiny military island far out into the middle of the Indian Ocean. You will remain there living and working seven days a week on a ship laden with all sorts of bombs, missiles, tanks and such. Your mission will be ..... Fishin'. You will fish for all manner of nasty, toothy critters using whatever methods necessary and any gear you can get your hands on, whenever and wherever you can. Is that clear?

As we headed out into the ocean and took a right, the captain commented on how the submarine that had visited a couple weeks ago had put down all the fish. I was surprised by that - never would have thought. And somewhat dismayed. It figures I'm always getting out when the fishing is bad. But that soon changed - to all of our surprise.

I was thinking, a great day for a boat ride all the same, as I took in the gentle ocean and blue skies as we left the jaws of the bay and followed the narrow strip of land that comprises the northeast corner of the island. It is mostly all unspoiled jungle. Nobody goes there. Read the earlier blogs down below to learn more about this unique island. But, as it turns out, I didn't have much time to enjoy the scenery.

Captain Ramir and mate McCoy had put the lines out soon after we rounded the corner. I had 2 outriggers and 3 stern lines all to myself. None of the other crew was able to get in on the trip - not that, that was a problem as these charters are way cheap for a trip that gives you shots at Marlin, Sailfish, Wahoo, Dorado, several kinds of Tuna, Giant Trevally, Barracuda and Shark among others.

Ratatat tat went one of the Penn 50s as a big Wahoo went to work on the business end of the line. I grabbed that big game rod and fought it to the rail quick enough and the first Wahoo was in the boat. What happened next was a bit of a blur. I remember fighting another one in, in short order and then a bit of a lull. I recall thinking that it was a good day as I had then boated one more Wahoo than I had ever caught, the only other one having been out of this very same boat six years earlier with captain Lito who ran the boat back then. I never thought I would return to this island after that. I am still amazed that I am here again.

After a radio conversation the Cap't. said we are pulling in the lines to go to Horse Point. Then that was when all hell broke loose - or fishing heaven - however you want to put it. Let me put it this way: every fisherman dreams of having that day - the fishing day of his life, the one that tops all others.

We all proceeded to get very busy and sweated heavily through the next 3 hrs as we worked at a record catch. We all fought fish, the captain and the mate as the rods went off sometimes two and three at a time. We lost as many as we got in - one breaking the line. Then there was the shark attack. I had to reel like hell and plane the small Wahoo across the water and beat the shark :-)

I was the one in charge of running up to the bow and opening the hatch door so the mate could toss the fish into the fish box. That proceeded to happen many times as I grabbed fish and dragged them up there as well. Some times we had as many as 3 fish on the deck. Rods, lines and lures strewn about helter skelter. We were like pirate buccaneers with the deck awash in blood.

We were so busy we didn't really pay much attention to the ensuing dog day. This would turn out to be the first day the sea breaze died and the hot sun and tropical humidity set in. I would become much more cognizant later as I realized the sweat that was sticking all my clothes to me would not go away. But it was some time in the middle of that when I realized that I was having that day.

Some time through all of this, during a short lull, I suggested to the Cap't. that we might make a pass down through Barracuda Flats. I wanted to put my rod out in hopes of battling one of those freaks of nature. But the bite picked up again. Later the Cap't. remarked maybe I might want to just stick around all the fish. I readily agreed as the realization of a record day was setting in on me.

Once it hit straight up noon, it was time to pull in the lines and call it a day - and what a day. As the two 250 hp mercs sent us skipping across the gentle swells, The Ca'pt., Mate and I raised our water bottles to a toast. The mate commented about the boats trim. When we had begun this trip, the bow rode high in the water. Now it was plowing through with the weight of what would turn out to be a whopping 16 Wahoo and one Yellowfin Tuna!

Once we had unloaded at the dock and all the pics were taken and the fish distributed to various Filipino workers on the island and the rest filleted up for my ship's crew I was beat as hell - totally wasted. Pulling in all those big fish was more work than I've EVER done fishing. Thank the sea gods, I had help with all those fish. It took 3 guys and a wheelbarrow to make two trips up to the cleaning station. I happily tipped the fish cleaners and they collected all the heads and the tails. No doubt the village dined well on fish head soup that night.

Later the captain mentioned that rain that had fallen in torrents the day before. That same rain that had caused me to take refuge in the Seaman's Club the night before while on the island. He said that it probably had cooled down the ocean, triggering the hungry fish to suddenly go on the bite. I mentioned that also I had scheduled this trip to parallel the incoming tide. Someone else mentioned the phase of the moon could have had something to do with it (one day before full moon). Or maybe the fishing gods - who knows - it was just my time.

Then began the odyssey of what to do with all that meat as I took a taxi to Jake's where crew members were arriving to set up for their Friday afternoon barbeque. There was no way to keep all the meat cold. I took the taxi to the Bike rental where I rented a large cooler and returned and again left to go rent myself a room for the night at the BOQ. I had received permission to spend the night off the ship which was absolutely fantastic! I plopped down in that air conditioned room and immediately sawed off an hour or so of badly needed stupor.

I returned a couple of hours later and chomped on a bunch of that fish that they had cooked. Nightfall came then most of the crew returned to the ship or went elsewhere. The XOP Band started up and remaining crew members moved up into the venue dragging me along and not allowing me to get away to my room. Partying ensued. People go absolutely crazy out here. I can't begin to describe it.

We ended up at the Brit Club where the action doesn't start till later. Just before midnight, my shipmates barely made it to the last bus that would take them to the midnight launch. I thumbed a ride back to my room shortly thereafter. Not returning to the ship. I had never before dreamed of being able to do that.

The following morning I was able to haul my ass out of the rack on time and hop a taxi to the 0730 launch. As I clambered aboard, the 2nd. mate on watch commented, "Hrumph so you make others carry your fish back while you stay ashore, eh?" I replied that all that fish was too heavy for me to carry. :-) Indeed we had Sushimi and Wahoo soup for lunch the next day and grilled Wahoo for dinner a couple of different nights. For days now I have been basking in the afterglow of my fantastic catch like a regular Ernest Frigging Hemingway.

Note: Any fishermen reading this might want to keep an eye out for notice when the YouTube, "Fish Fin Addicts" vid is posted of this trip. You will get a kick out of it.

3/3/2011 WARNING! WARNING Pirates attacking!

We are currently under a 12 hr. sail alert due to the world events currently taking place over on this side of the planet. Hopefully we won't end up sailing anywhere suddenly. Not to mention Bahrain, the place I was at not so long ago. Our mail comes through there as well as most of the personnel that are transferred in and out of this island. Many crew members have found themselves stuck aboard the ships beyond the length of their contracts. I am just hoping my new video camera I ordered from the internet will find its way to tyhis ship through all of that. I need to properly document this experience. Because, I absolutely expect to never see this place again once I reach the end of my time here in a little over two months.

As various countries continue to rattle their sabers and others break out in revolts - something else is taking place. The Pirates of Somalia have ramped up there lethality in the Gulf of Aden. Everyone has heard the sad stories of families being abducted and murdered. The pirates have extended their range. There have been a number of recent run-ins with the Navies of the U.S. and several other countries. A number of Pirates have been killed and their boats blown up. One South Korean Captain remains on life support after being shot five times.

The operating range of the pirates has now been officially extended to fifteen hundred miles from Somalian shores. That places this island within their range. Pirates are being intercepted closer and closer. More and more Merchant vessels have chosen to alter their courses to sail to the South of this island and down around the southern horn of Africa - bypassing the Gulf of Aden and Suez canal altogether. We are now allowing vessels to sail within twelve miles to the South of the island. Logic tells us that where the merchant vessels go - the pirates will soon follow.

At any rate, officials decided that it might be high time for an island wide exercise on how to react to an intruder entering through the mouth of the lagoon. COMSRON staff members came aboard several days ago and gave us the layout. We are the lead ship in the harbor, meaning that we are anchored closer to the mouth than the other ships here. So we could be the first ones to encounter invaders. I can vouch for the possibility of such a thing due to an experience I had aboard ship here six years ago, when I spotted boats outside the island early one morning on the RADAR when we were underway. But I won't get into that now.

All ships have a lockdown procedure they use for intruders., See my earlier blogs for more on that procedure. Click on the "More" button at the bottom to open the earlier blogs from 2008. Essentially, most of the crew take refuge deep inside the ship while those on deck take positions to defend. We don protective gear and arm ourselves and take up strategic positions around the ship. It is necessary for us to drill on this to get familiar with the procedures. Island wide is another thing.

Essentially, this island includes members of all of our armed forces as well as the Merchant Marines, British armed forces and a few thousand island workers, mostly Filipinos and Mauritians. Defense of the island is crucial.

The exercise was supposed to go something like this: A small craft is spotted by our ship, entering the mouth from the ocean. We alert the necessary authorites and take all of our defensive measures. Other craft are deployed from the harbor to intercept the intruder. Meanwhile, other intruders have breached the island and a manhunt gets underway. There are fire fights. There are casualties. There are prisoners taken in the jungle. And whatever else transpires. And the whole island gets to experience this intruder exercise.

The day comes to do the exercise. Our ship sounds the alarm. Myself and the rest of the deck crew report to our stations and don our battle gear and weapons We take position and wait - and wait. We are ordered to take cover, so we hide behind structures and peer out toward the sea - and wait.

Finally word comes to the Captain over the bridge radio - secure drill. It seems the seas were a bit to rough on this particularly windy day for the small craft to make the run in. The entire island exercise was keyed upon this first event taking place and then a long list of scenarios would take place in sequential order. So everything was canceled and we all went back to our ship's work.

The next day the COMSRON staff disembarked the ship.

3/10/2011 SHARK! SHARK! Oh my God OMG
I think that one of the dreams that most fishermen have, is to catch a big fish and then a bigger fish and at some point to catch the biggest fish of their lives. I know that has always been my dream. I can still vividly recall the wonder of fishing in the saltwater when I was a little boy visiting my dad up in the Puget Sound. There were big fish swimming in there, everyone knew that. The anticipation of what monster fish might bite that hook next kept me going day after day. The years went by and I never lost that wonder inside of me. No doubt that is part of the allure which makes life bearable at this little tiny island so far away from home.

Back home, we generally have an idea of what we are fishing for and around how big it might be. For instance, when I fish in the Salmon River in Lincoln city, OR., I am generally going after Chinook Salmon. I have an idea about how big they might be and my biggest fish of all time was a 42 pound Chinook salmon out of that river.

This brings me to where I am right now. So, if you have read my earlier see blogs or have viewed my vid I have recently released, you know just where I am. I am in the British Indian Ocean Territory, smack in the middle of the Indian Ocean. The island is Diego Garcia and I live and work on a ship that is usually anchored in the bay inside of the island. There are four boats that are outfitted to take us out fishing in the ocean outside of the island. We have the Ocean Master 1 and we have the Boston Whalers 1,2 and 3.

My last vid and sea blog dealt with my phenomenal success with Wahoo I had on the Ocean Master 1. This time I found myself hiring the Boston Whaler 3 with Capt. Manny and his Mate Earl. This time I had two of my crewmates with me, AB Brady and AB Hanna. It is not easy for the three of us to get our schedules together, however we managed to all get Friday morning off. Imagine our dismay upon waking at the crack of dawn Friday morning to a Condition II storm alert in the bay. It was a windy choppy morning and a storm lurked out in the ocean, keeping all small craft in port. I decided to take a chance and reschedule for the afternoon trip. I was not particularly excited about it because I would miss half of the incoming tide. But the storm cleared and the three AB's were able to head on out into the ocean.

Action came our way shortly after putting our lines in. All three of us had a hand in fighting fish. Dave Hanna pulled in a nice yellowfin. Then Dave Brady would pull in a real nice Wahoo. Those two fish would later provide sushi and sushimi for the ship's crew. Bonito also struck our lures.

When it came time for me, it would be "game on". A big fish struck and the fight was on. I am still dealing without a video camera and making do with the cameras at hand. We did manage to get some video of our battles with the fishes that they and I hope to have another vid out onto YouTube soon. But my "hat cam" was rolling when the big fish struck. Line peeled off of the big game Penn 80 reel as something big headed for the open sea. The video would later show that I would end up battling this white tip shark for 30 min. When it was all over, the captain and mate had unhooked the shark at the side of the boat and off it swam.

One would not want to keep such a shark out here or face a $10,000 fine. The sharks, along with the Marlin, lobsters, coconut crabs, chickens, donkeys, one wild horse and a myriad of other creatures are protected on this island. The captain later estimated the weight of the shark at about 120 pounds. So, that makes that shark about three times as big as the biggest fish I've ever caught before! So, one more check off from my fishing bucket list.

The battle with that shark beat me down bad. I can say that I learned plenty about how to fight something like that and be patient. And do not be concerned about anyone else that must wait while the battle goes on. Because what you are really doing is providing them with outstanding entertainment. Indeed that shark battle was the high point of the trip and my poor left arm suffered the consequences for three days later. It got way overextended trying to pull that thing in when it did not want to come in. Next time I will know better. That is, if there EVER is another time!

But, I was not done providing entertainment as I would soon find out, to my dismay. One of the things I insisted on doing was putting my steelhead outfit off the Stern. Another item on my fishing bucket list is to catch something with that out there on one of those boats. Everybody laughs and scoffs at the small outfit which seems so tiny in comparison to the big game gear on the boat. But, this is just one of those things I want to do. And then it happened...

The little rod went down and the fight was on. The captain slowed the boat and brought in some lines so I could fight the fish. We knew it would not be a big fish but it was a bit of a battle on the outfit and took a while to get it in. I cannot begin to describe my surprise once I had finally battled it to the boat and mate had no need of a gaff as he swung aboard a Bonito that was hooked right through the back! The fish had seemed bigger as I had been dragging it through the water sideways. AB Brady snapped a picture of the evidence before I could hide it. So, on the one hand I checked off another item on my fishing bucket list, however I will have to suffer the embarrassment from here on out.

I suppose that means that I am not finished putting that rod in, when I go out on these charter boats. I suppose I should pause for a moment, I wish I could come up with the words to better describe the experience of battling the biggest fish of my life. It is difficult to describe to those who do not fish. I will just say that, that shark was an awesome brute and suffering the beat down by it was absolutely exhilarating! Nuff said.

So, we concluded another fishing adventure. Toasts were had all around and we all agreed that we had thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Once we had gotten all of our fish filleted up, we headed to our ship's Friday barbecue over at Jake's Place. There, the chief mate sliced up the yellowfin tuna into sushi for all of us to enjoy. We continued to enjoy ourselves along with our other crewmembers hanging out at the beach and playing volleyball in the sand. And then a huge rainstorm blew in. And I won't go any further into that.

Be sure and catch my next sea blog entitled "Sharks, and More Sharks."

3/20/2011 Sharks, and More Sharks

Previously I have been covering fishing trips out in the ocean, chartered on the boats that are available to us here. My fishing mission is to get out there is much as I can in the four months that I am here. Now more than two months of that are gone. Scheduling these trips is not easy, as we need to get our schedules together when those of us can get off at the same time in the morning or afternoon for these four hour trips. The other problem cropping up more and more is the weather. We are moving closer and closer to wintertime over here below the equator. My last attempt was canceled due to another condition II storm warning. Then our ship put to sea for more maneuvers.

I have mentioned ship fishing. This is another kind of fishing that is done a lot here in Diego Garcia, every ship anchored out in the bay has fishermen that fish from it at various hours of the day and night. Most of the ships have Filipino riders, many of which fish with their hand lines, most of the ships will allow four islanders to come aboard on the launch and fish from the ships during the day and evening. Those of us who live and work aboard ship have the option of fishing in the middle of the night if we can muster up the motivation and energy. This is something that some of us have done. There is also the other subject of ocean fishing that many of the ships here do.

Last Thursday night we fished off the back of the ship in the middle of the night 3 AM, there was a storm going on. We had southerly winds, which turned the ship around 180° on its anchor chain. That placed us in a whole new area in the bay. So we ended up over some coral reefs or something and there were a lot of snappers. I was fishing with AB Doug. He started pulling in the snappers left and right. They were pretty nice ones very edible. We put them on ice in the cooler up on A deck. I told Doug that I wanted to make sure that the crew got the opportunity to eat these fish. As usually, the Filipino riders get the fish, and they cook them up and eat them themselves. They can whip up quite a feast in an electric skillet back on the fantail. This time I wanted to see if we could get the fish over to the island for our ship's, crew's Friday barbecue at Jake's place.

Fishing in the middle of the night aboard the ship is something I've been working up to since I came aboard. We work long hours, here, many 11 and 12 hour days. It takes a while to build up the strength that energy after you arrive at this tropical island to be able to keep up that kind of pace. If you are not one who spends a lot of time here. Of course, I spent a lot of time working with these vids and blogs. My goal now that I am becoming adjusted is to get out there late at night as much as possible because it is ...late at night when the biguns bite.

Those of you who have watched by videos over at YouTube.com (search word: Racemup ), know that there are big fish around here, in the ocean for sure. But big fish are not always caught off the ships all that often. There are a few specialists who managed to get some and you will see my pics and vids posted to MySpace, Facebook and YouTube that attest to that. Stay tuned to this blog about more on that subject.

I must mention the battle I had that night. I found myself in another shark fight this time, instead of being out in the ocean. It was for right here at the back of my ship. I was using my travel, Ugly Stick and spinning reel loaded with 20 pound test spider wire. I tied on an old beat up jig that was tried at tested when I was last here six years ago, and it caught several fish when I was crewing for the Bennet. I was casting and getting it along the bottom with a strip of Bonito on the hook.

It did not take long after the fish struck that I was sure it was a short that spider wire was telegraphing of the line. Every movement of the fish. I could feel the site to side to side swimming action of the tail. And every now and then it would violently shake its head from side to side. I thought that fish all around the back of the ship. It seemed as if the fish was swimming in circles. It did not take me down under the hull or cut me off in the prop. I fought it for quite a while gaining some as it would take back all my gains. But it was those violent head shakes that finally did me in. There is just no stretch in that Spider Wire super braid. The thin wire hook on that half ounce jig finally straightened out. I really do hate it the way those jigs are made with such flimsy little books. Obviously, the fish was hooked on the side of the mouth as a shark attack generally ends up with a bit off bait. Later, I was telling the Bosun about who said that it indeed probably was a shark and all I was doing was annoying It. Indeed, that probably was the case, so my quest will continue to hook and battle, a shark to the ship. I just want to capture that on film and let him go his way. Indeed, there is a $10,000 fine if one were to keep a shark here.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,See my Youtube vids for more action

3/30/11

WARNING WARNING Pirates everywhere!

You will be amazed at the proliferation of Pirates throughout the far side of the world. Read this report on the latest...

A maritime security hotline has been established to track Pirates terrorists and robbers, currently piracy is occurring in the following areas:

Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent, Bangladesh. Pirates attacking ships anchoring. Indonesia. The Malacca Straights have traditionally been a haven of Pirates, but activity has subsided here due too heavy patrolling, as it ramps up elsewhere. Malaysia, South China Sea, Singapore's Straits, Vietnam, Red Sea, Nigeria; well armed and violent Pirates are attacking with injuries. Cameroon, to Duala, Guinea; Pirates dressed in military uniforms. Somalia, Gulf of Aden, southern Red Sea, Oman, Arabian Sea, Kenya, Tanzania, Madagascar, Mozambique, Seychelles, Indian ocean; vessels being hijacked some being converted into motherships. South Central America and the Caribbean, Brazil, Venezuela, Haiti, West and South India, Maldives.

RECENT REPORTS:

3/29: Gulf of Aden: four Pirates in white skiffs chased a product tanker onboard security returned fire attack aborted.

3/22: Malaysia. 10 boarded a tug towing a barge taking crew of 10 hostage and hijacking the vessel on 3/24 they released the crew and a life raft with food, water, passports and some money. By then, the tugboat had been repainted to a green color.
3/28: Oman: Pirates in two skiffs fired RPG's and weapons on tanker tanker took evasive maneuvers fired rocket flares and activated fire hoses. Pirates boarded and hijacked the tanker.
3/27 Oman: a mother ship launched a skiff approaching a tanker onboard security team fired warning shots. Attack aborted.
3/26 Grand Comoro Island: 3 to 4 speedboats chased a containership master took evasive maneuvers. Pirates approached various directions, and close attack aborted.
3/26 India: five robbers boarded and anchored product tanker via the anchor chain duty crew saw the robbers on the forecastle deck and raised the alarm. Seeing alert crew. The robbers escaped with the ships stores.
3/25 India, two skiffs launched from a mother vessel with seven armed pirates chased and fired upon a bulk carrier. Armed security team on board fired warning shots. Attempt aborted.
3/24 Oman: eight pirates armed with RPG and AK-47 rifles in a white skiff chased a tanker underway. Warning shots fired as chase continued second time. Attempt was aborted.
3/24 Oman: Pirates in skiffs chased a bulk carrier vessel enforced anti-piracy measures and the skiffs aborted the attempt. Later the skiffs returned and succeeded in boarding vessel. All crew members entered into the citadel. Further report awaited.
3/23 India: heavily armed pirates in two skiffs and a mother ship chased and fired upon a containership master raised alarm sounded ships whistle, increased speed and took evasive maneuvers and managed to outrun the skiffs. Sustained bullet holes in superstructures.
3/22, Gulf of Aden: a bulk carrier was chased and fired upon by pirates in a skiff. Security team prevented Pirates from boarding the vessel.
3/21 S. China Sea: armed with long knives approached a general cargo ship. They attempted to board using a long bamboo pole attached with a book. One of the Pirates tried to board the ship, but was unsuccessful because of the presence of the bo'sun who was holding an iron bar. Attempt aborted.
3/21 Mogadishu: tanker chased by one mother vessel and two skiffs fired upon by RPG and evasive maneuvers managed to evade the boarding. Continued firing resulted in injuries to two crew members. One serious. Vessel sustained damages as well.
3/21 Oman: chemical tanker chased by five pirates armed with AK-47s in a white skiff to Pirates caught the ship's side, cut the razor wire with a small tool and came on board while the other three Pirates remained in the skiff. All programmers took shelter in the citadel. Pirates then made their way to the bridge and entered the bridge by breaking the glass and the protecting bars. Crew remained in the citadel for 3.5 hours, and later search the ship and found no pirates on board all crew members and the tanker are safe.
3/20 S. China Sea: eight pirates armed with long knives in a speed boat boarded a general cargo ship underway. They took hostage. The duty officer and brought him to the Masters. The Pirates stole the ships cash properties and Masters personal belongings and left the ship after 20 min..

This is the latest reported activity. There has been plenty more prior to this, some of the reports are quite amazing. Ships have been boarded by as many as 40 Pirates and hijacked to be turned into motherships. By now everyone should be aware of the recent murders of couples and families on pleasure craft. I am sure that none of the above has been in the news that reaches the Americas. So there you have it, pirate activity for the past week, in this part of the world.

Note: It should be noted that all attacks cannot be regarded as factual as some ship's captains and crews have been known to rob their own ships and blame pirates.

If'n ye would like to read more about seafarin things, ye can check out me sea blogs over at MySpace.com/FlyingDutchman2/blog

just click on the button what says "more blogs." If'n ye would like to see some videos about the fantastic fishin out here around Diego Garcia and other seafarin things, go to:

YouTube.com and look up "racemup."

4/8/2011 Diego Garcia

A Day in the Life of an AB Sailor

I stand The 8 to 12 Sea watch when the ship is underway. There are six ABs on the ship. We stand, watches round-the-clock, meaning that there are two ABs standing a four hour watch at any given time. My watch is 8-12 AM and 8-12 PM. There are many sights to see around this little atoll in the Indian ocean. Last night when I came to the bridge to relieve the watch at 2000, we had a so-called Super Moon. Which may have had something to do with the nice sunset we saw. The lights that shown over the island as the Sun was setting behind it sort of resembled the Araura Borealis. And the moon came up. Looking at it through the binoculars we did see the faces on the moon. They say the Moon was the closest it is going to get to the Earth for the next 12 years.

The ships anchored up inside the island fire up and steam on out into the ocean on a regular basis and do maneuvers and go out to the 20 mile line to dump our graywater and other selected refuse. Our ship sailed a southerly course for a couple of hours, then turned around and backtracked the same course. Off in the distance, beyond the horizon I could see distant lightning flashing. It reminded me of the dry lightning , we used to see in the Persian Gulf. It was probably the result of a tropical depression that was several hundred miles south of the island called "Ex Cherono." It would light up a section of the southern skies. We could see the thunderheads outline when it would flash. The flashes were so bright they reminded me of a nuclear burst. Even after the ship turned around and headed back in the opposite direction, we could see the peripheral flashes alongside the ship.

This morning it came time to sail the ship back into the harbor and again drop anchor in our appointed spot. Ever since I came aboard the ship. I have had the watch when the ship was coming back in. Being that I was new on the ship, I was made to stand by while the other, AB would steer the ship in to the Anchorage. This time, my watch partner was at the helm as we approached the sea buoy. And, the Capt. said for me to stand by again rather than relieve my partner, so as to allow him to continue driving the ship on in, the same as he had done the last time. I was thinking under my breath that it was a good thing that the Capt. did not let me anywhere near the throttle on this thing because at this point this race car, dude would show them no mercy! But then, the Capt. decided to go ahead and allow me to steer for a while until we got closer into the channel.

As I drove it on in. I surmise that the Capt. was taking note the times he glanced at the course on the Radar and saw that it was dead on. As we were entering the jaws he said that everything was looking good and that I should continue at the helm and my watch partner would stand by to the side, just in case. So I ended up driving the ship all of the rest of the way to the Anchorage, whereupon the Capt. looked over and said, "good job, Mr. Palmer."

I mean really, for a guy who races around cars how tough could piloting a 50,000 ton ship be? Actually, at times when we are out at sea, I have spent quite a few hours driving the ship. "In hand." That is, I take it off the Gyro or the "Mike" as we call it. Doing this in order to get a feel for the ship and how it reacts to my direction. One does the same thing with a racecar. So I was comfortable with how the ship would respond to my steering. Shortly after the ship was anchored up, the sea watches were secured at high noon. And we revert back to the regular deck work that we do while the ship is at anchor.

Once we are at anchor. Our watches revert to eight hour anchor watches. Every three days. We either stand the midwatch, which is midnight until 8 AM or the 16 to 24 watch, which would be 4 PM until midnight. These watches consist of roving the ship and climbing down into all of the holds to the bottom of the ship and then back up. The rest of our working hours are spent working out on the deck of the ship. I work 11 to 12 hour days. Most every day.

Once I was relieved from the helm, I went on down to the Chow Hall for lunch. The way it works on that ship is that there is a daily menu. We go in, sit down and order from the stewards assistant (SA). One of the quirks of the ship has to do with butter. In the morning when you go for breakfast. There are bowls of little squares of butter on every table, set out for us to put on our toast and pancakes and such. But for lunch and for dinner, There never is any bowls set out so that we can butter our rolls, mashed potatoes, green beans or whatever. Nobody seems to mind. It seems weird to me that more people would not want to have butter on these things, as I think most people prefer that. Anyway, I always go back into the galley get one of the bowls out of the cooler and set it out for us to use so that people can have butter for their dinner rolls.

So I went back to grab a bowl of butter, and the SA asked where I was going with that butter. I said, I'm bringing it outside in case anybody else wants some. And he said to put that butter back into the refrigerator. And if anybody else wants some. They can come back here and get their own. I was a bit put back by being ordered around by an SA, which usually doesn't happen on a ship. But then again, one must stop and think about who it is who is serving you the food. Is that really the person that you would want to piss off? This tall, lanky brutha is a little bit edgy about some things and seems to maybe have it in for me a little bit. But what can one do about what someone else does. When that someone else is the one who is serving you Your food? So I buttered up my roll and went about my day. I would have eight more hours to put in before my day was done. As we can put in four more hours of overtime after we complete our watch.

As I went about my day out on deck. The beads of sweat dripped down my forehead and off my nose and down onto the deck. Where I was chipping away at the paint with a paint scraper. It is hot over here 7° South of the equator. As I sat there on a milk crate, banging away at the deck, it gave me time to ruminate about my day. Mere hours ago, the Capt. of the ship had been complimenting me on the good job I did bringing it on in. And here I sit, scraping paint off the deck in the hot Sun. Aw, but that is the life of an AB sailor.

As it came time for dinner, AB Thong motioned me aside, pointing toward a workbench where something copper lay upon it. It was my twisted up bracelet pretty well mangled. He said that he had seen me wearing that bracelet before and now there It was. I wondered about when I had lost it, and where and how long ago as I usually take it off when I'm working, but evidently did not. Somewhere along the line, and it had been living out here on deck Ever since it parted company with my wrist. A few tools and some polish later, I had it ready for wearing again.

After dinner, I reported out on deck again to find that I was the only AB reporting out for overtime. This is not the first time. I guess I am more motivated to put in the overtime to cover the expense of my fishing forays. I probably work more hours than anybody else on the ship. This time it is me and Wally gator, the Dayman working overtime. "Hello, Chuck E cheese, don't work too hard." He says. He is always telling me not to work too hard.

"That would be Chuck The Hammer Cheese to you." I remind him. He gave me that nickname when he spotted me twirling a hammer in the air like I often do with tools. So I always remind him of the entire nickname now. This night. I will be prepping and primering the area I had been chipping on up until 7:30 PM, at which time I will end the workday that began at 7:30 AM..

Once I have suitably recovered from my work day, this evening. I am anxious to bring my laptop into the crew's lounge where I can attempt to go online through the Wi-Fi service provided by Diego Garcia Wireless on the island. This night I was sitting there for 20 min. clicking on the refresh button, trying to get the login page to come up, the same procedure we all go through every time we try to go online. It is the most pathetic service you could ever imagine. We all want to connect with the outside world. This is the only way. It is a real crap can product the island provides for us but we are forced to put up with it.

I give up on the hopeless computer task and retire to my state room to try to get a little rest. Later on tonight. I will be back out on deck this time at the Stern fishing. And all of that fishing entails a whole nother story. And you can check those out here on Facebook or my sea blogs at MySpace and on YouTube.

So, there you have it - a day in the life of this AB Sailor.

Side note: A day later, It was interesting for me to note that every table now had a bowl of butter for lunch, as well as for dinner it. It has remained that way since.

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Excerpts from letters home:

I feel a little bit strange. Right now as this is the first time that I'm sitting around in the afternoon on the ship with nothing to do. I had midwatch last night and work. My overtime morning until noon. Then I crashed for five hours solid. I was the most exhausted. I've been so far, probably. I don't suppose that would have anything to do with me taking a few hours to fish in the middle of the night last night during my watch. Fishing has been crazy around the ship these past few days over the weekend, the same four Islanders have been coming to the ship and fishing off of the turntable at the rear of the ship and they have been doing fantastic catching these nice Jack's and rainbow runner's the same guys have come back now for four days straight. Well, maybe five by now, as they are out there right now, or at least three of them are. I don't know how these guys arranged to get onto which ships out here. I have been told that they pay the launch drivers small bribes, a couple of dollars or so. Or maybe fish who knows fish around this place is like currency. Anyhow.

I guess trying to figure out what and when. Makes fish bite is a question that many have studied but I think here it is the new moon, it causes the highest tide change between the low and high tide. That is my best guess, but I don't know now I'm concentrating on trying to catch these big jacks around here. They are so hard just to get to bite and then trying to land them is another story. I have never, EVER landed one yet. Two nights ago I fought two big ones, almost to the end and thought I had them whipped only to have them bite off my books. Both times, just like all the other times that happened. So I am working on ways to rectify that now. But it is not easy, it's quite often they are line shy, when it comes to trying to use steel leaders. After three months out here the fishing seems to be what sustains me, but also exhausts me at the same time. Well, I can say that I have some fantastic shark footage and I was lucky to get that. Some said it is Discovery channel quality. I do not expect that I will ever again witness some of the things I have seen out here.

Last night was frustrating in a way. There were big jacks swimming all over the place, frolicking around on the surface they were feeding on some kind of Hatch some kind of mayfly like dragonfly like insect. I finally ended up rigging up a set up with these little teeny flies on it made for catching bait fish and rip that across the surface. One hit and missed an funny thing after that. Not another one would bite. I have had that happen so often. It is like one fella tells everybody else don't touch this. However, I had another bite. I had a great battle, only to find out, I looked some kind of great big Mackerel. This first time we have seen a fish like this caught from the ship. The Filipino riders have it now. I don't know if I will get the chance to sample any of that or not. Some of my fish gets fed to the crew and other fish and at that end up going to the island.

Right now it is. After dinner, and most of the guys are putting in their overtime out on deck, still I was just out there and the sun is setting and boiling hot. The sun has been hot during sunrise and sunset. For days now. I don't know the season is changing supposedly we are getting closer to winter. One thing is for sure. The winds have changed. Now they are southerly, which makes the ship face in the opposite direction on the anchor chain and enables me to receive the radio Diego on my little radio. But I think it is more humid out there last night I was sweating terribly in the middle of the night four and 5 AM I had to change my shirt before I went back up to the bridge. And I don't have too many shirts left. Because most of them are falling apart, it looks like I planned out things fairly well, as I'm running out of and using up most everything pretty close to on time. My eyeglasses are about done. I have lost one pair, and broken my other two pair of working glasses now I'm worrying my last set with a tie straps holding the lens in the frame broke two of them have done that. It does make for some difficulty seeing. I must say this is one of the things that I hate so much fumbling with these glasses while trying to do everything is very sad.

I complain about these age-related issues as there are so many issues coming up here, and as always other crewmembers are surprised to hear how old I am. There are a lot of other guys out here that looks pretty used up, but they are younger. They get used up from this. I am trying to find the time to write up a little about the shipboard happenings maybe later tonight, might be the opportunity. I don't know. Sometimes I get tired of trying to do all of that. I have a bunch of video that I want to start editing I am excited about some of the footage. And for sure I will be doing some or fishing at sometime tonight or the other. I I have two more YouTube videos. I want to upload, but I dread doing that. It takes forever, and success is not assured. I'm staying on the ship tonight rather than running off to the island to do errands. So we will see. I expect I will go online. Pretty soon, so that I can send this off at any rate.

Myself, I only need to the last one more month without serious injury or disease – or mental defect. I think three months would be the more appropriate length of time to be out at a place like this. Many parts of me seem to start shutting down. But fortunately I have the fishing, if not for that I don't know what I would do.

And if not all enough, a couple of the ABs are leaving and it looks like I will be inheriting a small TV, which I can plug into the ship cable so that will be something new. I will be able to tune into the news from my room. Well anyway, that just means I will continue to remain quite busy. Better to be busy then to be bored the boredom creeps up in my mind usually, or at least lately when I'm out on deck and doing some of the mundane, less than encouraging kinds of janitor work. Some members say. I should get permanent on a ship out here and I say, except for a lot of this work that I do, it is difficult for me to deal with when I'm doing the janitor work at this late stage of life. Oh well, that is just one of many, many reasons to not be here.

...........................

I went on down to the Marina and saw Junior, who had no new news for me as far as heavy fishing outfit for fighting those monster Bull Sharks out back. I looked at one outfit in the ship store that is heavier than what I have, but still not up to the task. But it's only 65 bucks for the rod and the real both. I suppose it would work for sturgeon if I could ship the rod home. It would be 4 feet long package.

I was talking to Junior for a while at the Marina. It turns out he lives in Olongapo City in the PI. I told him I had been there in the mid-70s when I was a young sailor in the Navy. He said he was born just after that. He said that he is been looking for his dad ever since. And then I might be his dad. Ha ha LOL. He said that every other 30-year-old guy is looking around for his dad over there. He said there is a bunch of tall Filipinos playing basketball and such.

Then I hopped the bus on down to Jake's place. I had about a half hour before I had to catch the bus to take me to the 1500 launch to get me back to the ship in time to start my 1600 watch. Lily Beth, the ship's cook, was there with a bunch of other Filipinos getting all set up for her going away party. A crew from DG, 21, was busy trying to erect a circus tent. At the same time, Nor easter was blowing through, it has been a gray blustery day today, but things have not cooled down one bit, always sweating outside day or night. They were bringing loads of pots and pans it looked like she had quite the plan for feeding people she knows people from all around the island, even on the bus coming out there were guys from other ships, saying they were coming to the party. So looks like they must've had a hell of a wingding. A few of them just came back on the 2300 launch. But most of them are going to be coming back on the midnight launch. Which is not long from now. I am about to finish up the 16-24 Watch. In fact, I am going to go ahead and go wake my relief right now and prepare to hand over the radio and keys to him. So he can do the mid-watch.

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Fishing has been interesting lately. Lidia the bo'sun went out with Brady and the two cadets Wednesday. They hammered some huge tuna, the Filipino riders have asked them to bring back the fish whole. So that they can get the chance to clean the fish here oaboard the ship and make "Fish Adobo" with the heads and such. This is completely and totally funked up tonight. I don't know what is up. The Filipino riders wanted the fish heads so they had to use the crane to bring all the fish over the side onto the ship. They had two huge tuna about 50 or 60 pounds apiece. I have had some interesting times to I need to tell you later. Right now the top dog seems to be that mad fishermen who fishes for the big jacks from the bow in the middle of the night. They tell me, he has been catching them. I have not seen it. He caught some rainbow runner's the other night and we had them fed to us for dinner last night and I did not like their taste the meat was not very firm.

Just tonight the Islanders were fishing off the back of the ship. They made quite a catch again tonight. They got some great big sweet lips and they all then a big ass Jack. I am still trying to catch one of those damn things. I asked them how they cook those jacks and of course it is hard to understand their accent, but it went something like fry them. Then add coconut fry them again with sugar and sweet and sour.

I thought about possibly fishing tonight, but it is real blustery out there still, and I'm feeling too tired right now. I would rather just talk to you. Where would you like to go fishing? I think the Springer's might be still up in wind River on the Washington side. If I am not too late in returning timing is everything on that run. Well, I also want to party. I missed this big party tonight. Tomorrow night. There is something going on at the Phil Mau Club. It starts at 2000. I am thinking maybe if I have enough energy. When I get done working at 1930, maybe I can catch the 2000 launch. I have not been to the Phil Mau club since I arrived here six years ago I went to that place quite a few times. Lots of us liked to stop in there. But the guys here now have never, or even heard of the place. Well, now the hour is getting late. And if I'm going to do something like that. I will have to sign off for now.

Life here is so intense. I know is going to take me a while to wind down and get oriented back into normal life. It will be kind of strange for a couple of weeks. I know how it goes. But it will be nice to go do some things and see the bands and dance. So I will not have danced for four months.

Well, here is a new day. Today we are doing lashing we have all been sent down into the holds to make sure that all of the hundreds of military vehicles are lashed down securely with the chain bindings is been hard work, but at least it's fairly cool down thereinstead of being up here on deck where it is still so damned hot, even though it's cloudy out. It is still muggy and sweaty. But I'm getting tired, that lashing is hard work. Of course I signed on to work overtime tonight. I don't think I'll have much company, as usual, though the others deciding not to work. I'm going to put on my kneepads when I go back down there. Well the guys told me the news about the beauty contest last night as I expected from what I know about the Seamen's club and their attempts to promote things, it was canceled. Of the three girls that signed up only one showed. Oh well, it looks like they need some help with that sort of thing. Well, now my break is done and I have to go back down for some more lashing

.

I got a big ass blister trying to come up on my hand. I should have been using the Fid tool instead of using my hand to hold onto the turnbuckle while I torqued with the pipe wrench in the other hand. But the other guys were using the fid tool. Oh well, we are now done with all of the holds. It is just about chow time. Then at 1730 we will see who shows up for overtime. Doesn't sound like it will be much. AB Hanna told me he will think of me when he is kicking back doing something or the other relaxing on the ship while I am doing my overtime. I said that when I hit the island, after I get done with my overtim,. I will tip a cold beer in honor of whatever it is he was doing to relax while I was working. He does not want to go to the island because he has to work tomorrow, so he will sacrifice his overtime and stay on the ship and relax instead. So he should be pretty fresh tomorrow. I would think. Maybe I can con him into doing all of my work if I am hung over and nobody is watching? How do they say - that dog won't hunt? That plan will probably not work.

... Well, now, so much for that plan. Did my overtime working with AB thong, painting out a section on the main deck. We roll it out with rollers and then sprinkle sand into it to make it nonskid. Thong didn't mix quite enough paint. We ended up working right up to 7:30 PM. I had to rush to get out of here, so it turns out that they had a beauty contest at the Phil Mau Club. They are picking Ms something or other for the Philippine Independence Day. They will pick a winner sometime in June. They had a few beauties there. Nobody from my ship went to it. Not even the Filipino riders. Of which we have eight of them on board right now. From there I went to the Turner club, also known as the Island room. There, the XOP Band was playing. Nobody danced the whole time I was there. A rather odd situation. They were sure dancing at the first club, they had some dance troupes entertaining us.

I sat there at the bar listening to the music and letting my mind wander. It wandered all the way over to you and the things going on around you. Then, monster bull sharks started swimming through my head. And I decided in my hazy brain that I would have to redouble my efforts to go after them. Everyone thinks it's ridiculous, but I'm thinking this will most assuredly be my one and only last chance to ever do anything like this. Right now I am trying to pry off my shirt in the middle of the day and recuperate. I took the midnight launch back to the ship last night. And when I came aboard, AB Doug was standing the midwatch. That means he was ready to fish. The only time he fishes is during the midwatch. He borrows Rodney's pole. Doug. He is peculiar, however, because he will not touch the fish is something about the eyes and whatever. And he will not eat any fish, and cannot stand the smell of fish – but he fishes. And we have certainly had some GOOD times doing that :-)

So, he talked me into getting my gear and coming out to the turntable, which I call my battle station. He needed bait, and I had cut piece of bonito in my little freezer. So I ended up fishing out there with him until 3 AM. Also AB Brady showed up for a while. We had a pretty crazy time. I was tossing one of my new jigs. I bought at the ship's store after losing my others, with a little strip of bonito on the hook. I got a good bite and the fish immediately hung me up. That is typical of what a Grouper will do. It will dash out of its lair grab its meal and – back in to the coral. We decided to just let it sit while I retied a new rig for Doug, as he had lost his also in the coral. Sometime my pole started bouncing around again and I grabbed that and yanking it I felt it pulling through everything and the fish was free again and I got it in, a nice chunky grouper. We got the net and dropped it down there and in all the confusion, Doug. He was pulling on these lines and so forth. And he's pulling on a line, and it is not mine. He ends up pulling up. One of the hand lines, like the Filipinos use, complete with all the line and the hook, sinker and bait on it. We still have not figured out exactly how that all came about.

.................................................

While I am pretty beat down I have a pulsing pain write down my left middle back. And my ears are plugged up first one and the other. I got called away, just before dinner to go down to the turntable. Brady came to my door and told me that they were catching fish like crazy down there, the four Islanders have been fishing back there all week long. I went back and they had a monster sweet lips must've been 3 feet long, and one of the other guys had a bunch of these moon fish I've been telling people on the ship that those fish are down there, but nobody's ever caught one. I tried a few times with no luck. Now here. One of these Islanders has about four of them in the bag. One of them is a monster. Those four guys have buckets full of all kinds of fish and they had not even been here that long. I don't know what makes all these fish bite like that. If I hadn't of already written in for my overtime. I would've said to hell with it, and got down there myself, but I was obligated and now I am done so another day flutters away – just like chipping paint.

Sea Blog Diego Garcia 2011

I sit here and reminisce about this here Sea Blog which have not gazed upon in quite a while.

When I first began these sea faring journeys in 2005 it was by written log - done from right here in this same HOT place. That was a written journal which has never since seen the light of day. Later I switched to the digital Sea Blog so that the outside world could get a gander at this sea farin’ type of life. For whatever that is worth. I don’t figger too many eyes have gazed upon this here Blog. But it will remain here as long as this site allows for whomever, such as perhaps current and prospective seafarers. There have been a few books written through the years but there has been little record of what it is like on the ships. So let this be one.

　

This comes from the Isle of Diego Garcia. Some know where this place is - in the BIOT, smack in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Yes, I have returned to the place where it all started fer me in 2006 (the sailin‘ work that I do). Mebbe after this stint is done - I will be done sailin’ the high seas. Anyways, I ain’t got much time at the moment, been here a week now. These are the tales of this here place on me Sea Blog at:

MySpace.com/FlyingDutchman2

where you can find tales of previous sailin’ adventures, if’n ye so desire to do so. Ye can check out pics o‘ me first workin‘ assignment and many more pics as I post them at MySpace and Facebook. J There be a link to my Facebook page from there.There is little known of this place by the general public. But the info is out there. Just Google Diego Garcia. This is an atoll at the southern tip of the Maldives chain of islands. An atoll is the remaining mouth of an ancient extinct volcano. This island is only about ten square miles or so, horseshoe shaped with a huge, deep lagoon in the middle - perfect for anchoring out a bunch of ships. The tallest part of the isle is only about 6 ft. Above sea level. The tallest building is no more than 2 stories!

　

The isle is actually owned by the Brits as part of the British Indian Ocean Territories. There is a backstory concerning the conversion of this island to a military facility - not all that savory for some. Wikipedia has the story. We rent this island from the Brits. Army, Navy, Marines, Air force, Merchant Marines and British military are all here, along with a couple thousand Philippine Islanders who live in the Village and keep the isle up and running. There are no civilians here unless they are contracted to perform some service for the military.

　

The ships here are in the employ of the Military Sealift Command. They are Pre Positioned here (along with other places in the world) for military action. They are like floating warehouses, movable in case of war. This ship carries all the heavy equipment, armament, munitions, berthing and equip’t to outfit 100 Marines. It can all be off loaded pierside, beachside or anywhere in between in a matter of days, if need be. Of course I hope I will never see that need!

　

So, what is this place like you may wonder. Well, it is like no place else in the world - for one thing. The Duchess refers to it as, “land’s end.” It could also be called, “the land that time forgot.”

I got here by way of United Airlines from Portland, Or. To Washington D.C. To Kuwait then to Bahrain. Then a military flight to Diego Garcia. I felt it was strange to go this way as it is the long way to the far side of the planet. In 2005 I flew to Narita, Japan then Singapore then on to Diego. I spent a night in Bahrain and though I don’t have a lot of fear, I decided all the same to remain within the confines of the 4 star Hotel I had been put up in. Didn’t want to push my luck wandering the streets in case I might trip across some dude who might hate me more than I would ever know.

Went to get online only to find that the plug-ins were all wrong for my charger. I had forgotten that the voltages and such are all wrong in some of these countries. I looked over at my now useless cell phone and pondered my thoughts on being cut off from the outside world.

Sea Blog: A message to my fellow maties

2011-06-16T03:11:00.000-07:00

Here you will find entries from my latest mission to Diego Garcia. I ask you to subscribe to this and to my YouTube Channel for my further updates and the final conclusion to this High Seas experience.

Remember, these Blogs read from the bottom up, so start at the bottom :-)

Greetings Maties:

This here list is getting some years behind it by now. I use it to send reports to me seafarin' mates and landlubbers alike, most of whom I may never see again. I try to send out the list whenever I ship out. It's been a dry coupla three years for me during the economic downturn. With me shipping out of the Tacoma Washington port and living in Portland, OR, deployments were scarce. In 2010 I found meself doing landlubbin' work fer the U.S. Census. Oncst that come to an end I found meself again haunting the Union haul fer any All Ports offerins.

Lo and behold I suddenly stumbled into me present sitiation. As I sit here the reality of it all smacks me hard in me face as I continue to try to wrap my wee brain around the FACT that I have returned to a place I pretty much never expected to see again. Howsomever, just so the dim memories don't fade too far from me feeble mind - I get to experience all over again this hot, HOT, faraway place - the place where all this craziness began for me in 2005. Yup - talkin' about Diego Garcia - the faraway land that time forgot (pretty much). Yup, I find meself back at this island smack in the middle of the Indian Ocean - 10,000 miles away from most of you. This be the place where I served a four month sentence to begin my Merchant Marine so-called career at the age of 50 :-/

Yup, I know, kinda late in life to be hittin' the high seas! Ah but what is normal anyways - these days... Well, this place needs no describin to some o' the mates on this list like Guy, Paul, Cap'n. Morgan and mebbe some others. It is the place that time forgot. This place is like the last Western frontier. They say change is inevitable and change has occurred here - but not too much. It is still a mostly primitive life here. The place is indeed difficult to describe but I make my attempt on MySpace, Facebook and YouTube. Blogs, vids and pics.

Briefly, we are in an archipelago, the southernmost isl in the string of Chagos Islands - all part of the BIOT (British Indian Ocean Territories). Few people know of this place but just Google it. This place has quite a history as well as quite a presence. The U.S. rents this isl from the Brits. All of the Armed Forces along with the Merchant Marines have a strong presence here. I can't begin to describe the military firepower that is present here.

But I try to give an indication of what life is like out here for those who may be curious. My Sea Blogs and pics at MySpace also describe a previous mission I took to the Persian Gulf that took me around the world. Just click "More" at the bottom of the Blog. MySpace seems to be getting pretty messed up. I have become extremely frustrated with the time and expense attempting to post my blogs there. Minutes of time are precious here. Working mostly 12 hr. days seven days a week does not leave a lot of free time. Spending $4.00 per hour for internet service adds up quick as well. Do the math. So I am searching for a better place to post my blogs.

Note: Indeed, I have now found that place here at Blogger.com

YouTube has several vids I posted of my Persian Gulf mission. Click on my pics at Facebook and MySpace. Go to these places and friend me or subscribe and by all means, leave comments.

NOTE: I have 5 vids from here posted to YouTube and several more coming. So, by all means check out my YouTube Channel and suscribe for more :-)

WWW.Myspace/FlyingDutchman2/blog

http://www.facebook/ Click here: Chuck Fasst (8)

http://www.youtube/ Click here: YouTube - racemup's YouTube

Farewell fer now to all of ye Pollywogs as well as Shellbacks,

Chuck Fasst AB

USNS Lopez

Sea Blog: The Life of a Seafarer

2011-06-03T01:53:00.000-07:00

USNS Algol

Chuck Fasst 2008
Sea Blog 1
Ahoy there maties. I am posting this here journal to my Myspace blog (and now Blogger.com) so those who may have a curiosity about the seafarin' life may have the chance to read a little about it. And if'n ye be a likin' this, then be sure to subscribe and mayhaps leave a comment, eh? In the past I have written reports to my list of seafarin and landlubbin friends I've met here there and everywhere. The past writings have been pretty much lost about two hardrives and a motherboard ago. Shipboard life has been hard on me as well as my laptop. In the beginning I kept detailed written journals which so far have remained private. Perhaps in the future I will find the opportunity to share those wonders of faraway lands and high seas adventures with the rest of the digital world.

It is an odd life we live - those of us who go to sea. I don't recommend it for an old geezer like me. But for a young buck yearning for adventure and a boost up in life it might very well be worth a shot - if you've got what it takes. I got into it because i needed a boost in life. Mine had slowly coasted to a stop. I was going nowhere which did no good for my life long hankerin to race cars. Cuz that ain't a cheap way to go. And I will mention that I was and still am a frustrated fisherman. So why not travel the world so I can itch that fishin scratch a bit and make bank so I can get back onto the racetracks. And that is what I've been a doin.

Drifting is the form of racing I am moving into. If you dunno what that is, just google the word. You'll get the picture - or watch my video casts here:

Flying Dutchman Playlist: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4EF15E77EC97FADC

Be sure and click on "More from this user" if you want to view my other videos.

It be a darn sure thing fer me to be a doin fer sure as there are some key similarities between the sport and the ship drivin' I be a doin out here. But enough of this drivel.

My last report came from the North Atlantic. I spent the late winter of '07 on a Car Carrier ship plying the Northern Europe. That was a rockin and rollin experience. That stormy North Atlantic ocean in Winter is absolutely sumthin else I tell ye. After that last report I would proceed to have another one o' them near death experiences to add to my list of about nine or so. The ship was traversing one of many locks back there all thru northern Europe. Dunno why they need so many in the English channel. Anyway it was always a crazy time getting thru those damned things. Hard to tie off the ship in all those currents and shifting waters. I was at my station running the stern winch as the Mate frantically motioned me to keep tightening on the mooring line (ropes about 4" in diameter). That required me to keep banging on the handle, grinding the gears in the winch drum while kind of overriding the overriding clutch. The captain was radioing he wanted the line tighter. But there was only one line out and one was not enough we would find out.

The parted line turned my ear green! Good thing I am Fasst - or I'd be a dead man now!

Every sailor who works out on deck will tell you about how dangerous those lines can be. There was an explosion like a shotgun blast as the line parted outside of the ship. I guess about forty feet or so of line came back into the stern. Of course I didn't see it as it was traveling at the speed of a speeding bullet. I might have ducked my head an inch or so, I can't say for sure before it came - a little kiss from the grim reaper. It came right across my left ear, knocking me to the deck. Standing behind the winch as I was should have put me in a safe zone. Well forget that! I didn't get up for awhile, I was feeling for my ear and the side of my head, hoping it was still there. I came out of that with nothing more than a green ear and my fastest brush with death so far - I'd say about one hundredth of a second - give or take!

Later all the stories would come out about the decapitations and sailors who were cut in half and the like and I would be hearing about how lucky I was to be alive to tell the tale. The line had come back inside the ship like a snake. It whipped across the stern spreading debris from it from one end to the other. It had busted out the overhead lights above me and coiled itself onto the deck behind me in the time it took me to fall. I fell into the middle of the coils. It was all over in about a hundredth of a second or so. I came away with a new appreciation for the fucked up way some ships are tied off. The ancient practices that remain in the shipping industry - oh don't get me on that. There is absolutely no excuse for many needless deaths that occur at sea due to outdated practices and equipment. In this day and age there should be NO lines breaking on ships. But cheap ship owners won't replace old decrepit mooring lines and won't spend the extra money for the newer, stronger stuff. Because many of today's ships, in spite of all the rich maritime history are nothing more than corporate entities. Every shipping company has their bean counters watching the bottom line.

Anyhow, I got the hell off that ship as soon as it got back to the States. I had to fly back across country from Baltimore to Portland on my own dime -and was quite happy to.

Now just before that ship, I was off on a mission quite similar to the one I'm on now. Last year, just before Christmas '06 I signed on to a Navy ship to transport it from Portland down to Oakland. It was coming out of Drydock and a crew was hired on to sail it on down and shake it down. We would do sea trials and deliver it to its home in Oakland where it lives as part of the ROS fleet. These ships are kept in reserve with a skeleton crew to maintain readiness in times of need. This particular ship, the Cape Mohican carries bridge building components. It was an 8 day gig. and we proceeded to sail straight into the teeth of a fierce Pacific storm.

Well enough of that too, that was last year's gig. Get back to that at a later time. I got to get with the present cuz I ain't got much time. Already days have passed since I started this. I signed on for a mission that was supposed to last 5-10 days. Just like last year I came aboard about a week before Christmas to sail a ship from dry dock and shake it down at sea with speed trials and such. It is the Military Sealift Command ship Obregon. This is what's called a pre positioning ship. Later it will be loaded up with all the latest fighting equipment to support a battle group of Marines. It will then sail to good ole Diego Garcia, the first place I went after my Merchant Marine AB training. That place is something else again. And I will have to share info about that island at a later time. Anyway, the island is out in the middle of the Indian Ocean. And if a hotspot should develop on that side of the world, the ship would be loaded with a hundred and some Marines and immediately sail to the location to offload and commence combat.

So I flew out to the ship yards in Mobile, Alabama and came aboard this ship. As it turns out, it would be sailing to New Orleans - not far. Before we could get out of there a major storm would blow through complete with tornados. We set sail after that. As it would turn out, I would end up steering the ship out into the Gulf of Mexico. So I have to say that was something. But even better - steered it up the Mighty Mississippi River! 4 years ago, I would never have imagined in my wildest dreams (and I do have wild ones) that I would be doing such a thing. I have never been within a thousand miles of this part of the country. But don't ask me much about the area. I have been busting my ass ever since arriving here, like on a chain gang. This ship had its Coast Guard inspection coming up and they've been working us like dogs hauling out all the fire hoses survival gear and such and a WHOLE lot more! Half way through this ordeal my back gave way causing me to have to visit the Chief Mate who had to write a medical report. But I have kept going and it has been the most painful mission yet not to mention the hardest physical labor.

As I write this now it is Thurs. night. It has been 10 days and they are still keeping us aboard. Today is probably the hardest work day I have ever had. All the fire hoses have been stowed back below decks. Tomorrow we tackle the upper decks. They are keeping us till Sunday. Very few of us are happy about that. It might not be so bad to spend a weekend in New Orleans. But we are moored in a little place called Violet miles away from Downtown. I'm talking sixty to eighty bucks in cab fare. And busting ass for twelve hours leaves little time or energy.

However on Christmas eve, we didn't work as late and a few of us got a ride into town in the ship's van, though we had to get a cab back. I was actually able to see a little of Bourbon Street. The highlight was The House of Blues. Rooster and the Tail Draggers Not their real name, unfortunately I forget). They were a really great New Orleans band. Rooster told me he's been doing it for thirty years in the town. See the pic: I had a roving artist draw a sketch of me and had him draw a pirate hat on my head. And that was about it. We had to find a cab to take us back into the sticks. I sure am glad I got the chance to see a little of that place. The following morning (Christmas Day) was just another work day. The high point was the Beef Wellington for dinner. Since then we have been working our humps off and my back has been shot. I hope that improves and I hope we can see something this weekend.

Chuck partying with The Rooster in New Orleans
Again I find myself typing up emails aboard a military ship not knowing when I will be able to send them out. I was in the same position last month aboard the Pfc. Obregon in New Orleans. At that time I was suffering from severe back problems just as I am again.

I came upon this mission at the last minute after many frustrating attempts to get onto any ship at all. When I picked up this job I only had mere hours to return to Portland from the Tacoma union Hall, secure the household make all the calls and pack everything for a three month mission. Poor little Keeper the Cat is going to be starving for company for a while.

Wouldn't you know it that I would end up right back down in New Orleans again - one month later, this time on a different ship parked just downriver from the last one. But this is a different kind of ship on a different kind of mission oh, and the pay is much better. Less than a day later we were underway. Now I am on the Atlantic coast. By the time anyone ever sees this we will be on our way to the other side - or already there. Our next port of call will involve the loading of our precious cargo. I can't go into much detail concerning the whens and wheres of things but I will say that we will be loading M Raps among other things. Any one who keeps up on the news knows that these are the latest military vehicles to replace the Humvees and the Strykers in the war against terrorism. There "ship hull like" construction is designed to deflect much of the energy of an IED explosion thereby saving G Is from the worst kind of death and dismemberment. I can only imagine that being blown apart without ever seeing or engaging the enemy has got to be the worst kind of fate for a warrior. Now, many more will be able to hang onto their lives as a result of what is about to arrive on their shores.

So the long hours make it difficult to do much else, even take time to write like this. Much less, there is no internet or phone service. It remains to be seen if I even get this posted before I leave here. I will be adding pics and video. So if you are a Myspace person feel free to add me on as a friend so you can get updates when I add stuff. If you do Youtube, add me there as well, that is where I post stuff first.

Once I finally get off this thing, I will be really pushing to get squared up for New Years Eve in Portland. So if anyone from Street Magic is reading this I will be aiming for the party with Johnny Limbo and the Lugnuts. I hope that is where you all are headed. Of course I will be solo because - the sailor's life is a lonely life. :-(

Happy New Years

Sea Blog 2

The staterooms were colder than hell when I first arrived. I would leave on the incandesce
nt lamps to warm it up a few degrees until we sailed into warmer weather and the temp raised to a somewhat uncomfortable 74 degrees in the room. Around then, the engineers turned on the AC and the temp proceeded to plummet. So now, not only is it cold outside, the temp in the room has dropped to as low as 55 degrees. Kind of ridiculous. Well, I could go on but........ There is no end to the surprises. Most of the crew is replacements which makes for many interesting situations. Might seem strange to some considering the importance of this mission but - that's how shipping is. We have about forty civilian sailors doing what 100 Navy sailors used to do. We have one more stop then we will be fully loaded. We will have a nice long trip across the Atlantic to get up to speed on things.

I thought I might try to get off the ship. We are at a Navy port. There is a cab that can come on the base and take us to a shopping center for twenty bucks. Unfortunately, I spent my last dollar on the cab to get to this ship from the New Orleans airport. I was told there would be an agent waiting for me to take me to the ship which was in the town of Violet, which I already knew was located out in the tulies. And there was no agent when I arrived. So I eventually had to load myself and all my gear into a cab. It was a seventy dollar trip and all I had left was sixty. I ended up giving the driver all my cash and using a credit card to put ten bucks worth of gas in his tank - and I was getting off cheap at that. My Hindu driver had no idea where Violet was and had trouble finding it even with his GPS dash unit. I will get reimbursed for that but it will be tomorrow. So I scrapped that idea. Maybe I will be able to get off tomorrow. I will have the money, I just hope I will have the time. Working twelve hour days or more doesn't leave much. Then we are out of here - to cross the great pond.

We lost an AB at that port. Evidently he did not pass his background check and was restricted to his stateroom till we made landfall. Now we are at our 2nd. port and we lost a 3rd. Mate. Evidently he wasn't cleared thru his Union Hall for this voyage - always something new....

But at least I finally got off the ship only for a coupla hours (got the midnight watch at the gangway) and found a little internet place in town. Got a cab outside waiting. We sail for the far off places in the morning. Looks like this one might be taking me all the way around the world. How's that for Drifting, eh.......... :-)
So, smooth sailing to you all, FlyingD

************************WHERE WENT THE MOON? ********************

I think the whole crew breathes a sigh of relief once we get underway, once we pull out into the open sea, leaving the strings of civilization behind. For us on the Deck crew, we are more than happy to leave the frantic pace and back breaking work of cargo loading and line handling behind.
Personally, I am just happy that my back did not break, as my frail body is far from ideally suited for this sort of work. The pitch and roll of the ship seems to symbolize a more routine, structured environment for us, at least for now - until the next port 'o call.

Those of us who go to sea come to appreciate the simpler things in life, such as; comfortable temperatures in your living quarters - not excessively hot or cold, fresh air (sans salt), fresh food (such as produce) when you want it, to watch a TV show or news of any kind, to get a full night of sleep, to have a nice glass of iced tea with actual ice in it, to go out for a nice meal, movie, dancing or drinking, to go online, make a phone call - and so on. The seafarer's life is not one for those who seek to maximize comfort in their lives.

But then - there is no rush hour to get to work. Once there, most of us can turn our heads and see whales, dolphins, seals and great schools of fish from time to time. And there are many other things to be seen.

Once underway, as I reported to the Bridge for my watch, I noticed half a moon hanging upside down in the night sky just off the bow. I tried to remember if I'd seen the moon in that position before. It evidently has something to do with the latitude. In the ensuing nights I would look for that moon. But alas, it was not to be seen again. However as the voyage continued, there would be no shortage of sights to be seen.

During my night watches, I began to take note of a bright object viewed through the back window starboard side from the Bridge. It was way up in the stars - like a star but perhaps not as high. I could see a red and green light on it. I would certainly think it was a man made object but can't be sure. No one else has had the interest to look at it. That was many nights ago and we have traveled a long distance since then but it appears to remain in the same location in the sky all this time. Though I know not what it is - it is always there when I look for it. I call it my sentinel in the sky.

Once we had entered into the Mediterranean Sea I proceeded to see the sky lighting up during my night watch. I thought it was odd being that it was a clear night ahead with exceptional vis. We could spot contacts from twenty miles out. No one seemed concerned though I could spot no storms far behind us. Something was doing it. I guess light travels a long ways. Later I saw something more. From straight out in front of the ship, a falling star streaked straight back across the night sky and disappearing over the top of the ship. It was very bright and left a long firey tail. I would go on to see two more of the more ordinary variety but they could not hold a candle to the awesome one. I must say the skies are something else when viewed from far out at sea. I remember this from my Navy days in the Pacific some thirty years ago. Some nights they are like a dense, lit up ceiling not far above, almost as if one might be able to jump right up there and grab ahold of one.

It was a dark night when we cruised through the Suez Canal. We had high security. The ship was locked down and we were not allowed outside. We chained all the hatches so no one could sneak in. The Marines and Navy FAST team were locked and loaded. That is a very threatening area. Everyone was relieved once we had finally traversed it 24 hours later (see my vidcast in My Videos). That night I was relieved to see that the moon had finally returned, now visible to the rear of the ship as opposed to the front when we had left the States. It was still a half moon but now positioned like an eyebrow rather than hanging there upside down. Go figure! And it was way orange.

Oh there has been plenty to see and I expect plenty more. We still have a long, long ways to go. The other day I saw a rainbow. I said look, Mate can we alter the ships course. There is a rainbow and there is the end of it right over there, not far off the starboard bow. But alas we were not mining pots 'o gold on this mission. We had more important fish to fry and would continue to maintain our straight and narrow course full speed ahead across oceans.

Sea Blog 3:
The Mission Continues
As we continued our relentless march across oceans, the days melded into weeks as we pressed on. I would find little time for Blogging and, as it turned out, would have no opportunity to access the internet to post a Blog. The days would get tougher and tenser as we pushed on to completion of our mission. I would find little time or energy for such things as writing. As I sit here now, weeks remain before we see the good ole US of A again. I am happy to say that we have completed our mission - safely, too. We have since sailed out of harm’s way and entered into the Indian Ocean for our return journey which, as it turns out, will take me the rest of the way around the world!

Our journey has been long and not without hazard. Strange, foreign boats and ships have challenged us. We have had to respond accordingly and we certainly have earned our Hazardous Duty Pay on this one!

Two Navy Security Craft Remained With Us While In The Gulf

Our route has taken us across the Atlantic to the Straights of Gibralter to the Mediterranean Sea to the Suez Canal to the Red Sea, into the Straight of Bob el Mandeb into the Gulf of Aden to the Indian Ocean to the Arabian Sea to the Gulf of Oman, Persian Gulf then to our first port of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates. There was no mistaking once we had entered into Middle Eastern waters, channel 16 came alive with all kinds of multi cultural chatter the likes of which I could not begin to describe (see my vidcast: Drifting the Persian Gulf). The channel was supposed to remain clear for necessary ship traffic but no such thing in these parts. It reminded me of the CB radio days.

It was here that we unloaded a large portion of our cargo - but not the most important! This procedure took place so quickly and we worked such tremendously long hours that I would have no more than a brief opportunity to set foot on solid ground. I would be denied the opportunity to contact home before the ship suddenly sailed out ahead of schedule. This was a real armpit of a place and secretive. I would risk a $2,000. Fine just taking photos of anything there. We didn’t even bother to fuel up. Instead we steamed out to an anchorage ten miles out into the ocean and took our fuel there. Much speculation remained as to where we would sail next. This kind of Scuttlebutt ran rampant throughout the ship. The never ending mis-information was relentless - and continues.

We ended up in Kuwait as I had originally suspected. There we unloaded our precious cargo along with its U.S. Marine custodians, which completed the “secret” part of our mission. Again the cargo was done quickly and we would be worked relentlessly and again prevented from going anywhere. I was only able to pull off a quick phone call home before we again pulled out ahead of schedule. Well, there was one other time - I walked down to the port clinic to get another Anthrax shot and lovely things they are. We need to get a series of six shots over time. They can have interesting side effects. One of the 3rds lost all of his hair!

M1A1 Abrams: One BIG Honkin' Tank!

Now we are loaded down with a ship load of old used up and parted out military vehicles retired from action in Iraq. We are bound for San Diego with this load. Our time for racing across oceans has come to an end. We are no longer the fastest ship in the sea. We have slowed down to a comfortable eighteen nautical mph and blend in with the rest of the traffic in the seas. However we continue to run with our AIS radar I.D. signal off, if a foreign military ship hails us, we will continue to refuse to identify who we are. On the other hand, if any vessel should come too near us they will receive the following message:

<Script to be added in a later sidebar after the conclusion of this accounting>
We are a solitary ship in the sea and prefer to be left to our own.

The Briny Deep Gives Up Her Bounty

Now it became time for our return journey. After much speculation we were finally assured that we would continue South on out of the Persian Gulf and take a left. So we would continue East, the rest of the way around the world, arriving at the left coast of the U.S. This would be a long journey.

I guess all the tension involved in trying to get out here on such short notice most have all gone into my back because it was shot before I was finished packing. Sheesh I never even finished before I had to hop a cab to airport in the wee hours of Saturday morning. And so began the most painful deployment yet in my short sailing career. I'm still amazed I even made it aboard. But I made it through the last few days and am on the mend. I hate to think about it but it could be that age is catching up with me. Well the big test will come soon when we tie up to our next east Coast port. Line handling is going to be a brutal experience. This ship is huge and its mooring lines are as well. They are called Samson lines and are bigger than anything I have previously worked with. Anyone who read my earlier blog may recall that I don't do well with mooring lines. These ones are about six inches in diameter. They are VERY heavy and hard to get my hands around. And this ship has no winches OR gypsy heads. They use these little mushroom shaped capstans to wind in the lines. The tieing up procedure is archaic and back breaking - I swear!

So I am on an FSS- US Navy Fast Support Ship. This is the longest ship I've been on - exceeding the length of three football fields. And it is the fastest of its kind. It will do an amazing thirty knots. Uncle Sam is in a hurry to get this cargo to the Persian gulf. Yep, we are Kuwait bound. Soon I will be in a Hot place! Security is more than I've seen, as well! There will be plenty of briefings and we will be carrying teams of armed military security. Terrorism is, of course at the top of the list.

We currently have no email service. Hopefully the captain will bring online an email only service soon. But there will be no web service. So if I want to post this to my blog I will have to find service at a port. I don't know how that is going to work out. I will get precious little time on terra firma. I will be Drifting the Deep Blue for days on end. Ha, so there you have it. This is nothing like land Drifting but certainly much more important. So this is my mission - get through this, then there will be time for the Drifting on good ole terra firma - a preferable choice for me - no doubt. But as long as the Drifting I'm doing now doesn't take me down, I will be more than happy to help out those soldiers in their time of need. Right now it is night and there are some gawd awfull noises coming from somewhere in the ship. I never like that. We are hitting some pretty big swells, I wonder if that has anything to do with it. Well, it ain't stopping, so I'm stopping.
Later
************************************************************************
Well here we are and a couple more days have gone by. That noise eventually stopped. And there have been others that have come and gone. Evidently this is a ship of many noises strange and loud. One must get used to that fact and not be overly concerned with thoughts of impending explosions or attacks if one wants to maintain some peace of mind, as in - NOT GO CRAZY! HA HA HA Ha HA HA HA ha ha ha ha ha har.......

My back is on the mend and I made it through the next trial with flying colors. And what a trial. A wind squall came up just as we were approaching the pier at about 3 AM. We spent the remainder of the morning getting the ship tied off and hoisting down the 36 ton loading ramp. I was totally soaked and frozen. Now that the back is starting to release its grip of pain I am beginning to feel it more throughout the rest of my body. I have gone from relative inactivity to walking and climbing miles every day. It takes a while to adjust.

Our next stop was back to the same anchorage off Fujairah where we had dropped the hook before. This is a popular anchorage. I would count over 65 other ships, those that I could see through the ever present brown haze. We would take on more fuel and a new 3rd. Engineer to replace the one hauled off in Kuwait. I think he got something in his eye while cleaning a toilet. Then we would end up remaining there for two more days as it turned out. We had boiler probs with our steam engine. It would need to be fixed if we were to want to retain our top speed capability. Later, we would use that.

So, for the first time, I took the opportunity to unpack my fishing gear. I saved back some barbecued chicken from the evening meal and baited up for a short evening of ship fishing. It had been a while since I had done this - my first shipping assignment in Diego Garcia, three years ago. However these waters were no where near bountiful like that place - and much deeper. I did not realize we had anchored in four hundred feet of water or how strong the current was. I never was able to hit bottom.

Later I observed some surface swimmers. They were odd looking but they looked familiar. I reeled in and removed my sinker, allowing the baited hook to swing back in the current. The first couple to take a look said no. Eventually another caught the scent and homed in on my bait from a distance. I must say it was cool watching from far above as this fish made his approach. He came he went he came back and then he took. It took some doing to get this two foot long fish all the way up the steep hull to the deck. Once I got a close look, my suspicions were confirmed. It was a Remora - a fish without a home!

I had only caught one of these once before - in Diego Garcia. This is the fish that attaches itself to the sharks and feeds on the scraps that result from the shark’s vicious feeding style. Evidently these poor fishes in this ocean must have had a shortage of hosts to which to attach to - forcing them to free range for their own food. This one was returned to hunt again and that would be my only fish from the Persian Gulf. So that became one more strange fish to add to my list of strange fishes from around the world.

Prior to pulling the hook a launch would arrive and we would say goodbye to our Navy FAST team. We would be again on our own with their fifty caliber machine guns and 727 M-16 Automatic weapons replaced by an old M1 Carbine and a box of shells up on the bridge. We were no longer considered to be in harms way as we exited the Gulf.

After this we would have one more interaction with a warship as we made our way back through the Gulf of Oman. I saw this ship one evening as I was returning across the deck from the chow hall just after getting off watch. It came in on us, flanked us and pulled in behind, in our radar blind spot. Later I would find out that it was an Omani Corvette. I have to admit that I cannot quite say where the country of Oman fits into all of the Middle East conflicts. So the Captain, after warning the ship and failing to receive an answer on channel 16 poured the coals to the old steam engine and we left the sleek warcraft in our wake. The fastest ship in the sea moved on.

Dark Nights

It was a restless night - that one was. The moon which I was so happy to see again - had reappeared the night before, out front of the ship. A orange, half moon hanging upside down just as I had remembered seeing it when we left the U.S. In fact we had watched it rise from beneath the rim of the ocean out front of the ship. At first the lookout called out a contact as he observed the first light of it peaking over. But it would soon be obvious that the radar would not be tracking this contact. Aw, but you know what they say about good things… that was then and this was now and the moon was again gone and the skies were black as ink. No stars or horizon was visible.

However, something else had returned for a visit as the entire sky suddenly lit up in a flash of light. The dry lightening was back. Again I had pause to ponder just what it was and from whence it came. The Mate says it is positively charged ions in the air like static electricity. It seemed like it was always following us, originating somewhere far behind us. The only way to look for it was from the bridge wing outside. And oh, is it warm and muggy out there in the middle of the night! But it is bearable. The ship is doing eighteen knots and the sea breeze takes the edge off, not to mention the good view of almost the entire sky.
I notice that there are dark clouds looming far off behind us. Above us stars are again visible and off to the starboard, more dark clouds loom. We are surrounded by a semi circle and a mighty flash cuts loose, illuminating the tops of all the clouds for a split second. The mighty flashes of light seem to originate from the top sides of the clouds. Never any thunder - just silent light as if King Neptune hisself has risen up on high from the briny deep…. with his new flash camera that lights the skies as far as a man can see. Perhaps he wants a shot of his subjects. Indeed there are many worthy Shellbacks aboard this fine vessel. What is a Shellback ye ask? Aw yes - that is fer another time maties ;-)

There is much work to be done aboard ships. Every ship is different. How things go; good bad or indifferent generally depends on who’s in charge. This ship has found some of us deep inside her innards, chipping away at the parasitic rust that attacks the insides of ship’s hulls. Some have been negotiating an array of ladders, tunnels, ledges and pipes leading down deep into holds near the bottom of the ship where the air is musty and hot. Some ships will have the OS’s (Ordinary Sailors) go down. Others will hire Phillipino riders to come aboard and do that work. On this ship, the Abs are sent down. I had occasion to worm my way down into the labyrinth where a couple of the bruthas had been chipping away for some time. AB Vic, my watch pard and AB Paul 4x8 have been working on this overtime project. My mission was to put some primer down over the treated metal where they had been banging away with their needle guns.

Working in those holes takes some getting used to - ask any engine man. This place will take your breath away. Once I snake my way into the work area I find them ripping apart rags to sop up the sweat that rolls down off their heads. It is not long before you are covered in sweat and that’s that. They look up and greet me, “Welcome to hell,” they say.

Piracy on the High Seas

Some people might find talk of such modern day pirates as comical. Pirates come from the swashbuckling tales of yore. Not everybody knows that piracy is a growth industry and that it has remained around since those days of yore. In fact there is a new designation. Due to the influx of Al Qaeda operatives into the industry, Pres. Bush renamed them. They are now officially known as terrorists. Whatever you want to call them - they are out there.

About a year ago an attack on a cruise ship off Somalia made the news. Later a joint US Navy and some other country’s navy sunk some pirates in retaliation and that made the news. But the hundreds of other piracy events never see the light of day in Western newscasts. In fact most of them are hushed up. The shipping companies do not want the outer world to know the kinds of ransoms they are paying to retrieve their captains.

Now granted - what is the likelihood of a pirate attack on a large US Navy ship such as ours? We are not too worried about the regular pirates looking to rob the ship’s safe and ransom the officers. But what if Al Qaeda is planning a major hit, looking to make a statement to the world? Who’s to know when or where?
As I stand out on the bridge wing scanning for pirates, the humid, midnight sea breeze ruffles my t-shirt and my mind wanders. What if they were out there planning something? What might the conversation be like…　
Habib, I have a question for you, oh enlightened one.
Yes Yasheed, oh soon to be martyred one.
Yes, Habib, how is it that our God, praise be to Allah, insists that we keel everyone who does not believe, when other religions send emissaries around the world to help peoples?
Oh Yasheed, be careful to not blaspheme the name of our savior, praise be to Allah. He is the all knowing and He knows what is best for us - as it is written.
But who wrote that, Habib?
Do not ask. Only obey. Do you not believe that He is the all powerful one and He reigns over all other Gods?
Yes, of course He is the master of everything, praise be to Allah. I am still a little bit mystified about why I have to blow myself up and keel everybody around me including babies and all that.
Well for one thing Yasheed, you should not question Allah’s master plan and for another he is only asking you to keel a sheep.
A sheep? But I thought we would use them to pleasure ourselves?
Not that kind of sheep you imbecile! The kind that floats on the waters.
Oh that kind. You mean a beeg sheep.
Yes.
And my family will receive one hundred thousand Dinars after I keel the sheep?
Yes.
And I will receive sixteen virgins in the hereafter to use for my pleasure as I wish?
Yes.
How do Allah come up with that number?
How the hell do I know Yasheed. Oops, sorry Allah, pleez forgive. Isn’t sixteen enough?
Well I don’t know Habib, after all an eternity is a long time you know. I might need more.
So what do you want to do, bargain with the great One?
Can I?
No this is non negotiable you idiot. Perhaps now I am beginning to understand why you were chosen, do you want to burn in the fires of hell forever?
No Habib I will take the virgins.
Good then go keel the sheep.
Oh and why am I keeling the sheep again?
Because they are All infadels, now Go!
Yes, Habib.　

I begin to feel like I might be starting to lose few more of my marbles out here in the middle of the Straights of Malacca. “Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, let me in now please.”

　Sailing the South China Sea
So here it is Sunday in the South China Sea. Again we successfully negotiated a choke point; our last choke point. Should be clear sailing from here on out. Well, there is the small matter of what the ole Flying Dutch Dude said to me that late night in that faraway place when I reluctantly er, relieved him of his watch, so to speak. So, I guess I should be expecting another storm, soon.

Uh well actually, there was that discussion concerning the locking of the bridge doors during those night watches. It seems not all the guys relished the thought of being more or less offered up as sacrificial lambs if they could not get back inside in time. The watchstanders might get keeled but at least the others inside driving could load the rifles. Perhaps an alternative could have been to offer up the good captain - for the good of the ship, of course. That might save the rest of us from being keeled and Cappy could be quickly ransomed back and we could continue on to Korea without too much delay. But I am not sure if that would be an idea that Cappy would relish. At any rate, this conversation did produce some results this time and Cappy agreed not to lock us out last night. Not that I was too concerned you understand. Sometimes it is good to be cursed for I know that the Gods are keeping me around for further bemusement.

But on this day, as I take the noon to four watch after toiling all morning in a hole, the blue sea stretches as far as the eye can see. Gone is the hustle and bustle of the Straights and the hundreds of ships we passed. The Captain has retired to his stateroom and the Pirate Watch has been relieved, leaving just me and the Mate in the wheelhouse. My watch partner is enjoying his two hour weekend. Hopefully he is enjoying it. I spent mine typing this thing, then relieved him half way thru the four hour watch. We get two hours off instead of spending it banging rust in some hole. Some weekend, eh? Well, we takes what we gets. Tomorrow it is back in the hole (that is what we do for overtime). We work twelve hours every day. That leaves little time for much else which is why I am excited about getting caught up on writing this Blog thingy. Our next stop is Pusan, Korea. Who knows maybe I will get ashore this time and manage to post this to Myspace.

But this day we are just cruisin’ easy. It is good to see the deep blue sea again. Where we came from wasn’t very blue. This sea is several shades of blue. It seems the sun and clouds are projecting large shadows onto the surface resulting in what looks like larger patches of darker blue dotting the seascape. And I’m sporting a new do, a kind of Dan Akroyd hairstyle with my hair standing up. I call it the windblown look. I wonder how it will go over?

And that pretty much brings us up to the present. As we approached the 2^nd. Weekend in March, midnight Saturday we officially began Pirate Watch. That was preceded by another mission of heat. We had to go back down into the holds beneath to crawl around the ladders and tunnels and secure all hatches that lead to the main deck. We had done the same thing entering the Persian Gulf. Who knows why we couldn’t have just left the damned things secured. So we do it all again - one can get lost down there. Once I finally climbed out of there, the sweltering heat of the day was welcome. And I was wasted for the remainder of the day.

Aw but it is just another day on a ship skirting the Equator through the Bay of Bengal. These things are done to prepare us for passage through the Straights of Malacca. This is the only passage into the South China Sea from the Bay of Bengal. It is a narrow strip of ocean between Sumatra to the South and Kuala Lumpur to the North. Singapore lies at the other end.

Just getting through the straights has been the problem for an increasing number of unfortunate ships. Though we are no longer receiving our hazardous duty pay, we are now passing through the most dangerous place on the planet for piracy. So we make our preparations. Across the fantail we have broke out the firehoses and mounted them. By day, they clean the soot from our decks. By night they are at the ready to provide a formidable veil of saltwater to any piratical types trying to board her from the stern.

By nightfall, we lockdown any remaining doors and hatches to hopefully provide an impregnable fortress to any intruders. For the next two nights we will bring another man up with us. An Ordinary will stand watch outside on one of the bridge wings, an AB on the other. This will be the only time we set foot outside of the ship after dark. As we asre agin restricted to move about in the tunnels within. This time, instead of binoculars, we hold a radio. Those inside will keep an eye on the ship traffic. Our mission is to observe close in. We keep an eye on the rear areas to make sure small boats don’t slip into our blind spot undetected. The doors are locked behind us, leaving us to the mercy of the elements and whoever or whatever might be lurking. If we need back in we key the mic and utter the words Hare Krishna. If for some reason we need to remain silent, we will key the mic five times, twice in succession. Inside, the captain has laid out the M-1 Carbine and 12 Gauge pump shotgun with double 00 buckshot. These weapons are for close in combat such as a gunfight aboard ship.

As we move through the straights we maintain a good clip of 18 knots. We move down into the inside lane to do some passing as we are traveling faster than the others. We pass seagoing tugs that are lit up like Xmas with their firehoses spraying across their sterns. They cannot leave anything to chance with their low freeboards. They can be easily boarded by pirates. They travel in packs.

....Next Stop Korea....
Now it is down to the eleventh hour. Days have passed and we are now due to pull into Korea early in the morning. I will try to get some rest tonight as it will be a long day tomorrow. I felt compelled to write a little first as it now looks like I may get the opportunity to post this.

I seem to have entered into a kind of sleep deprivation phase of some kind. My watch partners have experienced similar problems as well. We get fractured sleep with this 12x4 Watch we stand, considered to be the least favorite one. Some nights I have been unable to sleep before the midnight watch, only getting three hours or so after the watch. The arcadian rhythm must be messed up or something. I’m really hoping to straighten it out so I can get out to Korea. And we have been informed that we will have to use the buddy system anywhere we go here, outside the base. It is not always easy to find some one to go into town with you and stay with you the whole time. It seems we are in Force Bravo Security Level over here.
So, if I get this up, that will be it from me until I return to the Good ole USofA and I can’t wait for that!

****************************************************************　
Racing Across the Raging Main
Aw yes, well again, I find myself out in the middle of the deep blue - only this time it is the Pacific. Pusan came and went some days back. And I sure am glad I at least got this posted while there. But that is about all I got accomplished. As Always we came into port early in the morning, this time we were called out at 5 AM. That is one hour after finishing the midnight till 4 watch. Then we proceeded to work all morning, getting in until it was time for watch again at noon.

I signed an odd fellow aboard the ship while standing gangway watch. This funny Korean messenger came aboard with a package for the captain who had already split to town. He needed over $100. For it. Eventually the Bosun and the Mates forked over the dough. It turned out to be this stuff called Kim Chi. It was later set out for meals in the chow hall. That was the most awful lest tasting sh_t I have tasted in a good long while! I wanted to wretch. I say, these seafarer types are cut from a different mold.

On the other hand, I was glad to see we took aboard stores there and there were bananas. I like my bananas. They didn’t last long though. We are already out. I got the last one stashed for tonight. We are running out of a lot of stuff now, as we get closer to our destination.

I suppose not everybody knows that bananas are considered to be unlucky on fishing boats, unless you saw a movie with Joe Pesci and Danny Glover some years back. But on ships, they don’t seem to mind them. So I find that acceptable.

After my watch I got a couple of hours rest and then walked to the nearby Seaman’s Club and took advantage of their wireless access there. So I at least got this posted and briefly touched the outside world online. But alas there would be no trip into town for me - no visiting the hustling and bustling international marketplace or anything else as I would have to hurry out to again stand the midnight watch at the gangway. By then it was a bone chilling, cold experience.

And, as usual, our stay in port was shortened. We had been authorized for a thirty six hour stay. We ended up with exactly 24 hours in port - exactly enough time to have a failed pump rebuilt by a shore side facility. So, as it turns out, my one and only opportunity to see anything in Korea was spent in the Seaman’s Club. Aw yes, such is the exciting life of a sailor er - excuse me - Merchant Mariner. Sailors as in US Navy Sailors have if far, far better in ports. Actually we had run into a more serious problem with one of the boilers on the way in. We had to shut it down. For a while it was looking like we might spend up to a week there for that repair - but not to be. So we are steaming on one boiler now. I don’t think the government would like me talking about this at the moment but then hey - you won’t be reading this until a long time from now. By then it, along with some 24 other Cas Reps should be handled. Hey that is what these missions are for. We have to work the bugs out of these ROS ships that sit around so much of their lives.

So we pulled on out of Korea, sailed south down through the sea of Japan, dodged a whole bunch of islands with funny names and turned left. We set course to 089 degrees which will be our course all the way back across the Pacific. A straight line to San Diego and our longest crossing over water (Pacific is the biggest ocean). Actually its not so bad. We have our remaining boiler really spooled up. We are traveling at about twenty knots, still much faster than the other ships. It is a twelve day crossing for us. It drags on, though. I guess we passed on by St. Patrick’s Day. Wouldn’t even have known if the Mate hadn’t mentioned something. Certainly no need to wear green.

A couple of days ago something else transpired that I had been waiting for and wondering would happen: we became all alone. For the first time, there was nothing on the Radars or the ECDIS. No ships listed on the AIS Display (a VHF signal identifying any ships near and far). We were truly one with the sea finally. No other company for as far as the eye can see and well beyond and if there was anyone or any thing, we would never know. A bit unusual. Almost nowhere else on earth can anyone get further away from another living human.

And the sea was quite a sight. An endless expanse of blue, glassy smooth other than the gentle pacific rollers. Blue skies and moderate temperatures contrasted the biting cold from whence we had come. And there would be sights to see.
　Attack of the Shit Birds
When far out at sea it can be a lonely experience. We sometimes forget there is a teeming expanse of sea life just beneath us. Occasionally they will come to the surface just to let us know they are there. Like the time AB Chris spotted the porpoises racing in the bow wake on an evening when there was phosphorus. He said they looked like lit up torpedoes. I remember that phosphorus from my Navy days some thirty years ago when I crossed the Pacific in the guided missile cruiser USS Chicago. I would sit out on the fantail and watch the glittering lights streaming behind in our wake. He happened to be up on the bridge wing days later during my watch when I spotted a huge pod dead ahead. There appeared to be hundreds of them. Run for your camera now, he said. I was reluctant but did anyhow and of course they were gone upon my return.

There are sights that would be fantastic to capture on camera but this line of work simply is not conducive to that sort of thing. Other sights can be just as well described as when we came across all the trash. It was either evidence of some earlier dumping or more than likely a convergence of tide lines. Leaving the Japan Sea, I observed a lot of floating balls. All but one were grey. At that time we were dodging droves of wooden fishing boats; dhows and junks. These are primitive craft. It is amazing how different they are in each country, though. I figure the balls must have belonged to their fishing nets. All the same it has been good to leave all the floating garbage of Korea behind. There is all manner of junk floating in the waters just like the Persian Gulf - oceanic trash heaps.

One time the Mate spotted a sea turtle coming down the starboard side. What was odd was that it was swimming on its side with one flipper sticking out like a shark’s fin. An odd thing, I’m not quite sure what was up with that critter. One time I spotted a spout off the starboard side and was able to glass it in time to see a whale jump. What a sight that was! It looked like a killer whale and it proceeded to free jump over and over coming straight up out of the water. Again, I can’t say what was up with that. It appeared another whale might have been following it. Another time AB Vic and the Mate called me to the bridge just as a large fish was jumping off the bow. Of course I just missed it. All those around me have been informed to keep a close lookout for Foxtrot one Sierra Hotels (fishes). I asked them what it looked like, wondering if it might have been a free jumping sailfish or something exciting like that. I dunno, it was big, they said. I asked if that was all the better they cold describe it and Vic answered by saying, it looked like you. Great :-\

The captain had mentioned the tuna birds that will lead you to tuna. One time I saw some on the move and followed them to the starboard. And sure enough, they led me right to a school busting bait on the surface off the starboard beam. That was cool.

The oddest sight had to have been the day of the birds. I saw them earlier in the day as I was working my way forward from back aft. They were flying up near the bow wake. They reminded me of the sea Boobie birds I had seen in Diego Garcia. I forget exactly what the Bosun called them. But they would accompany our ship in from sea, gliding along close to the bow in search of flying fish. As the ship makes way schools of them sometimes must flee from our path. I watched one snatch a flying fish mid flight off the bow wake.
Once I had later made my way up to the bridge for my noon watch I said What th…
All the windows were dripping with white stuff. Then I remembered the birds. Sure enough there were a bunch of them flying around the bow in search of the flying fish. They were black on top with a black bonnet on their heads with the rest white, including their bills. Looking out over the bow there were ten thousand droppings everywhere. Atop one ladder well lay a fish carcass. It looked like perhaps one had disgorged it onto that spot smack onto the middle of the deck.

Several of the Mates were at the windows silently staring out. The Chief commented, I’ve never seen so many sea birds shit on a ship before.They left some time later that evening. Their evidence of their unusual visit remained for many days as the ravages of sea and weather slowly washed away the ten thousand stains, well there were also AB sailors involved in that cleanup process as well.

Well here it is 2^nd. Friday and I finally got out my note in a bottle. Hrummmph, now that sentence made a lot of sense :-\ Actually, I didn’t get the note out, now that I remember. When I was working the NCL Cruise ship in Hawaii, I launched quite a few notes in bottles with my message and email address inside. Who knows where they might end up, right? Well, the wind caught this one as I tossed it from the bridge wing (covertly - littering you know). It ended up on the flight deck under something. It was a short journey for that note.

Oh and are you wondering what 2^nd. Friday is yet? Me too - kind of. Well we crossed the international date line and - no Jethro - that is not the dateline where you can meet the Russian girls. We have been marching ahead in time all across the globe, turning the clocks ahead one hour night after night. Now this was finally the invisible line where we turn back a full day. So today we got the opportunity to relive Friday. A rather odd thing indeed. We have two Friday the 21^st.s listed on our pay sheet. We don’t want to walk backwards or look into any mirrors so as to not screw up the whole space/time continuum thing.

But we are not done with the clocks yet. We just collected a few hours in advance today. We will continue to give a few more back as we get closer to the US. Tonight I set the clock ahead another hour and of course, that means less sleep again. I guess we are passing by Guam and Hawaii long about now, hundreds of miles to the south. I wish we could get some of their weather up here. We are shivering every day. I did mention the storm right? Those calm seas lasted all of two days until we were back into the stormy seas. We have been receiving Force 7 winds dead on our bow for days now.
Journey of Pain
I am more excited than ever of the prospects of returning. Especially since the toothache came. I have teeth chipping apart. I need to do that expensive repair work. One of them finally gave its all and now I have a nerve crying out for aspirin all the time. By the time I ever actually get into a dentist, that one will be a dead player. Oh well, it is a lot cheaper to dig it out than to cap it. Kind of miss it when chewing the steak though. I say this from experience gleaned from its predecessors that have parted company from my gums recently. I don’t want to belabor the point with any younger readers who may have accidentally stumbled across this offbeat blog, but lets just say that shit wears out as you get older. A byproduct of that is suffering a lot more pain all over. I know, it is not a lot to look forward to but, what can I say?

My body does get some exercise though, climbing around the ship like a freakin monkey.

Sea Blog 4 :
I’m Mad as Hell and Still Have to Take It Even More
And that is where my sea blogging drew to an end. I moved back into my video work in a desperate, cursed attempt to finish the footage for other crew members to view or possibly be included before the mission came to an end. But that was not to be as the video editing software fought me to a standstill. By the time the dust had cleared much of my invaluable footage had been accidentally destroyed and I was continuously prevented from rendering my final productions as the miserable Creator 8 software destroyed my long hours of work. By then all of my previous physical pains had been superceded by the extreme mental torture that would come along.

I will never know why all of those problems happened out there. I could chalk it up to The Curse. But there was plenty of cursing out of all the pathetic, techno geek eggheads of the world who foist their half baked, built in defective, unfinished and shot full of bugs, digital, products upon an unsuspecting public who no longer cares or is no longer even aware of what quality of construction and pride in craftsmanship once was L .
I am from the Old Skool and was not brought up within this digital revolution that is now so impregnated within society. I was dragged into this digital age kicking and screaming and have suffered terribly ever since. I was not prepared for the rapid onslaught and I know that I will never, ever catch up. Every last digital thing I have ever owned has not worked the way they were supposed to. That includes cameras, computers, printers, PDAs, VCR and DVD players and recorders, TVs, watches, software, ISPs, websites, cell phones and a host of others that - Gawd help me - I try to forget!

It seems like modern day society is more than willing to put up with all this substandard garbage in our lives or is simply unaware of any other way. I guess we will continuously be bombarded with built in obsolescence. Unperfected products will not remain around long enough to be perfected before they will be replaced by the newest, greatest version of the same garbage. The consumers will continue to be happy to throw away the old crap and replace it with the new crap till we are drowning in it all. So that is my rant. I am not a techno savvy dude and I am just plain lost in all of it. It drives me insane. So any video of mine, any of you readers may have watched has come at a high price for me.

Some weeks have gone by since then and I now sit on dry land doing what I knew I would; upgrading this, that and the other in the never-ending attempt to do a better job. I don’t even know why I do it all… I just do. What was left of my footage has been completed and the three part vidcast series has been posted here on MySpace and to my YouTube site as well. So all the rest that transpired will slowly be committed to my hazy memory except, of course - what you read here.

Time Marches On
As we continued to move through the Pacific we would run into the old familiar rollers. Doors would proceed to start slamming around, sometimes at night. Late one night, my thumb would fall victim to one of them. I will be carrying around a reminder of that for many moons to come. The full moon would pay a final visit, rising out of the horizon some thirteen hundred miles out. The Sentinel star would make a reappearance, as if to guide me on through to the end. The heavy fog would roll in, obscuring all of that. There was nary a ship or boat to be seen for a thousand miles. Late one night we spotted a fishing boat off in the distance running a tremendously bright light. He was many hundreds of miles from anywhere. No telling where he had come from.

As we drew closer to the West Coast the ship’s radio up in the bridge, would finally begin to pull in an English speaking radio station. Don’t ask me how the signal could reach hundreds of miles out to sea, but it did. The reception was sketchy but the bits and pieces of news were welcome after having been virtually cut off from the rest of the world for almost the entire journey. Personally, I am lost without news. I strained to hear the words late at night while standing watch. And I must say it was not the greatest of news.
We would hear that the number of war dead in Iraq would finally hit 4,000. Then we would hear of something of particular interest to us. It seems there was a shooting in the Suez Canal, the choke point through which we had earlier passed. It seems the M/V Global Patriot (formerly Buffalo Soldier) had shot and killed some Egyptians or so it seemed. I knew of this ship it was similar to our ship and I had come close to being on it instead of this one. I had unsuccessfully tried for it at the Union Hall before getting this one. We would then learn that the ship was also on their way to Kuwait with a load of M-Raps.

A member of their FAST Navy security team had shot a small boat with the 50 cal. The boat had come too close and warning shots were fired but evidently something went wrong. Turns out the boat was no threat, just a vendor boat. We wondered if that Navy team might have been the same one we had earlier carried when we passed through. We were surprised to be receiving this news first from a US source. Then there was mentioned some possibility that there might not have been a death. I knew that the news would die down fast as it always does and we expected to hear more about it through our own sources. But it was not to be. All news of it just evaporated into thin air and that was the last I heard of it.

The Tides of March
We continued our journey, passing the length of Iran, Pakistan and India, back through the Arabian Sea to the Indian Ocean. By then, the month of February had fallen away from the calendar. Ahead were the island chain; The Maldives. At the very bottom of this chain, a thousand miles South into the center of the Indian Ocean lies the island I have mentioned before - Diego Garcia. We would not go there. Instead this would be where we would take our left turn and continue east around the World. We set a course for 086 degrees and proceeded into the Bay of Bengal. We had been traveling South - proceeding lower in latitude toward the Equator. It was around then when we fully realized we had slipped on into a hot place.

The Long Day’s Journey into Night
It was Monday when it first hit. We knew hot days were coming and that the AC system on this boat was wholly inadequate. But all the same, the effect on the crew would be classic. Temperatures began to rise and the ship came under attack from all sides. As temperatures rose into the nineties and the sun beat down upon the steel structure of the ship heating up all exposed metal. The sun’s rays bounced off the surface of the ocean waters giving the hull a double dose of heat rays. The ship’s decks descending deep beneath the ocean’s surface also came under attack by heated waters. The sea temps in these parts is 89 degrees!
As the entire ship heated up, so did tempers. It seemed to descend upon and wash over the entire ship like a giant sneaker wave. From the Captain on down, across the Steward Dep’t. and thru the Engineering Dep’t. and seemingly the entire Deck Dep’t. Sailors knotted into groups, intense voices rising, discussions being held. The employment contract came out and point/counterpoint debates rolled on in earnest. Threats were made and grumbling comments, under breath accompanied sidelong glances. Engineers shut down the AC system for much needed repairs.

Eventually resistance wore down and all accepted their lot - not that there was much more anyone could do, drifting about in this hot sea. And so it went, just as it has on a thousand ships before and will be on a thousand more. As daylight waned and the workday drew to a close, individuals retired to their heated rooms one by one, clicked on fans and dug in for the duration. They would all need all the restless rest they could get for a new day would soon dawn. And it would be another hot one.

For some of us, the respite would be short lived. Myself and AB Victor and 3rd. Mate Phil would resume our 12 to 4 watch at midnight as we do every night. We know that heat rises and the Bridge is up top of the ship. It was a sweltering night and there would be more. But time marches on and indeed one of us would again go down and move the ship’s clocks ahead another hour like we had done many times before and many more before we are done as we circumnavigate the world in a counter clockwise direction. And we would cross invisible lines of significance. Somewhere during this time we crossed an invisible line in the sea that seemed to make the captain happy.

We counted down the minutes when we passed from the US Navy 5^th. Fleet Cent Com to the 7^th. Fleet. Eventually we will cross the international dateline at which time we will retrieve all of those hours - or so I am told.

Midnight in Malacca Restless skies in the Med

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As it turned out, it would take a number of days for the longshoremen to unload all of our used up fighting vehicles, delaying us days in San Diego. We weren’t all that surprised but, I must say, it was quite an undertaking. Then we would embark on our shortest and final voyage up the coast to Alameda. There we would tie her up for the last time in a long time. In lieu of any national security emergencies, she is set to remain there for a good couple of years with her skeleton crew, waiting for what may come. Most of the Deck crew remained for a few more days helping to mothball everything needed for the long sit pierside.

Then we had the ceremony. Officials came aboard and thanked us for the successful completion of our mission. They knew it had been trying at times but we had all pulled through for the betterment of many soldiers in the field. What could anyone say. There had indeed been some times for some of us, even danger. But how could any of that compare to what those on the front lines experience day in and day out. Now more than ever, I can hardly imagine what their daily lives are like.

We all received certificates and medals. Then we left. And I was certainly ready to depart from the most intense job I’d ever done. This job involved ups and downs like a roller coaster but I must say, I had great watch partners and I am glad of that.

This is probably the only documentation of a mission like this. So you saw it here first.

http://youtube.com/profile?user=racemup 　

Sea Blogs - Tales of the High Seas

2011-06-02T23:35:00.000-07:00

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From The North Atlantic****Sea Blog M/V Integrity North Atlantic ‘07
This is a brief accounting of my experience on a Car Carrier ship during the winter of ‘07. Take note that earlier posts to this Blog are down below where you will find my ‘08 mission, as all recent posts appear at the top. Click on the "Next Blog" Button found at the bottom of this. Or find the "Blog Archives" to the right as you scroll down. Please subscribe and leave comments.

So these are emails that were written back then and I am just now posting them here to my Sea Blog just to provide a continuing record of earlier experiences. Me and Blogs never got along well. :-( The order of the pics and the copy might be all jumbled up.

Hi all:
It appears my attempts to send from the ships satellite system has been unsuccessfull. My earlier attempts are copied below. Looks like this will be a 2 month gig. I am getting off at the first opportunity. So I am one quarter of the way through this now. We are pulling out of Germany tonight. We will have very little time in the other ports to see much of anything - if anything at all. We will get a part of a night, if that.

This ship keeps a tight schedule. It is all about hard work all the time everyday. I work the max overtime. This has been something else. Very taxing. The heavy seas literally throw us around in our racks. Impossible to sleep good. I was totally exhausted for many days. I have already sailed further than ever before. We are underway most of the time. I am typing this on my laptop, hoping to get off the ship tonight, long enough, before we get underway, to get to the Seaman's Center and use their computers to access my AOL Email and send this out.

So, I don't know when I will be in contact again or access my email account. We are pretty much isolated from the world most of the time. We do get a little news over the satellite. We are updated on the Brittany antics and Anna Nichole. Of course the Pop news travels to all four corners of the earth. And I've heard about the NASCAR debacle and Harvick. So I will sign off for now.
Later, some time,
Chuck
　

　 I tried to send this a few days ago:I am trying to resend this as I don’t know if the first try went thru, as I have received no replies. I am working with Microsoft Outlook which I have not used before, Dunno if I am doing things right. All mail is forwarded to the Captain before it is sent out from the ship. So here is another try. We should be pulling into Bremerhaven Germany in a couple of days which will be nice as it is quite rough seas in these parts. In a week or so we head back across the Atlantic to Baltimore. I guess we will be bucking the tradewinds on the way back, which will be different.

Ahoy there: I am on the ship computer and can only do email. No internet. Cannot send or receive attachments. I will try to figure another way to send more later. Hopefully I can access my aol screenname from a facility on shore. Later I will try to post a link to a blog or something so those who are interested can read about here. Right now we are in the middle of the N. Atlantic. We are rockin’ and rollin’ and it is snowing. Quite different from the hotter climes I’ve been to previously. I am on the car carrier Integrity and you should see some of our cargo – pretty interesting. There are many decks going way down into the belly of the ship. This is the tallest ship I have ever been on. It holds thousands of cars. And boats and trucks and motorcycles and tractors and on and on.

The first few days have been real hard right from the beginning. We are losing hours almost daily. We will go thru 6 time zones before we reach Germany. And, I’ll say, that one hour at night is valuable when working twelve hour days. Should be nice collecting them back on the return trip tho　　
That’s all for now.
　
Greetings:
As I write this on my laptop I am somewhere out in the North Atlantic, somewhere around the Azores Islands, I think. It is early March, ‘07. I am on the car carrier, M/V Integrity returning from stops in Bremerhaven, Germany, Amsterdam, Belgium and Northhampton, England. I won't be sending this out until I am able to gain some sort of internet access upon my return to the States. We will be returning to N.Y., Baltimore, Charleston and Georgia to reload for another Atlantic crossing. I can't say for sure when we will return to the U.S. as we are in the middle of quite a storm and not making good headway. Storms are not unusual out here. We went thru one hell of one coming out, that covered nearly the entire Atlantic. We live on the thirteenth level (ship calls it the "Upper deck"). It really rocks and rolls up here. This is a real tall ship. We must tie down most everything. I tell you, this is something else!

A quick review on what this list is all about. It originally began in '04 when I graduated from the Veteran's AB class at the SIU training Center in Piney Point Maryland. We got together and exchanged Email names in an attempt to maintain some sort of contact through cyberspace as we sailed across oceans. As fate would have it, all but one fell off the radar screen. AB Guy is the only one left, (actually now in ‘11 - I think only AB Paul is left), out there somewhere sailing for the Military Sealift Command. Other ABs have been added along with other individuals I have met thru the years in my travels around the world as well as in cyberspace. This particular piece consists of several entries made while traversing the Atlantic. It will probably be a pretty long time before I send another.

This reads like a Blog due to the number of entries over a number of days. But my time is so limited that if and when I do get access to the internet it is doubtful I will have the time to post this to my Blog.

Here is a brief recap of my sailing experience: I was in a rather miserable state of life when AB Morgan made me aware of the possibility of training for the Merchant Marines through a special Veteran's program. It seemed highly unlikely after about a half century on this earth. But, sure enough, my hitch in the US Navy some thirty years prior made me eligible. I ended up spending two months at Piney Point, a place I referred to as "The land that time forgot." The night I graduated I was set upon by a group of NCL punks outside a bar, outside the gates to the training center. They had been there training to be servers on the Norwegian Cruise Lines ships that were relocating to the Hawaiian Islands. Don't ask me what was motivating them. They were drunk and on drugs.

I ended up airlifted to the Baltimore Trauma Center unconscious as all the others were flying home or to ships. The worst injury was a dislocated shoulder. I spent the rest of the year in rehab in the Portland VA Hospital. I was finally cleared to sail in early 2005. I ended up on the bomb ship M/V Bennet in a place little known to the outside world, called Diego Garcia, a small atoll in the middle of the Indian Ocean. There we store a huge amount of munitions on ships anchored out in the lagoon ready to relocate to fields of battle when necessary.

Returning to the sea after so long a time was certainly an arduous experience - hard to describe. But I made it through that mission only to be felled by pneumonia upon my return to Portland. Turns out it was caused by a thing called a Carcinoid that had appeared in my lung. They don't know where they come from or why but this one had to go. I guess I spent about two or three weeks in the VA Hospital, leaving minus half a lung. Months of rehab ensued. I guess the high point, however was a small settlement from the State of Maryland from the attack, which led to the purchase of my '56 Chev project. The building of that during my rehab got me back into the Rodding world.

Well into 2006 I was again cleared for duty. This time, as fate would have it, I ended up on one of the NCL Cruise ships in Hawaii, working out on the deck of the Pride of America. I spent the entire Summer there and this time returned in good health. Many people tend to assume that to be a glamorous experience. But for an old dude working out on the deck, away from the passengers for the most part - I assure you, it is not! But, some of my experiences in Hawaii were certainly something else. And I do have pics online for viewing.
J　　　 So we will be going to Germany, England and Brussels, that I know of. It takes over a week of sailing to cross the Atlantic. Full round trips are around a month. I came aboard at Charleston after traveling all night Mon. Then went right to work. We stopped at the Georgia/Fla. State line where we saw the warmest weather we will see in quite some time, then headed out to sea. I work out on the Deck. I am not a Watchstander this time – so no driving　 L　　 Well, the watchstanders don’t drive on this ship anyhow – they are lookouts.
I will have to get my driving (drifting) in later　 J　 Chuck Fasst

This next part will be of interest to only those who are into cars. Last November, in the course of two weeks I managed to sell my '56 through eBay, traveled to the Las Vegas SEMA Show then to L.A. where I picked up my next project, a '69 Camaro Drag car. I will be building it into a Drift Machine to compete in Drifting in the future. This is a new kind of auto racing that came here from Japan. Its mostly all about burning rubber. I intend to make my last stand in this sport as the only "High Seas Drifter."

I have been documenting my exploits all along and will be posting footage to my page as time goes on. I will send along the occasional link in the future.

My Union Hall is up in Tacoma, 140 mi. North. I ended up making several trips trying to find another ship. It was quite frustrating and difficult. The only thing I could find in Dec. was a short relief trip 8 days before Christmas. They crewed up a Navy ship, the Mohican that had been in drydock in Portland to sail to its homeport in San Francisco. It may have been a short trip but what a wild one. We sailed right into a Pacific storm where we recorded a top wind speed of 101. The ship was really rocking and rolling and dumped over everything that was not tied or bolted down. The winds had subsided by the time we approached San Francisco Bay. But there was plenty of fog, current and huge rollers remaining as we entered in the middle of the night. And I was on the helm. What an experience!

AW, but our fun was not over. Being that we entered in the middle of the night we were not able to tie up so we dropped anchor in the bay and promptly ran out of gas. Good thing that didn't happen in the channel! We called for a tow in the morning (tugs). That was a huge gaffe on the part of someone in management. We had no power, heat or water. We had barbecued coffee and toast out on deck for breakfast.

I returned just in time to lose my cat, Keeper on Christmas day. It was my fault for taking her with me on a jaunt. After searching a week I had to go back North to look for another ship. I returned unsuccessfully some three days later only to find my cat at the porch around 3 AM that night! One could call that a miracle but I know that my cat is one helluva survivor - for sure now.
She had a lot of injuries and lost a lot of weight. I took her to the Vet and nursed her back to health before heading back North again.

Note: Keeper managed to survive sub freezing temps, pouring rain, hail and snow during those lost 10 days! I will never know where she went. The pads on the bottoms of her feet were worn red from their journey. I am happy to report that she has remained well to this day, curled up indoors and observing the wild winters from the warm side of the window. She is old, however - well past 10 yrs. In her “geriatric years” as the Vet put it. But you would never know as she is still lightning fast. And we eventually returned to our neighborhood walks. We cover many blocks late at night on the weekends. All of the cats just let us pass on through their territories J The only reminders of her journey are the patches of white fur that grew in as the burns or maulings or what ever they were healed, providing quite a contrast on a all black cat. The vet said the markings give the cat character. J So, I will go with that.

OK, now when in the heck did I write this Blog -'07? WOW! How time flies away! Well, I am saying that Keeper was over 10 back then. It is now approaching 2014. God almighty, how old does that make my cat??? She is still spry as ever, sneezes a lot though. Still an outdoor cat - out all day long in the dog days of Summer. Still walking blocks and blocks late at night on the wknds. We hear a lot more gunshots these nights. Other than that, she will still jump up and walk a fenceline just to show me she can still do it :-)

I finally got this ship. I must say, the North Atlantic is about the last place I wanted to go - and I can say that for an absolute fact now - but it was all I could get. The earlier storm I mentioned (written a couple of days ago) and we have since picked up speed but are still running way behind and the captain tells us we are heading into another one. So, looks like we still have days to go. Most of the ports we pulled into we could not even make it off the ship before our workday was done because they load so fast nowadays. Its all business. And I am now informed that the same thing will happen in New York. Charleston will be my only opportunity to get off the ship for a night before heading back across this God forsaken ocean to do it all over again. When we return again, some time in April, I'm getting the hell off this ship and never coming back.

So, I am working as a Dayman on this ship (ABM). That means no watchstanding on the bridge. I
do all the maintenance on the deck with another AB and the Bosun. I get in all the overtime. It is grueling but we do get paid more than the watchstanders. Our work week is over 80 hrs. I will be putting that extra money to good use racing this Summer. I don't like this ship and it doesn't like me it seems. I have hit the deck twice so far and am nursing minor injuries as a result. Can't seem to keep my feet under me on this slippery deck.

Hopefully this will be my final installment from the Atlantic. We are now a couple of days out of N.Y. the captain tells us. He was hoping to maintain the schedule. We have since sailed into the next storm and the ship is groaning now. I guess it doesn't matter much to me when we get back. Looks like we will be spending very little time in any of the U.S. Ports. I hope I can at least get this sent out. Then we do it all again. I can hardly believe I'm going to do this all again. I won't be ever coming back to this ship or any others like it. That's for sure!

　
　
Now more days have gone by, I finally made it back to the states but my feet have yet to touch solid ground and I am back at sea again. Prior to our arrival we received the news from N.Y. The low temp was at zero degrees! In March!!!!? We were called out at 0215 in the morning to begin preparations to tie up. We broke out the snow shovels and rock salt and began chipping the ice build up on the deck of the bow mooring station.

This dumbass Blog will not allow me to upload half the pics I want to put up here - How Redonkulous :-(

As the day progressed we tied up in Bayonne, N.J. Us two ABs got about 2 ½ hrs of rest that afternoon then untied and moved to another dock in N.Y. Then it was evening and we took on stores. We winched up pallet after pallet of provisions for 3 months. It was tons. We stowed every box and got about an hour of rest before we were called out again to untie and leave at 2330. We did that then had to go rig the pilots ladder then go shovel more snow on the upper deck (it snowed all day). Then put up the masts we had taken down earlier for a bridge. That went till 0300 in the morning, a thoroughly exhausting 24 hrs. I have never been so cold or worked so hard in my life.
We are now back out at sea and on our way to South Carolina and I have a little time to myself. Don’t know if I will even be able to go ashore long enough to find a computer to send. At least things are warming up now and all the snow has melted from the ship. I no longer have to bundle up in my stateroom. And it will be back to the regular sched. For a day. The standard wakeup call will be coming at 0520 in the morning.

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Aw yes, now more days have passed, I am back at sea again. We are now enroute to Baltimore from Brunswick, Georgia. Charleston has come and gone. Those days were close to a repeat of what I have already described but without the snow. We shift from one dock to another, were at it into the wee hours. I’m talking 9 to 10 hrs of OT in addition to the 8 hrs. Incredible and totally illegal on the part of this shipping company. I guess DOT laws don’t mean much here. There was no time for me to find a computer.

We have a new Ford GT strapped down on deck 5. It had a price tag of $170K on it. I saw some Vettes on the pier. I suppose they are on here somewhere. Haven’t seen them yet. We unloaded about a thousand Mini Coopers.
　
Again we will be using up a day shifting from one pier to another in Baltimore. But they say we will still have a night in Baltimore because there are so many vehicles to load. After that it is back to the Atlantic and then Europe.Till then,

My purple ear from a snapped mooring line. So close to death in a millisecond! I would have dreams about my head rolling around on the deck for a while after.

Note: I made it to Baltimore and found a wireless signal at a Hotel. But for whatever reason, this email would not send. Maybe my list was too long. I dunno. So now I am back at sea in more storms heading back to Europe. So I will break the list into smaller pieces and attempt to send this from Germany around the end of the month. Note: And that concludes my coverage of this Atlantic trip in ‘07. Before this trip would end I would have another brush with the Grim Reaper (who would seem to be an old pal by now). My description of the aft mooring line parting is included in the next Sea Blog.

Earlier accounts of my ‘06 deployment to Hawaii and ‘05 deployment to Diego Garcia are hand-written. They will remain as such for now. Knowing the nature of those of us who go to sea, I don’t suppose there are too many written accounts of our experiences that can be found. So these are here simply to provide a record of my experiences to whomever may come across this.