Photos posted!

I've had numerous requests to share more of my photos so this afternoon I spent some time uploading about 400 to my Flickr account. You can access them by going to the following website:

George's Photostream on Flickr

I'll be adding further comments and descriptions in the coming days, but for the time being you can simply follow the link and check out different sets.

Enjoy!

Back in Singapore

Friday evening on the 24th of April we sailed into the Jurong Port and tied up at berth J5. It was my 126th day of my trip having covered a total of 31,984 nautical miles. I had visited seventeen different ports and spent all but eight nights on board.

Some of the crew assisted me in getting my luggage on to the wharf and then I had to clear Singapore immigration. The whole process was reasonably quick and the ICA officers were most polite and professional. They did have a few questions for me as I was apparently the first passenger they had ever encountered coming off of a cargo ship.

After that it was a call for a taxi and a short ride back to my apartment. I'm spending the weekend unpacking and sorting through my souvenirs. I'll probably do a few other posts with some additional photos and with my final thoughts about the whole adventure.

I hope my blog was enjoyable reading, and for those of you who might be anticipating a similar trip I trust it was reasonably informative.

More later...

Pink Gin

I meant to pass on this simple yet effective technique for preparing a pink gin that Clive was kind enough to share. It produces, I think, a more subtly flavored cocktail than the straightforward method of simply adding a few drops of bitters to a gin and stirring it around.

Take the glass you're going to drink from and pour in some mineral water; swirl it around to thoroughly wet the glass and throw it away. Next add a few healthy dashes of Angostura bitters to the glass and swirl those about, taking care to fully coat the inside of the glass. Dump out the extra bitters. Add gin.

The result is a nicely flavored drink, not overpowered by the bitters and with a very pleasing color as well.

The Trip So Far

30 March marked my 101st day on this trip; hard to believe so much time has passed since I first boarded the Rickmers Jakarta back in December at Singapore's Jurong Port. Back then I remember looking at the 3-month calendar on the wall that took us up to February and I could barely imagine how far ahead that was not to mention April. Now that I'm down to my last few remaining weeks I'm amazed at how quickly the whole trip has gone. Tomorrow we'll arrive in Genoa and then head towards the Suez Canal, the Red Sea and on to Jebel Ali, which will be my last port before returning to Singapore.

Genoa will be my 17th port and I'll have put over 24,000 nautical miles behind me, not including river passages. All but eight nights have been spent on board the ship. The longest distance between ports was a little over 10,000 nm from Nagasaki to Galveston and took a total of 24 days, from 23 January until 15 February with the Panama Canal transit along the way. Philadelphia to Antwerp was a comparative stroll of less than 3,500 nm.

I think I will wait until after Jebel Ali to start preparing myself mentally for my return to normal life. It will take a bit of getting used to.

On to Genoa

The trip from Hamburg took us once again through the English Channel. On Thursday afternoon we saw our sister ship, the Rickmers Seoul, heading towards Antwerp. I took a few quick photos as she passed. In the late afternoon we were treated to the view of four large container ships traveling alongside and across our path. Fortunately there was plenty of sea room for all of us, but it was still quite impressive to see so many large ships steaming more or less side by side. Two of the containers outdistanced us; they appeared completely immune to the waves that buffeted us from time to time.

Observing some of the smaller craft one quickly appreciates the benefit of being on a fairly large ship. While we certainly notice the effect of the waves the voyage remains fairly smooth and uneventful. I can only imagine how difficult it must be on the smaller vessels which suffer more from the effects of winds and waves but also have the further unpleasantness of suffering longer as they tend to be slower.

In the early morning hours of Friday we entered into the Bay of Biscay where we encountered contrary winds and swells. The ship was rolling heavily in the night and the Captain ordered a change of course taking us more eastward into the Bay. Instead of a straight line to the tip of Spain we made a more indented course and over the course of Friday morning we navigated back towards our waypoint at Tenerife. Each change in course brought about a fair bit of roll in the ship. I was up on the Bridge for a while and the roll indicator showed that we occasionally exceeded ten degrees of list to each side.

Compared to the veritable traffic jam of ships we saw yesterday today the only craft we saw was a small sailboat a few miles off our starboard. Once again I'm struck by the emptiness of the ocean; there are no other ships visible on our radar and our AIS system shows the nearest ships being more than sixty nautical miles distant.

On Saturday our course changed and we were treated to some very smooth sailing as we had the wind coming from our stern; we also saw more ships, presumably approaching the Strait of Gibraltar. After breakfast I was relaxing in the bar, listening to the BBC and watching our progress through the large forward windows when I saw a killer whale off our starboard bow. It was swimming towards us but then made a quick U-turn and accompanied us for a few moments before disappearing below the water.

Since it was Saturday and we were at sea we had our regular lifeboat drill in the afternoon. The crew also had their additional practice in firefighting and oil spill control. The Captain scheduled a grill party for the evening to give the crew a bit of a break after all the hard work and long hours in Antwerp and Hamburg these past few weeks. I helped a bit by preparing some roasted peppers and onions.

Early Sunday morning we passed through the Strait of Gibraltar and entered the Mediterranean. I woke up too early due to a miscalculation on the start of the summer time and went back to sleep before we transited the Pillars of Hercules. Diane went up on the Bridge for the passage and was able to make out some of the features of Gibraltar in the predawn light. The rest of the day was extremely pleasant with mild temperatures and fairly smooth seas. Sundays are usually a bit more relaxed when the ship is at sea and lunch is something to look forward to as Joel grills steaks to order and there's ice cream for dessert.

Monday dawned promisingly but the weather deteriorated a bit and it was appreciably cooler and more overcast by midmorning. We passed Mallorca right around breakfast time but with the sun not fully risen it was mostly a dark silhouette with some scattered lights. In addition to the cargo and fishing vessels which have been fairly common we've also seen a few sailboats in the distance. Our trip became a bit rougher as we crossed the Sea of Lions where we were faced with some strong winds and waves breaking over the bow. A couple of the crew members were drenched when the waves and spray poured over the port side. The sheer force of the waves never ceases to amaze me; the shudder when we hit a larger wave head on is felt throughout the ship and the volume of water thrown up on both sides would probably fill a good size pool or two.

On Tuesday we arrived in Genoa. We docked around 11:00 and Diane, Clive and I took a taxi to the center of the city for a day of tourism. The weather is wonderful and it will be a nice break before the next long stretch to Jebel Ali.

It looks like my return to Singapore will be delayed a bit. The most recent schedule has us arriving on 22 April, but I believe that will slip some more.

Arriving in Hamburg

The trip to Hamburg was comparatively short and we were favored with clear skies and smooth seas. We reached the pilot station about 20:00 Friday and commenced our long trip up the Elbe.

I was interested to see our maneuvering in the port area so shortly before 02:00 on Saturday the 2nd Officer called me to let me know we were approaching the Koehlbrandbruecke, or Koehlbrand Bridge. I made my way to the ship's bridge in time to see two tugs join us, one at the stem and the other at the stern. With their assistance and that of the two pilots on board we were guided under the center of the bridge.

It was a close fit and it was obvious to see how important the timing of such maneuvers were given the fluctuations in the tides. Once we were clear of that bridge we proceeded a short distance further within the port until we reached a turning area. The two tugs pivoted us just about 180 degrees until our stern was pointing down the channel leading to our berth. The turning was very smooth, but there is something strange about having a 192 meter ship spinning about.

Our stern now pointing in the right direction, the two tugs guided us down the narrow channel. The clearance to the berths and their barges on the sides was measured in meters and even cranes for loading and discharging cargo were pulled in and made fast to some of the buildings to allow for the free passage of the larger ships. The channel was also quite shallow. Most of the time we had less than three meters beneath our keel, and on some stretches barely two.

The narrowest part was still to come as we reached the Rethe Lifting Bridge. Not only was it a very snug fit for our ship to pass between the two towers, but the bridge itself was on an angle to the channel which meant that the tugs had to wait until the last instant before adjusting the ship's angle so she would slip between the bridge towers and underneath the raised roadway. The Captain later mentioned that it is actually a more challenging maneuver without winds or currents as there is nothing resisting the movement of the ship. This means each action of the tugs needs to then be counteracted to prevent momentum from moving the ship too far in any one direction. Of course all of this took place in the space of a few hundred meters; it was only the constant movement back and forth of the tugs as they aligned us for the passage that gave any clue to the difficulty.

We continued our backwards journey to our berth at the Wallmann Terminal. Since it was now about 03:00 I opted to return to my cabin and go back to sleep. I was very happy to have been able to watch these maneuvers as it's something that we normally take for granted. I was overwhelmed by the sheer complexity of the port area with its many channels, wharves and cranes for all the different products that make their way through the port. Given the narrowness of the passage I can only imagine the effort required to simply coordinate and manage the ship and barge traffic.

Lengthy Stay in Antwerp

We arrived in Antwerp during the early morning hours of 12 March and we will be staying here about seven days in order have some repairs done to the two heavy-lift cranes. Once the cargo was discharged the ship was taken "off hire" so that the sheaves could be replaced on the two cranes.

The sheaves are the large wheels or pulleys on which the cables travel. A contractor for the crane manufacturer is on site to handle the task and by Friday evening they had erected a scaffold under the #3 crane and removed the lifting cables. A total of ten sheaves were replaced; like so much of the other equipment on this ship, they are massive pieces of metal. Each one weighs about 465 kg and is 1.65 meters in diameter.



Once all the repairs are completed the ship will be back in service and the crew will load the outbound cargo and we will be on our way to Hamburg.

On Friday I made a short trip to Antwerp to see the sights and take a few photos. The weather was a vast improvement over Thursday's and Dieter and I left the ship about 9:30 to make the walk to the bus stop, about 30 minutes away. One aspect of freighter travel is that passengers often find themselves disembarking at busy cargo ports which are a good distance from the city centers and distinctly lacking in any resources for transporting passengers. Sometimes it's a long walk just to get to the gate; if one is lucky there might be a shuttle bus for the port workers like in Shanghai. Here in Antwerp the gate was only a short walk from our berth but then it was a good walk along a busy road until we reached the bus stop. On their return the previous day, Dieter and Clive got quite wet from the road spray of the passing trucks, but on this trip the weather was very pleasant.



Once we reached the city center we spent some time walking about and admiring the architecture. The central railway station, built in 1905, is a great example of the blending of the old with the new; a domed central entryway with marble columns and ornate windows leads to the thoroughly modern departure area. This blend of different styles is also quite evident on the surrounding streets where it almost seems as if each building represents a different era. Ornate, turn of the century facades stand side by side with glass and steel exteriors and somehow this eclectic mixture presents a pleasing symmetry. Large areas of the city center are pedestrian zones and the shops and brands are much the same as one finds in any major international city. There are plenty of winding side streets where a wide range of offbeat and specialty boutiques can be found.

At one point we noticed a gathering crowd near a police car and some barriers that appeared to indicate some sort of crime scene. Walking in that direction we were startled to see on the ground what can only be described as massive, meter long bird droppings. Apparently we had stumbled upon some sort of art exhibit as the central figure in this exercise in street theater was what appeared to be the sheet-draped corpse of a gigantic bird. The creature's feet were pointing up in the air as if it was lying on its back and all around there were indications of a somewhat gruesome and messy crash. In addition to the aforementioned excrement there was also a good deal of material that was supposed to represent some blood and guts.



The crowd was milling about at the perimeter of the "police line", most taking pictures or trying to figure out exactly what was being represented. There were also a couple of police officers who I assume were part of the play but also on hand to keep order and a few people with some high-end video equipment who were recording the whole scene, no doubt for their senior art seminar.

I have to admit that I walked away somewhat confused. I'm not sure of the purpose of the whole exercise; was it some protest against animal cruelty or a reminder that we should be thankful our cities are not infested with two-meter tall birds with droppings the size of coffee tables? Obviously my ignorance is more a reflection of my bumpkin-like innocence and lack of sophistication than a criticism of the motives or intent of the artists.

Perhaps in response to the city's many famous beers and venues in which to drink them, Antwerp provides strategically placed pissoirs for the relief of the gentleman who finds his bladder at capacity. While this is no doubt convenient, I was struck by just how exposed they were.

Across the Atlantic

We left Philadelphia on the afternoon of 3 March after a day's delay due to the storm. The trip down the Delaware River in the evening was uneventful and we had a nice sunset to see us on our way.

Overall the passage was relatively smooth. Like our earlier Pacific crossing we were able to keep between the harsher weather systems and enjoy comparatively pleasant weather. On our second full day at sea I was on the Bridge and the Captain pointed out the mists passing over the water. It looked like the steam one would see rising on a lake in the early morning. This was due, he informed me, to the convergence of the Gulf Stream with the Labrador Current. It dissipated after a short time as we made our way further eastward.

The ship has been rolling a good deal more than previously due to the ocean swells to our stern and this has been a cause for some minor discomfort among passengers and crew alike. It is a long, slow motion from side to side with a maximum deflection of about ten degrees from the vertical. A few people have difficulty sleeping and that, I think, is somewhat due to where their bunks are located; in my case I'm closer to the middle of the ship so I don't notice the roll as much, but those on the outermost cabins have to deal with a more pronounced movement. At lunch it sometimes requires a bit of caution when eating the soup as it tends to spill over the side of the bowl if one has too much. The actual motion sickness is another inconvenience but so far no one seems to be too adversely affected. I think the biggest problem is when one is inside a cabin or a hallway without any view to the horizon and the motion that one senses doesn't correlate to what one sees. Actually, it feels a lot like when one tries to walk after a little too much to drink and finds that one's feet do not cooperate as readily as one expects. Suffice to say it's a prudent measure to make good use of the handrails in the stairway and the grab-rails along the corridors.

In addition to being uncomfortable for the residents on a ship, severe rolling presents risks to the cargo and the ship itself, so the Captain ordered that we make a modified transit towards the English Channel. His colorful description was that we would take a course like "a pissing ox." Unbeknownst to me, oxen apparently don't halt in their travels when they need to urinate and the back and forth movement of the associated extremities creates a zigzag pattern in their wake as they walk along. We would follow a similar zigzag pattern to counteract the swell, turning a few degrees to the side of our course and then back again after a few miles, sticking basically to the course but making the necessary deviations to avoid the worst of the swell. The net effect is one of less severe rolling, at least shorter periods of it interspersed with brief intervals of comparatively smooth sailing. Naturally this will add some distance to our route, but not too much as the deflections are minor, only a few degrees from the most direct course. For the officers on watch they need to spend more time actively navigating and making the necessary corrections in order to find the best heading.

We advanced our clocks almost every other day on the passage as we had to make up five hours between Philly and Antwerp so I found myself feeling the effects of this "boat lag" as we approached the English Channel. I think this was mainly due to the set meal times, especially breakfast, where I had to make a bit of effort to go downstairs when I would have preferred another hour or so of sleep and didn't feel quite right until after a few cups of coffee.

One highlight for me during the passage was a tour of one of the heavy lift cranes. During a period of more moderate rolling the Chief Engineer very kindly gave me a tour of the inner workings, and letting me climb up to the operator's cabin. The interior of the crane tower itself is very impressive from the massive turret gear and 76mm diameter heavy-lift cable to the computer controls and hydraulic systems. The climb up and down the ladders was not too bad although some of the openings were rather cramped; there's not a lot of wasted space.

Ship traffic in the English Channel was very busy as we passed through. The watch officers and their lookouts were constantly keeping an eye on surrounding vessels, both visually and on their radar monitors. It's during these times that the officers really earn their pay. The 2nd Officer showed me how he used a simple line of bearing to a ship approaching from our beam to quickly determine whether it would pass in across our bow or our stern, or if we were on a collision course. It's a much more interesting way to learn geometry than anything I remember from my school days.

It was during our passage up the Channel that we crossed the Prime Meridian at 0 degrees longitude and returned to the eastern hemisphere. I was up at the forecastle with my GPS unit and was able to get a lucky shot of the screen just as we passed 00 deg, 00 min, 00.0 sec.



Finally, we were treated to a brilliant full moon for our evening passage. I tried to take some photos but couldn't really do the image justice.

More Than Halfway!

I'm writing this post in the Barnes & Noble in the Neshaminy Mall outside of Philly. We arrived last night and will be sailing tomorrow around noon, which is a bit of a change from the schedule. Originally I had hoped to make a trip to Allentown to see my father and some other folks, but the weather and sailing schedule conspired against me.

For those of you who are keeping track, I passed the geographic halfway point on my trip in Norfolk. It's just about the exact longitudinal antipode to Singapore, give or take a few minutes. I checked my calendar this morning and today is the 72nd day of the trip and I have about fifty or so still to go. I can honestly report that the time has gone by very quickly and I'm very much looking forward to the next phase.

From Philadelphia we'll sail to Antwerp and then to Hamburg before stopping in Genoa and then transiting the Suez Canal. After that it's through the Red Sea and on to Jebel Ali in the UAE, which is the last scheduled port until I disembark in Singapore.

I'll do my best to post some more updates and photos while in Europe, but for the time being I'll leave you with a shot of a sunrise from our berth in New Orleans

New Orleans

We arrived in New Orleans in the very early hours of Tuesday morning. After breakfast, Dale, Dieter and I decided to take advantage of some promising weather to head into the city. This proved to be a bit more difficult than we expected.

On reaching the gate we were informed by the local rent-a-cop that we were not allowed to leave unless we were escorted by a person holding a "TWIC card." For those of you not part of the transport or logistics industry, the TWIC card is the latest thing to make our borders safe; it is the Transportation Worker Identification Credential and is soon to be required by just about anyone who works within a secure area on a port. Anyone without this new credential who has business in a port area needs to be escorted by someone who has it.

Like so many large-scale programs, this one was implemented without all the details having been thought out. Right now, according to some of the workers I've spoken with, the real losers are the ships' crews who can't leave their ship without an escort. This can be a bit disheartening for people who've spent the better part of a month at sea and just want to get to Best Buy and Wal-Mart.

I'll leave that rant for now. The TWIC program won't be implemented in Houston until mid April so I'm hoping things will go smoother there.

We were finally able to leave when one of the cargo agents kindly arranged to escort us. The amusing part was that when we got to the gate there wasn't the slightest check of us or our IDs.

In the French Quarter we took a bit of time wandering the streets and observing the pre-Mardi Gras preparations, mostly the delivery of staggering amounts of beer. This was my first visit to the Big Easy so I enjoyed just taking in the sights.

After lunch and some book shopping we decided to spend the night in the city instead of returning to the ship. This was due to the potential complications and expense of getting back to the ship and the likelihood of similar difficulties if we tried to get return to the city on Wednesday. We got a very good deal on some rooms just a few blocks from the French Quarter.

Dinner was excellent. We went to a one of the smaller, friendly restaurants down one of the side streets, the name of which escapes me right now. The crowds of conventioneers and regular tourists were quite modest so the streets and restaurants were full and lively without being packed. I'm sure that will change next week when the drunken revelers descend for the big celebrations.

Tracking Our Ship

Since we'll be away from internet connections for some time I wanted to post a few reminders about how to best track our ship as we make our way towards the US.

The simplest way is to go to the Rickmers website, www.rickmers-linie.com and click on the "Schedules & Routes" tab. On this page you can download a PDF file with the most up-to-date schedule via the small icon to the right.

To see our current status, click on the world map in the box labeled "Ship Positions" on the lower left. This will take you to the Purplefinder website and the fleet details for all the Rickmers' ships.

Once you see the world map and all the labels for Rickmers' fleet, click on Maps > Asset Map on the top toolbar. On the next screen select "Rickmers Jakarta" from the dropdown Asset Name list.

You'll now see a world map with our current position indicated by a little, green icon representing the ship along with a track showing our course over the past thirty days or so. If you click on the ship icon you'll see our current location, e.g. "Proximity: Nagasaki"

You can also zoom in for a more detailed view of the current location. Please note that the Purplefinder site can sometimes be a bit slow, so be patient.

Another good resource will be Dale's website, http://dalestenseth.blogspot.com . He has a satellite phone and will be making regular updates while we're at sea.

I've added a few useful links to the left. Let me know if there are others that would be helpful.

All for the moment. Thanks to everyone who's written with their words of encouragement. I'm really enjoying this little adventure and I'm glad to have this means to share a bit with all of you.

Nagasaki

Good morning from Nagasaki. Today is Wednesday the 21st of January and depending on how things go this might be the last post for a while. Once we leave Nagasaki, probably sometime tomorrow or the day after, it will be about three weeks before I'll be able to post again. We start our long stretch across the Pacific and our next port will be in Texas around the middle of February.

This has been a nice break from the ship and a good opportunity to see a bit more of Japan. I'm glad that Dale, Dieter and I opted to take this little side trip.

We left Nagoya after a lengthy interview with Japanese immigration officials; apparently they deal with very few entries from ship-based passengers and none at all from passengers aboard cargo vessels. The one woman agent did express some jealousy after seeing the trip brochure on my laptop.

All told it took about an hour before they issued the entry visas and then we had to make a stop at customs before heading into Nagoya. The local agent was very helpful in assisting with securing our hotel and train reservations. Nice guy, but I think he was quite relieved when we reassured him we could handle the rest on our own and he was free to leave.

For the trip to Nagasaki we boarded one of the high-speed shinkansen bullet-trains in Nagoya and rode about three and a half hours until Hakata where we transferred to a limited express train for the remaining two hours to Nagasaki.

This was my first experience on the shinkansen. Very fast and comfortable, but no indication of the speed as we had in the Chinese express train.

The last part of the trip was actually much more scenic as our express train made its way along the coast to Nagasaki. The pace wasn't as hectic as with the bullet-train and we passed through a number of interesting and scenic fishing towns.

We wandered around the central part of Nagasaki yesterday evening and it's a fairly compact city and easy to get around using their system of somewhat outdated trams. The price for the trams is right, though; just Y100 for any trip regardless of length.

Today our plan is to look at some of the other sights and I at least need to do some shopping to stock up on some more books for the long trip.

Finally, an update!

First of all, a very merry but belated Christmas to one and all! Apologies for the lack of blog posts, but my clever plan hasn't been working exactly as I'd hoped.

Tonight I'm in Ho Chi Minh City. We arrived a few hours ago and will be leaving again in the morning. The schedule has been very hectic and I haven't had the time to update the blog and catch up on email.

This update will be brief, but I will try to provide some additional updates when we reach Hong Kong next week.

I boarded the ship on the 19th in Singapore. We sailed on the morning of the 21st to Laem Chabang in Thailand. While we were there I had the chance to make a trip to Bangkok with the three other passengers - another American and two Germans.

We departed Thailand on the 24th bound for Ho Chi Minh. Yesterday we celebrated Christmas with the officers and crew. It was a lot of fun; the cook outdid himself and laid on an impressive buffet. Everyone had a great deal to eat and there was plenty of beer and karaoke afterwards.

Overall the trip has been great so far. The pace of travel is a bit different than what I'm used to, but I find it very relaxing. The food has been excellent and the peace and quiet lends itself to lots of reading.

The schedule has been changing almost daily; there are a number of reasons for that, but suffice to say that my original itinerary is no longer valid.

Our next stop is going to be Hong Kong. We should arrive on the 30th and sail again on the 1st. I'm looking forward to seeing some friends, but I'm worried it will be too short a visit. I've also been told that we'll be offshore in the anchorage and not tied to the dock, so it might be a bit more difficult to get to town.

For future updates, I recommend using the Rickmers website, www.rickmers.com

If you follow the links to the vessels you can then scroll down the page until you find the Rickmers Jakarta; clicking on that link takes you to the tracking page. The map on the lower lefthand corner will provide you with the most updated information.

Also, one of the other passengers, Dale Stenseth, has his own blog that he updates daily via a satellite link: http://dalestenseth.blogspot.com

I have some photos that I'll try to post next time I have some internet access. My cabin is quite comfortable; small, but nicely appointed.

It's been a fascinating experience so far being able to observe the activities in port and on the water. It's a reminder that so much of what we depend on for our modern life is dependent on a lot of people doing physically demanding jobs.

That's about all I have time for at the moment. Apologies again for being such a miserable correspondent, but I'll do my best to keep you updated and provide a more detailed report in the near future.

If I don't post anything beforehand, Happy New Year!