January 4th

It's been an incredibly long few days. We've loaded, discharged, washed tanks, gas freed the tanks, entered the tanks to sump them, re-inerted the tanks and proceeded to anchor to discharge our slops.  Later today we'll head to the dock to load our freshly washed tanks (wait, we had to clean them just to get them dirty?!).

After a few days of less than necessary sleep I find it hard to even take a shower before crawling in the rack.  Sometimes I shower and don't wash my hair because I'm too lazy to raise my arms over my head - how ridiculous is that?  (If I'm not finding time to wash my hair it means I'm certainly not finding time to post pictures....sorry Nautie Friends!)

I'm on my fifth cup of coffee and I'm rocking out to some Florence + The Machine.  Florence has been my saving grace...she gets me moving.  I'm about to scrub my charts to get them ready for the next voyage and hopefully I'll find time today to replace my burnt out port sidelight (wait, isn't that what cadets are for?!).

Let's all raise our coffee cups to long days, good music and crisp Mediterranean winters!!

It will be RUNG!

Last year I welcomed in the new year by trekking down to Kalapana to play with the lava.  It was strangely appropriate - along with the fiery flow you get new life.  Fresh new land and a chance for baby ferns to take root. For the past few days I've been thinking very hard about the past year.  What were my 2011 successes?  Which parts of the year am I wishing I could change?  Did I meet my goals?  There are some resounding YES's!  The Yes's make me feel tingly and proud however; I didn't meet all of my goals.  I feel some disappointment which I find frustrating.  I think maybe I'm being a little hard on myself....but the disappointment makes me think that maybe this year requires a more calculated approach to goal meeting.  Maybe the disappointment means that I should spend more time contemplating my last 12 months so that I can set more realistic goals.

I had big plans for a post to ring in the new year however; the plans have been put on hold due to loading cargo, 12 hours between ports, discharing cargo and tank washing.  Which leads me back to the whole realistic goals idea....

There will be more to come - I may ring the new year in a little late but, it WILL be RUNG darnit! 

I hope that all of you Nautie Friends and Family have a smashing New Years!  I am so excited to be ringing in the New Year with you all!

Nautie Friends Ask :: What is Christmas like aboard a ship?

It's just like any other day with better food.  Seriously. I woke up at 2320 (1120 pm) to start my morning - even though it's still secretly the previous day.  I actually set my alarm for 2300 but I get my wake up call at 2320 and this is when I get out of my rack. 

When I opened my door there were a package of socks, a can of dust sprayer, a polo shirt and a memo pad tied to the handle - with a post it note that said, 'Merry Christmas'!  Thanks Santa!

I meandered up to the bridge....I said, 'Merry Christmas' in a slightly sleep deprived voice.  Everyone said, 'Merry Christmas' back to me in slightly sleep deprived voices. 

The watch changed out and I said, 'Alright boys, guess what, we're going to listen to Christmas Carols alll freakin' morning long!!!!'.  Then I proceeded to play both Glee Christmas albums.  They loved this I'm sure.  We listened to everything in my arsenal.  Glee, Bing Crosby, The Elf Soundtrack, The Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer Soundtrack, Pink Martini, Mariah Carey.....it never stopped.

I was relieved at 0600 and I said, 'Merry Christmas!  There is Christmas music playing!  Oh yeah, there is also an assload of traffic out there....have fun!'.  Then I went down to my room and climbed back in my rack.

I woke up from my nap at 0720 and went down for breakfast.  I ate pancakes, french toast, sausage and had TWO cinnamon roles.  I figured because it was Christmas I was allowed to stuff my gullet!

I went back up to the bridge and watched the sunrise around 0830 - seriously, that is how late it gets light in the Mediterranean these days.  You're killing me December!  I of course took a bunch of pictures of the sunrise....I had to document a Christmas sunrise!  I made my new watch partners listen to my entire Christmas Song arsenal all over again....it was glorious.

At 0900 the Captain came up to the bridge and I showed him how the radar was acting funny.  Then he asked to see the service requisition from its last servicing....I couldn't find it in the bridge equipment binder (I swear I wasn't onboard for the servicing) - then I got scolded.  Then he looked in the garbage log - and I got scolded again (I swear I wasn't onboard when the entries were missed).  Then he looked at the Navtex Binder - and I got scolded again (I swear I wasn't onboard when the messages were annotated incorrectly).  The scolding just continued until I got off watch.  It went something like this, 'Megan the Nautiemermate, this is your forte!  I'm surprised the binders slipped like this....we really need to plus up.'

At 1000 I got off watch and I proceeded down to the Cargo Control Room....really I was just looking for someone who wasn't going to scold me.  I basically just killed time until the next meal hour....it's Christmas after all!

Lunch was exciting...there were tablecloths made out of real cloth on the tables!  We normally have plastic picnic style table coverings....because we're sailors and that means we're slobs.  Lunch was amazing.  Roasted tom turkey, ham, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans, homemade bread.  There was shrimp cocktail, salmon with capers and TONS of deserts - pies, cookies, fruitcake, candies. 

When I got done eating I proceeded back up to my State Room where I posted my Feliz Navidad photos.

At 1300 I showered and put on my Pajamas.  I crawled into my rack with a snack and a book.  I fell asleep by 1500. 

Ta Da!  Christmas Day at sea!

(Not to be a cry baby BUT, this was the only day this week where I worked twelve hours or less and got 8 hours of sleep....I'm currently standing 6 hours on and 6 hours off and I've had two 18 hour days and two 15 hour days.....I can't describe the luxury of being asleep by 1500....that in itself was the best Christmas present I could have asked for!)

M.L.I.S.W :: I'm Always Ready To Pee In A Cup

I actually wrote this about two days ago on a piece of scrap paper while on watch.  I thought about keeping the whole thing to myself but decided that pee in a cup was just too rich a topic to ignore... After a midnight docking the crew hit their racks - except for me of course since I enjoy the privilege of standing watch from midnight to 0600.  The crew was in for a lovely surprise upon awakening.  The 'White Board' (this is where all major shipboard events are posted) had a lovely little note:  'Restricted to vessel due to random drug and alcohol test at 0800 in ships hospital - no crew members to go ashore until testing complete'.

Groans and sighs, groans and sighs....but sea stories galore.  The crew might complain that they have to pee in a cup but they secretly love it because it means that every sea story involving a failed drug test or a drug test gone awry must be told!  Even I have a drug test story!

Here it goes....one time I had a shipmate ask me if I'd give him some of my pee.  I told him it was a bad idea because I was pregnant.  Ha!  Of course the next day everyone knew I was pregnant...said sailor conveniently forgot to also inform everyone that the reason he knew was because his pee was dirty!  Go figure!

Back to more recent events....we waited and waited and no tester arrived.  This is tricky because when you gotta go you gotta go - except you know when you go that it means you might not be able to go later - you follow?  I was certain that he would arrive as soon as I had peed!  By 1100 I gave up and peed for the third time that morning and went to lunch - can you see where this is going?  The tester showed up as soon as I had sat down with my plate. 

A couple cups of water and a full belly later I'm ready to give my sample.  It was a stress free affair.  Earlier in the morning I explained to the cadet that my philosophy is to just always be ready to pee in a cup!  As soon as I said it we both cracked up because it sounded like a commercial for Drug Free America.  The thing is - it's true - just be ready to pee in a cup - it's simple!

This is when I decided that I had to tell the cadet that when I was a kid my nickname was MegGruff the Crime Dog.  Remember McGruff?!  Take a bite out of crime!! I took great pride in patrolling the neighborhood and reporting the offenders to anyone who would listen. 

The Cadet then suggested that we have shirts made that say, 'I'm always ready to pee in a cup' on the front and 'Drug Free America' on the back....then he threw out 'yours can say MegGruff the Crime Dog on the back if you want'.  What a sweetie!

However; there always comes a point where you realize that what is about to happen is really quite awkward.  By the time I got to the ships hospital there was a line.  You watch each other go into the hospital, present your ID, empty your pockets and visit the head - no water can run in the head soooo....no flushing or handwashing, then return to present your pee.  The sample collector pours your pee into two smaller vials, seals them, and then has you initial them.  Next, you blow into the breathalyzer.  Truly, the worst part is walking out of the head and into the common space with your cup of pee for all to see.  I always request a flush...because I don't want the guys looking at my toilet paper!  There is something just wrong about that.  The collector then goes into the head inspects the toilet, flushes, and then adds a bluing agent to the toilet water again.

Have you ever given drug testing much thought?!  It's weird I tell you!  While I'm not a huge fan of the process - there are some perks...hilarity may ensue, and we know that we are all drug free!

This particular evolution included more hilarity than most. 

We have an older crew member (I'd say late sixties early seventies...which is really quite old when you think about the lifestyle).  It is possible that he is slightly off his rocker.  When I first met him he walked up to me and said, 'Yemen!  Yemen!  Yemen!' - except he kind of said it like a squeaky voiced gremlin.  I just nodded and said, 'oh yeah.' and walked on.  Sometimes, he'll walk into the cargo control room and tell me an entire story and I won't have understood one word of it.  My Mom and I used to play this game where we would say something while only pronouncing the vowels - the other would have to guess what was really said.  Instead of saying Megan, it would be pronounced Eh - Ah.  Long story short...this is what he sounds like!

SO.  He walks in to the room gets his cup and takes it into the head.  He doesn't shut the door - so the inspector tells him he can shut the door....'Oh-Uh-Ah-Ee'.  The door stays open.  We hear a bunch of banging around and then we hear the cup drop to the deck and roll around.  Standing in the line we all kind of look at each other and suppress a giggle.  The collector asks him how he's doing.....'Ii-Ah-Eh'.  Then he walks out with a cup that hold maybe a tablespoon of pee.  Hahaha.  (There is a black line drawn on the cup for a minimum sample - it was no where even close to the line.)  The collector sends him back into the head where he spends a bit of time and then come back out with his baseball cap cocked sideways and a measly amount of pee in his cup.  He is told that he can come back and pee but it has to be done within three hours or it is an automatic fail.  There was a lot of chattering away and then he turns around to walk out when the Captain pipes up to ask him to do up his pants!  We are seriously doing our best not to laugh hysterically.  This is when we hear a large crack and realize that the chair that the sample collecter is sitting in has literally cracked in half and left him sprawled out on the deck.  OMG. 

The moral of the story - just always be ready to pee in a cup!

Disclaimer:  I realized on the retelling of the story that it might not be as funny as I thought it was at the time however; as per usual - I ran with it anyways! 

A jolt to the system!

After 90 days of vacation being back at work feels like a jolt to the system!  I'm scrambling around trying to get back into the groove...and I'm also trying to sleep as much as possible because I know the tempo is going to pick up very quickly.  We're at anchor now and I can't tell you what a luxury it is to arrive to an anchored vessel - versus arriving to a vessel that is in the middle of cargo operations - that is when you truly get a jolt to the system!

You know what is a true jolt to the system...one that is ten times better than having to work?! 

A gorgeous sunrise behind Gibraltar! 

 

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A taste of Italy

La Spezia, Italy was hands down our most beautiful port of call in the Mediterranean. Here are just a few photos of us making our approach to our mooring area.  One thing that was a little different about La Spezia is that we go to an offshore mooring station.  We tie up to buoys and pull the hose up from the water.

We entered first thing in the morning because it was a daylight port only.  The sun was just peaking over the mountains - it was far more mountainous than I imagined!

Anyways, it was pretty...more to come!