The moon, the bridge, and the sun.

in ,

We left Greece early yesterday morning.  Everyone worked really long hours since it was such a quick turn around.  Because I got the most sleep I stood the Chief Mate's morning watch.  I came on watch at Midnight just as the ship was preparing to get underway - by the time the pilot was aboard and all our lines were cast off it was about 0200 - which meant that I had an 8 hour bridge watch ahead of me!  It was a long 'un! We sailed past Athens then south via the Piraeus traffic separation scheme.  Open waters called our name as we made our way through the Greek Isles.  Traffic was pretty dense which kept me on my toes but also made the watch tick past a little quicker.

When the sun rose I was definitely ready for a little diversion - and was happy to get Big Bertha out!  As you know, I love taking pictures at night and so it was fun to have a full moon on the stbd bridge wing and a rising sun on the port bridge wing!  It was just too bad that I couldn't get them in a shot together!

I messed around for quite some time in manual settings trying to get a photo to look what I was actually looking at.  With the sun below the horizon it literally looked like a rainbow.  You could distinctly see red on the horizon merging into orange, yellow, a slight tinge of green, blue twilight sky that almost looked violet as the sky above was darker.

The Azimuth ring (this is what we take celestial observations with to double check the accuracy of our compass) was backlit by the twilight sky and I thought it made it look extra nautie.

As I was on the stbd bridge wing snapping away at the moon I looked through the house and orange was reflected on all the bridge windows as the sun got a little higher.

The sun finally joined us - back lighting some islands - it seemed as if the sun was setting the island on fire!

All in all Big Bertha got a pretty nice workout!

 

Where were you?

in

This seems to be the question of the day. It amazes me how fresh a memory can be ten years later.  So many people have come and gone in my life.  I've sailed to exotic foreign ports and participated in debauchery.  I purchased my first home.  I traveled solo through New Zealand.  Where was I on March 3, 2003?  No clue.

Where was I on September 11, 2001?

I was a freshman at Maine Maritime Academy.  I had been at school for less than a month - I was still wearing my MUG blues - and had to run everywhere if I was by myself...if I was with a fellow Midshipmen we could walk together in step.  I was feeling shell shocked and very, very far away from home -Maine Maritime was not what I had expected.

I was at the waterfront in Castine, ME.  I had just completed a 4 hour nautical science lab - we were rowing monomoy's - approaching and breaking away from the dock.  I got a little wet so I changed into some dry clothes - I didn't feel like walking all the way to the changing room so I ducked into the sail loft (years of beaching it has allowed me to be able to change my clothes anywhere).

As I was coming down the sail loft stairs one of my MUG Mates (those are the MUGs who are in your company) said, 'Have you heard that the World Trade Center was bombed?!'.

Sadly, do you know what my first thought was....where the hell is the World Trade Center?!  I had honestly never heard of it.  All I really got was bombed.

The lab instructor just happened to be driving past at that moment and I hailed his car down.  He rolled his window down and I screeched, 'Capt. Weeks, Capt. Weeks!  You have to turn on your radio!  We're being ATTACKED!!!!'.

More of my MUG Mates showed up and we all huddled around the window of Captain Weeks car listening to his radio while he sat in the driver seat.

As the situation started developing I realized that my family had no idea what was going on because it was still the middle of the night in Hawaii (by this point I also figured out where the Twin Towers were - and what a big deal this was).

I sprinted up the hill to the dorms as fast as I could and called my Mom and then I called my Dad.  I made them turn on their televisions.  I was convinced that Pearl Harbor would be next and that I wouldn't be able to get home if more bad things started happening.

Classes were cancelled, phone lines were tied up as Midshipmen tried to get in touch with family, and common spaces were packed with students just needing to not be alone.

I finally hung up and went to The Waypoint (this was the little cafe on campus) to watch TV.  Virtually the entire freshman class was there - because none of us were allowed to have TVs in our dorm rooms.

I remember sitting in a large group of people staring dumbfounded as the video clips rolled thinking, 'I'm really, really not supposed to be here.  I'm just absolutely too far away from home.  This just isn't right.'

Where were you?

 

I got it!

in

I receive an insane amount of comments on the blog that are actually spam.  I disapprove about 20 to 25 comments a day.  I'd say that about 75 percent of the spam comments are a little 'dirty'.  I seem to be a magnet for penis enlargement pills, dating websites, and ladies looking for 'friends'.  Last night in all my grumpiness I was feeling pretty frustrated that I had to delete so many comments...because it was wasting my time! I think they zero in on the word nautie.  Some poor foreign bloke is sitting at his computer misspelling the word naughty and while looking for disgustingness on the internet.

And then I had an epiphanie!

They zero in on the word nautie....so I will too!

Hello Nautie Friends!  Want to join a Nautie Book Club?  Would you like to read about some Nautie Adventures?  I thought you might!

I mean, we can't all be mermaids.  Although, we can definitely all be Nautie!

via

9-9-11

in

Friends, I'm oh so very tired.  I've had a lot of good 'post ideas' but sadly they all take time.  (I realize it's poor form to complain about how much time your blog consumes on your blog...) I've had a couple watches in a row that have felt as if they would never end.  Copious amounts of traffic in tight quarters.  No craziness ensued...but it's left me feeling beat.

It is now 1300 (one in the afternoon) - I'm going to wash my face, brush my teeth, get into my comfies and climb into my rack....and then unwind with a good 'ole trashy romance novel.

I took this photo a few days ago.  We passed a cattle ship!  We could actually smell it from a few miles away!  As we were trailing astern we started seeing 'junk' in the water - it took us a few minutes to figure out that the cattle hands must be mucking stalls!  Think of it as a metaphor....as in:  I'm sick of this shit and I'm ready to go home!  (Man, I honestly crack myself up sometimes....seriously....I just started laughing out loud at my desk....)