M.L.I.S.W :: Foxtrot

It's an early morning bridge watch and we're nearing the California Coast.  That means we start hearing all sorts of vessels radio'ing in to Vessel Traffic Service (VTS), small pleasure craft making mayday calls cause their coolers are out of ice (I kid, I kid but, some of the calls are ridiculous) and asking for radio checks, you get the picture.

A vessel radios VTS and notifies them that they have dropped anchor - when making the call they provide their call sign.  (Sidebar:  Every vessel has a call sign.  US Flag vessels will always have a call sign starting with 'K' or 'W' unless they're a military vessel - every country has its own designators but 'F' and 'E' are common.)  Said vessel rambles off their call sign - which contained 'F' - Foxtrot.

My watch stander begins mumbling....

AB:  foxtrot...that's what the cops use man...

AB:  foxtrot is for cops...

AB:  ...they must be hour here looking for smugglers...

AB:  smuggling sailboats...

AB:  nothing but drifters man...

Please note I have remained silent through this whole mumbled mess.

A vessel radios the Coast Guard on Channel 16 (normally reserved for emergency traffic) requesting a radio check.

USCG heard over radio:  Vessel requesting a radio check, read you loud and clear, please be advised Ch 09 and Ch 27 are to be used for automated radio checks.  United States Coast Guard Los Angeles Out.

AB:  ....what happened to your foxtrot man....

I was so proud of myself for not yelling, Whiskey Tango FOXTROT are you talking about?!

NYE means blog about your feelings...right?

Confession:  I've been down in the dumps lately.

It's not the kind of down in the dumps you should be worried about. It's more like:  Can I just lay here?  If I lay here will you bring me cookies? 

I don't like ringing in the New Year talking about laying down eating cookies!  I wanna talk about kicking butt!  I wanna talk about plans!  Goals!  The future!  I wanna feel spunky. Rip roaring ready to go.  

I'd love to say that 2014 was a blast - that it was my best year yet - that it flew by.  

Unfortunately that's just not true. It was a doozie and it felt never ending - when I look at where I was / what I was doing a year ago it feels like a really, really long time ago.  I actually couldn't really remember. I had to go back into my blog archives and look it up...I knew the word Beyonce was in there somewhere (which in retrospect makes me chuckle) and used that as my search term. 

For the record:  last year I rang in the New Year at home in Hilo....and then I wrote about Beyonce....and then I wrote about not knowing when I was going back to work which was code for, 'they sold my ship ohmygod what am I gonna do now?!'.

Here I am a year later. On the other side of a job search and six months into not having an official abode.  I wish I could say that I put all the pieces together this year - that I had a life changing epiphany  - that I'm stronger than ever. Again...just not really true. 

Don't get me wrong. Some really, really great things happened! 

I went on a few roadtrips. I discovered a love of podcasts. I tore up New Orleans and Vegas with my Mom and Step Dad (holy smokes it was fun).  

Hello! BALI. NEPAL.  

I did find a job before I ran out of money. That's a positive! 

I took photos of flowers in the desert.  

I met and travelled with a group of girls that rocked my world.  

I ate good food with good friends. I snuggled with Chihuahuas. 

I got my Captains license. Boom. 

I went on a hike...like a super hard one. I laughed so hard I peed. I sipped coffee with my mom and watched fireflies zoom through rice paddies.  

All those little things add up to more than I could have possibly imagined for myself - so where does that leave me?  It leaves me with this: 

2015 IM NOT SCARED OF YOU. 

I hope you're just as unpredictable as 2014. Challenges?  I'm ready.  Good times?  Yes please. More travel?  Of course!  Fun?  God, I hope so. 

Happy New Years Nautie Friends!  Congrats on a successful 2014! 

Happy Solstice

Earlier this year I sat at home (home sweet Hilo home) and watched the sun rise on the Equinox. 

Now, I find myself in Korea watching the sun rise over a car carrier.  Marking the Suns progress through the seasons feels decidedly great no matter where I am. 

Our ancestors had so much respect for the sky - they watched it closely and were very much in tune with what was going on above them. They marked time, celebrated through the seasons and looked closely for new phenomena. 

I decided at the Equinox that it would be fun to track the sky more often on the blog - so I wrote about the Harvest Moon. 

Now here we are!  Officially ringing in Winter.  

Today is the shortest day of the year in the Northern Henisphere and longest in the Southern.  

The declination of the sun when rising was 23.5 degrees South. If you were standing on the Tropic of Capricorn the sun would be directly over your head midday.  

Decembers Solstice is when the sun is at its southern most point. 

The Stonehenge in England and Machu Picchu in Peru were presumably built to track the Suns annual progress. 

Today though, I've been wondering if I'm a little biased. I was a sun baby. Isn't it a little presumptuous to assume it's all about the light?  Maybe it's equally appropriate to celebrate the dark. Maybe in today's world we just don't get enough dark.  

What I remind myself about the Winter Solstice is we need the dark to stay balanced. 

I always find myself feeling grumpy about it - shortest day of the year?!  Less sun?!  How's that a positive?!  This article really got nw thinking about the importance of darkness.  

I think we have forgotten what darkness is for. Sleep, story telling around fire places, cuddling, and in general simple togetherness.  

Have you ever heard the word Hygge?  I hadn't until very recently. It's a Danish word that is hard to translate but means roughly 'togetherness' or 'coziness'.  I learned the word when happening upon this article.  The article expands on the concept of Hygge and suggests it is our answer to enjoying the darker winter months. 

Light your fireplaces.  Burn a candle. Snuggle up on the couch. Drink a hot cup of tea. Find a good read.

Enjoy this long night. 

Pink Glow

A couple mornings ago I was enroute from Shanghai to Pusan. Leaving Shanghai in the rear view mirror always feels pretty good but, I had a couple of abnormally busy watches. (To say you've had busy watches in or around Chinese Waters basically means the traffic was insane.)

I was feeling fried, super cranky and just over it.  

Then, for the first time in days we got 'good clouds' and a little sunrise.  

That pink glow in the horizon was so incredibly welcome.  

It never fails to amaze me what 'picks me up' and what 'gets me down'.

I find my 'pick me ups' are usually so simple, so easy and so attainable. Which means I must ask myself:  why don't you do those things more often?

Two seconds to watch the sky lighten changes my day.  

What are your go to pick me ups?  What is your pink glow? 

Aloha Friday v7

This is actually my favorite song of all times. It's the only Hawaiian song that I've learned the hula for and, strangely enough, it's the only song I've told my Mom to at at my funeral in a worst case scenario. 

If I'm feeling uncomfortable - like I'm in a dark cargo hold or am walking in the ships tunnels - and I don't have my iPod to drown out the creaks and groans - I'm probably singing this song out loud.  

This version is sung by a duo called Hapa. Their version is the first one I heard and holds fast as my favorite.  

Please note:  because I'm on the ship I haven't actually watched this video. Hope it's okay!

A week into shipboard life.

I'm a week and a day (or so) into this current rotation at sea.  Hypothetically, if I complete all the time allotted to my contract I'll be aboard for 126 days.  My plan is to avoid taking a trip off (like I did last time - so that I could move out of my place in Houston) and just get all three West Coast - Asian trips done in one clean swoop.

Doing all three trips isn't necessarily the best option for my mental health but, it's definitely the best option for my bank account and annual timeline.  It's definitely a mindset and I'm working on attaining said mindset right off the bat.  I think it was one of the reasons I packed so many 'extras' this go around.  I mean honestly, I'm looking forward to my daily chocolate out of my advent calendar!  Looking forward to small things goes a really long way.  Hence the extras.

It's been radio silence around here.  I attribute that to a small dose of 'hibernation' (ie I've been taking more naps than required....maybe just a touch of 'joining the ship blues'), limited internet (can we all agree I should be grateful just to have a small amount of internet in the middle of the ocean?!) and, plain old laziness.

Here's what the past week looked like:

First things first - setting up my bed with comfy flannel comforter and bottom sheet.  Aaaaah.  Cozy.  I love cuddling up.

November 23rd.  

Next on the agenda was getting used to early morning wake ups once more.  Of all the watches, 04-08 / 16-20 is my favorite.  Most times you get the sunrise and sunset.  

November 24th.

Our first morning out of Oakland was foggy yet sunny.  I'll take it.

November 25th.

I tried to get back in the groove by documenting my coffee with a sunrise.  You know....my signature shot.  I got foam blown all over my fingers.  I had to laugh out loud.

November 27th.

Dutch Harbor on arrival = Gorgeous.  Dutch Harbor on departure = snow blowing sideways and an aborted undocking due to high winds - the ship couldn't breast off the dock.

November 29th.

The exciting thing about December First was being able to dig into my Advent Calendar!  Thanks Trader Joes.  Those little chocolates are scrumdiliumptious.

December 1st.

This morning was gloomy.  So, so gloomy.  It was also Thursday instead of Wednesday - after all this time I STILL find the International Date Line confusing!  It's official folks, I'm in East Longitude.

December 4th.

There you have it!  A week in a post!

I hope your Thanksgiving was lovely and that you're gearing up for the Holidays with style!