Megan the Nautie Mermate
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF A LADY SAILOR
I mentioned yesterday that we drifted off Monterey before getting into our berth in Oakland. This sunset was the absolutely gorgeous. It was definitely a perk in the delay.
There is a pretty large part of me that wants to rant nonsensically about the Longshoreman and the current situation but, instead I'm going to post photos of a sunset.
Feel free to click through at your leisure!
Nautie Friends,
Do you know what's hard to believe? I've been blogging here for over 4 years!
In that time I've lived in Hawaii, Maine, Texas and, have winged it with no home. I've sailed on 5 different ships. I've travelled, coffee'd, wine sipped, birthday'd, sailed, mused, promoted, demoted, dolphin spotted, sunrise watched and blogged my little heart out.
This blog has solidified relationships, provided a creative release, been a last ditch effort for friends and family to figure out where I am and, has kept me grounded through all the changes.
My life is in transition and, I can't help but just tug this blog along with me. As I freshen things up in my own life I think it's only fair to freshen things up here on the blog.
Will you please take the time to complete this Reader Survey? I'd love hear what you have to say! I think it's only fair you all have a say in the freshening process!
Thank you for taking the time to complete this Reader Survey! This survey should only take about 5 minutes. Your responses will absolutely remain anonymous and drum roll please....
If you complete the Survey you will be entered to win a $10 gift card! Win!
*embarassing editors note: I created the Survey without a way to know who was taking it! I want to follow through on the $10 gift card! Would you please take one small extra step to drop your name in the comments section - or if you'd like to stay anonymous shoot me a quick email: nautiemermate@gmail.com - again, apologies!
I'm shoreside once more. I took an early vacation from work - because I've got something up my sleeve.
The Longshoreman 'slowdown' (i.e. inability to finalize their contract which now requires a federal mediator to prevent a strike) (here's a secondary i.e. Hawaii residents get your toilet paper, rice and spam now before it starts getting rationed) really slowed us down as we came up the coast. There were about ten container ships drifting off the coast of Monterey....including us. For the record that's a very, very strange thing to see. Please note: I'm glossing over this Longshoreman business because they're one of those things that can get me ranting and raving and frothing at the mouth...kinda like my pirate rants...
The good news is the weather was lovely. There were gorgeous sunrises and sunsets, misty mornings, quiet islands and gorgeous bay views.
I'm now sipping a coffee while I snuggle with Chihuahua's which basically means I'm at my California bliss point.
Hope you're all reaching your own bliss points!
I spend a lot of my time thinking about things that have already happened and worrying about things that haven’t happened yet. In other words, I spend a lot of time in my head. I’m currently worried about whether or not to sell my house, what my job will be when I quit shipping, where I should live to maximize my career opportunities, whether or not I should put not being in a relationship on my priority list…you get the picture. None of these things will happen in the next year! They're long term goals...really long term goals!
What 2014 taught me is that sometimes you work really, really hard and make sacrifices for things that don’t work out…..and it doesn’t mean that the hard work or sacrifices were for nothing. 2014 also taught me that you should have a little fun sometimes because, you might work really, really hard and make sacrifices and things still might not work out.
I believe in having one little word to guide me through the year - I always choose a word and sometimes I take it seriously and sometimes I blow it off.
This year I’m going to try to do something a little different. I’m choosing a word and I’m also choosing a project.
This year I’m using the phrase NAVIGATING 2015 and combining it with the word TODAY.
I’m choosing the word TODAY to remind myself that I can take things one day at a time. If I make today count it counts for a lot. There are 86,400 seconds in a day and I think some of my seconds could be more wisely used. Small chunks of time put to better use.
I’m choosing the word TODAY to remind myself that tomorrow and yesterday don’t matter. When I’m feeling overwhelmed all I need to do is the next thing that has to happen…today. I’m tired of being so worried about tomorrow that I waste my todays.
I’m choosing the word TODAY to remind myself that I should just get it done. If I say, ‘I’ll exercise tomorrow’ every day then it won’t ever happen (duh). Get done what you need to get done today.
I’m choosing the word TODAY to remind myself to stay flexible. While it may seem that my life is incredibly flexible and that I’m quite impulsive that couldn’t be further from the truth. I spend a lot of my time calculating my next move and giving in to self imposed obligations. The most impulsive thing I’ve done in years is invite myself to Nepal.
NAVIGATING 2015 is my plan to help stay on track. I’ve divided up my year into months and seasons. Each month will have a word that I’ll use in conjunction with TODAY. Each season will have a goal. For example (this is just an example): January: Today I’ll do yoga Winter: Be 10 pounds lighter.
My plan is to choose my words and goals as the year evolves - I mean, don’t you think it’s counterintuitive to focus on being in the moment of today while planning a full year?
You’ll be hearing so much more about this as the project starts to take on some shape.
Sometimes the blog gets stuck - normally because I have a blog idea that I’d like to make official and can’t move past until it’s up. This was my sticking point. I had to share my plans for 2015!
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?!
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!