The days have begun to blend together. The first half of each voyage on the shuttle run I’m on is port after port in rapid succession- Singapore to Singapore with 5 Chinese ports in between. The second half begins after the 5 hour transit from the second stop in Singapore to Indonesia - the long run across the Indian Ocean to Pakistan.
When the second half begins, so too begins the 2 hours of OT in the morning (0500 - 0700) and the 2 hours of OT in the evening (1800 - 2000). The sleep deprivation and exhaustion only sets in if I screw up and watch a movie, missing a full night of sleep, kicking off a downward spiral of my own making.
The emerald green and olive drab of the Yellow Sea this transit have turned to obsidian as the chaotic skies of alto, stratus, and cumulus clouds pile up until the stratus layer gains dominance by attrition and obliterates any trace of blue that once painted the dome of the sky. If this were Seattle it would be cold. It is not cold.
My clothing gets soaked in the monsoon rains as I turn- a cog in the machine of this ship. We are enslaved to a clock and we make her run in spite of the weather and the natural order of things. My boots are wet. My clothing is wet. My dirty laundry would mildew if I left it too long unattended. The decks are awash and the greatest feeling is being dry after a hot shower at the end of the day.
The junior engineer walked off in Singapore. Apparently, the First Engineer had to work on the frequently clogged sewer system which requires, after much revolting work, the flushing of every toilet on the ship. The Junior’s room was trashed- beer cans everywhere. I saw the photo the Engineer took- it was pretty heinous.
It is illegal in America for 20 year-olds to buy and drink beer. When the Captain did a “surprise sanitary inspection” of the ship he pointed this out to the junior. The junior claimed he was in “international waters,” which pissed the old man off.
Just for clarification: The junior was on US soil while aboard this US flagged vessel, and he did the equivalent of arguing with a judge while on trial under the jurisdiction of that very same judge when he took on the old man. Clearly, being 20 makes a man-cub cockier than he has any right to be, but this wouldn’t be cockiness for the sake of cockiness… this would be plain old stupid.
So he “quit” and probably found himself on the company’s Do-Not-Hire list, to boot.
Right now we are slow-belling through Indonesian waters towards our next port… I’m not certain, but we probably have a pilot boarding time and the speed required has us turning somewhere between 50 and 60 RPMs (I can feel about a turn a second).
I went to sleep at 1600 but woke at 2315 from hunger. We’re supposed to arrive at 0200 so I want to be rested, but not too rested- I might be too rested. After arrival I’ll want to go back to sleep… thank god for melatonin! Laura just shipped me more- I should get it next time we go through Singapore.
I have deduced that the single greatest determination of my attitude is sleep. I can cope with anything, unflinchingly and with my humor intact, if I’ve had a full night sleep; denied of sleep I become negative, angry, and unnecessarily confrontational. I find it amazing it has taken me to middle age to figure this simple thing out.
And that’s all I got. No mermaids were sighted. No whales. No waterspouts. But I did see some stunning lightning over Singapore while I did crane ops in the torrential rain this morning, and if that’s what I get then that’s what I’ll take. And I’ll like it.
When the second half begins, so too begins the 2 hours of OT in the morning (0500 - 0700) and the 2 hours of OT in the evening (1800 - 2000). The sleep deprivation and exhaustion only sets in if I screw up and watch a movie, missing a full night of sleep, kicking off a downward spiral of my own making.
The emerald green and olive drab of the Yellow Sea this transit have turned to obsidian as the chaotic skies of alto, stratus, and cumulus clouds pile up until the stratus layer gains dominance by attrition and obliterates any trace of blue that once painted the dome of the sky. If this were Seattle it would be cold. It is not cold.
My clothing gets soaked in the monsoon rains as I turn- a cog in the machine of this ship. We are enslaved to a clock and we make her run in spite of the weather and the natural order of things. My boots are wet. My clothing is wet. My dirty laundry would mildew if I left it too long unattended. The decks are awash and the greatest feeling is being dry after a hot shower at the end of the day.
The junior engineer walked off in Singapore. Apparently, the First Engineer had to work on the frequently clogged sewer system which requires, after much revolting work, the flushing of every toilet on the ship. The Junior’s room was trashed- beer cans everywhere. I saw the photo the Engineer took- it was pretty heinous.
It is illegal in America for 20 year-olds to buy and drink beer. When the Captain did a “surprise sanitary inspection” of the ship he pointed this out to the junior. The junior claimed he was in “international waters,” which pissed the old man off.
Just for clarification: The junior was on US soil while aboard this US flagged vessel, and he did the equivalent of arguing with a judge while on trial under the jurisdiction of that very same judge when he took on the old man. Clearly, being 20 makes a man-cub cockier than he has any right to be, but this wouldn’t be cockiness for the sake of cockiness… this would be plain old stupid.
So he “quit” and probably found himself on the company’s Do-Not-Hire list, to boot.
Right now we are slow-belling through Indonesian waters towards our next port… I’m not certain, but we probably have a pilot boarding time and the speed required has us turning somewhere between 50 and 60 RPMs (I can feel about a turn a second).
I went to sleep at 1600 but woke at 2315 from hunger. We’re supposed to arrive at 0200 so I want to be rested, but not too rested- I might be too rested. After arrival I’ll want to go back to sleep… thank god for melatonin! Laura just shipped me more- I should get it next time we go through Singapore.
I have deduced that the single greatest determination of my attitude is sleep. I can cope with anything, unflinchingly and with my humor intact, if I’ve had a full night sleep; denied of sleep I become negative, angry, and unnecessarily confrontational. I find it amazing it has taken me to middle age to figure this simple thing out.
And that’s all I got. No mermaids were sighted. No whales. No waterspouts. But I did see some stunning lightning over Singapore while I did crane ops in the torrential rain this morning, and if that’s what I get then that’s what I’ll take. And I’ll like it.
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