Tag Archives: working offshore

September- Working for Adriatic Marine

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I returned from Mexico late on August 30 and thank god I had work waiting for me. I had to rush around to get caught up and ready to leave for work on the 1st of September. That only gave me 1 day to get everything done that I could. 

Most important was to get a doctors appointment. Urgent need for that. Since I am a merchant marine, I must apply for a license to work from the United States Coast Guard. If they do not approve, I am not able to work. I don’t like that fact. Not at all. I think it’s completely against the foundational principles of our country (and basic human rights) that anyone should have to beg permission from the government in order to earn a living. But, I don’t really want to go off on that tangent right now (later I probably will)…

So. Part of what I have to do in order to be allowed to work is to take a USCG approved physical every 2 years. My latest medical certificate expires mid-October. So I can’t work after that until I get a new one. Send the physical in and (if) they approve it, then I can continue to work. I sent it in early August. I didn’t want to turn it in any earlier since the earlier they get it, the more time they remove from your ability to work (they date your medical certificate from the date of your physical). On August 29, they sent me an email that they wanted more information and a letter from my doctor before they would approve me. At one point they had asked for that info but stopped- told me I didn’t need to send it to them anymore so I didn’t. Now, they wanted it again. 

Thank god I had time to call my doctor and she was able to see me. I called from Mexico since I had only 3 days maximum to get this all done. I got home from Mexico late on Wednesday, August 30. Doctor was closed on Thursday. I was at her office at 0730 on Friday and had to leave for work that afternoon (flying to New Orleans). 

I made it to the boat on time that Friday evening and nervously waiting for test results and letter from my doctor to be approved by the Coast Guard for the next week and a half. I was SO relieved to get that email from them that I was approved (finally) and they had mailed my certificate. Now, I just have to get home to get my mail! 

I’ve been working through CLS this hitch. They got me a gig with Adriatic Marine on their supply boats. I got on the Caribou on Friday, September 1. Switched to the Axis on the 6th, the Red Stag on the 11, and the Bison on October 5. I’m still on the Bison and hoping to stay here until crew change. 

Red Stag at MC-650. Blind Faith with Safe Concordia alongside for personnel transfer

We’ve been running from Fourchon out to MC-650. Working for Chevron with the Blind Faith and the accommodation vessel Safe Concordia. It’s about a 12 hour run and the weather has been pretty rough the past couple of weeks. I think we’re having an early winter. Temps at home have been getting down in the 50’s at night. We don’t usually get that cool until late November. I’m looking forward to some of that. 🙂 

I’ll only be home for 2 weeks. They’ve asked me to come back here and I’ve already agreed. This job is pretty good. I’m working as DPO and these boats hold pretty good. This one has an MPT (Chouest) system, but the Red Stag has Kongsberg (which I definitely prefer). We’re just doing deck cargo (no bulk) so just have to pay attention to weather (no hoses to worry about). We do a lot of back and forth between the Blind Faith and Safe Concordia. Breaks up the day. Lately we’re doing a run to the beach every couple of days so I’m hoping we’ll be able to crew change at the dock instead of by helicopter. 

*(I wrote this while at work a couple of months ago- in September)

5 Day Turnaround

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I got off the Ocean Evolution last week. I had to drive home so I spent a little time job hunting on the way. I stopped in the office when I picked up my truck, hoping to talk to someone there and got lucky. I was able to talk to the HR people and they helped me get my application filled in (I’ve been trying to do it, but it wouldn’t let me past the 2nd page).

I don’t really have any idea if anything will come of it, they couldn’t give me a time frame for when or if I might be needed, but I still felt pretty good when I left.

Next door was another boat company, so I stopped in there too. I was able to speak to a man there who actually seemed interested. We talked for a while about the good old days in the Gulf. Back when things were booming and we could still go to work in shorts and flip-flops. God I miss those days!

It was already getting late, so I was only able to make one more stop that day. Was told there, they would probably be laying people off again next week (now). With the Coronavirus panic wreaking havoc all over the world, I expect that’s already happened. Looks like we’re in for at least another year of horrible job prospects.

I made it home late Thursday and spent the weekend running errands and getting caught up with the foot-high pile of mail blocking my front door. I was also able to spend some time online, looking at things I wasn’t able to at work (not stupid stuff- but internet was super sluggish onboard and lots of sites were blocked).

I saw a post on Linkedin where they were looking for a DPO and made a comment. I was super surprised that they actually called me back. That never happens! Turns out I was accepted for the position and had to get ready to travel again immediately.

This one, the Seven Pacific, will be my home for the next 2 weeks. 🙂

I left yesterday afternoon and am waiting to join the ship here in Mobile now. 🙂

Time Flies

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I only just realized it’s been almost 2 weeks since I last posted. I’ve been onboard since January 30th and haven’t really had much of a chance to keep up here. It’s kind of strange, since I really haven’t been all that busy, but still on watch 12 hours a day and not able to spend so much time online like I can at home.

I’m back on the Ocean Evolution. I was on here last July for a hitch. It’s a nice boat. Good crew. Good company to work for. I used to work directly for Oceaneering. I spent 5 years on their DSV The Performer overseas. I loved it! I think that has to be my favorite job of all.

If we would’ve stayed overseas, I would never have left. I’d have 18 years here. But, that’s not what happened. They brought the ship back to the GoM (Gulf of Mexico) and it was such a horrible culture shock. I got an offer to go back overseas and jumped on it.

That turned out to be a bad decision. I should’ve known it was too good to be true. It was supposed to be on a drill ship. It would work in Alaska in the summer and Australia in the winter. Perfect! At that point, I never wanted to work on the drillships because I figured they would be so boring, just sitting in one spot for weeks at a time. This one would spend a lot of time underway- great!

Well, it didn’t work out for me. I joined the ship in Singapore. That was pretty cool. I always loved working in Singapore. It’s such an exciting, exotic, fascinating place. I love the energy there. I spent about a month onboard while we all worked hard to get the ship ready to go to work.

I spent most of my time on the bridge, working on correcting charts and publications. Years worth of work that hadn’t been done. Also making voyage plans. Plans that changed every couple of days.

We were supposed to sail from Singapore to Alaska to start work, but we had a lot of issues onboard. Most of the crew that was there when I signed on quit before I did. The rest of them quit with me. Only the captain and second mate were left while they scrambled to acquire new crew for the voyage.

It’s a long, sad story that I probably shouldn’t get into online. It’s not a good idea to air your dirty laundry in public. Especially online, where everybody in the world can see it and it never, ever goes away.

I’m just glad the industry was still going strong at that point and I was able to stay constantly busy with work from the temp agencies. The same ones I’ve been working with the last few years. Sadly, none of them have had nearly enough work since then. I wonder if the shipping industry is ever going to provide a decent chance of employment again?

Between autonomous shipping (theres already a ferry in Norway running around on its own), the STCW that allows shipowners to go to the lowest bidder for crew, and the push to get rid of fossil fuels it doesn’t look good.

Six Long Months

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It’s been almost 6 months since my last job. I’ve been getting desperate (never a good frame of mind- people can sense it). I thought I’d be able to pick up some work when I got back from my last trip. The Christmas holiday is usually the best time of the year to get temp jobs. People always want to spend time with their friends and families, so they’ll ask for time off. 

Well, not this year. Not for the last 4 years before that. I thought before I left for that trip that things were finally improving, but everyone is still too afraid for their jobs to take any chances. Maybe their job won’t be there when they come back, so they stay onboard and temp employees like me are out of luck. 

So, I’ve spent a lot of time online looking for work (again). I’ve already applied everywhere I can think of (except MSC– my absolute last resort). I’ve done this at least a half dozen times, just going down the list of any companies with ships. I’ve called each of them at least a few times, eventually giving up when I can’t get past their computerized answering machine/secretary to talk to someone who knows something. I’ve even gone in person a few times. 

I’ve filled out the same applications over and over (wondering why do they need to know when/where I went to high school and what my grades were from 40 years ago?).

Every time I actually manage to talk to someone, all I get is- “we’re not actually hiring, we’re just collecting resumes”. I don’t know why they post ads. Some even put up billboards that say they’re “hiring all positions”. I wonder why they’re collecting resumes, they must have thousands on file from the last 5 years of this latest downturn in the oilfield. 

It’s been so bad. I’ve been so frustrated that I’ve been seriously thinking about quitting. Just throwing away 40+ years of professional maritime experience (not even counting another few years before I got my first z-card). Just to sit and twiddle my thumbs at home. I’ve been trying to make a few bucks doing things I enjoy- like selling my photography, paintings, writing- but no one seems interested in buying. I haven’t been able to figure out how to get noticed online. I’m competing with millions of others so no one even sees my stuff. 

I absolutely refuse to waste my skills and experience. The idea of spending the rest of my life working at someplace like Walmart or McDonalds gives me the willies, but it seems those are the only kinds of jobs I’m “qualified for” on land. I mean, who needs a ship captain on the beach? 

So, in order to save money I put an ad in the paper for a room mate. I need someone in my house to help pay the bills so I can afford to do something with myself (other than sit at home vegetating). I’d like to go ahead and make the move to Mexico I’ve been trying to do for years. At least there I can afford to live a decent life. I won’t wind up a grumpy old lady dining on cat food with my measly social security check. 

I only had one call so far so nothing to hang around for. I saw a post online for a job fair in Lafayette, LA. They had one company (Pacific Drilling), with one job that I wanted (out of 4 companies scheduled to be there). I had already applied for that job 4 times before, but figured it would be better to talk to someone. I really don’t think anyone ever looks at those online application they all sluff you off with. So I decided to give it one more try and drove up to Lafayette. 

I planned to make the rounds of the bayou boat companies again afterwards, so I brought my sea bag with me- just in case. 

I got lucky! I was planning to leave after my painting class, early Tuesday afternoon. I got a call from one of my agencies about a possible job. Of course I told them I would take it, but was going to continue with my plans to go to the job fair anyway, in case their job offer fell through. 

Turned out, the job did come through. I confirmed it when I was at the job fair. I got there a little late- an hour after they opened up. I was amazed at the crowds of people that showed up. There must’ve been at least 1000 people in the room, just in the hour I was there. Just shows how bad we’re still hurting in the oilfield.

The line for Pacific Drilling, where I wanted to apply, was tripled up across the room and then continued snaking out the door and all the way down the hall. By the time I got to the table to sign in, the stack of resumes was already at least 2 feet high. It was still 3 hours before they shut down the place! 

The recruiter I spoke to sounded positive. I was hopeful I would hear back from her, but I’ve learned that it’s a good idea to keep on talking to people until you actually get on the boat. I continued on with the job hunt all that afternoon in the Lafayette area and then headed towards Morgan City. 

I found out that afternoon, I would have to take another drug test (I just had one in October) before I would be allowed to join the vessel, so decided the best thing to do would be to spend the night in Morgan City, take the drug test 1st thing in the morning, then continue with the job hunt until I had to be at the dock at 1800 for a ride to the ship. 

I joined the vessel about 2000 Thursday. The Ocean Evolution, (I was on it last year). So far, we’ve been sitting at the dock. I was hoping to go straight to work since I really need DP time! The officials have changed that system too, to where your certs expire if you’re not working so many days per year. I’m just thrilled to be getting a paycheck at this point, and at least I’m getting sea time. Every day is precious at this point. I can’t afford to lose my license, or I really will have to retire and no choice about it. 

Thanks to this job, I’ll be OK for at least another 2 months without having to take anymore out of my retirement savings. Only 5 more months and I’ll be 69. It sucks when you start praying to be old, just so you can think you’re one more year closer to (hopefully) not outliving your savings. 

Happy New Year

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Happy New Year everybody! I hope you all had a good time last night celebrating New Years Eve. I just stayed in with a couple of cups of hot chocolate and listened to the neighborhood firecrackers. I tried going outside to watch for a while, but it was overcast and all I could see was a couple of reflections.

What did you do?

So, I did stay up past midnight and I did sleep late this morning, but I woke up without a hangover. 😉

As usual this time of year, I’ve been thinking about the last year and my hopes for the next. This year even more since it’s also the end/start of another decade. I’ve been starting to notice the time creeping up on me more and more and trying to figure out “now what“?

All I can say is I really, really hope this year turns out better than last year (and the previous 3 before that)! I’m still basically unemployed. I’m still trying to find work, but I’ve decided I’m just not willing to work just to “survive”. I have skills. Skills that’ve taken me a lifetime to earn. Valuable skills for the right employer. I’m not going to throw all that away to work bagging groceries.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I’ve decided that after spending 50 years working on the water and spending a fortune in time and money to earn my license it just does not make sense to throw all that away to do something totally unrelated.

People tell me online (Facebook) that “everyone’s hiring” or “there’s plenty of work”. Yes, I agree, they’re right. I see ads all the time for unlimited captain/DPO jobs paying somewhere around $120/day. Wonderful for some of the Ukrainians or Filipinos, but no US captain would take that job. Or yeah, plenty of jobs for deckhands. I can’t afford to work like that!

They can’t understand how I can sit at home, not earning anything, rather than out making $120/day out on a boat working 12+ hours/day (and putting my life and license at risk to boot). Then spending at least a day or two on both ends of the hitch catching up on business at home. Well, here’s the explanation. While I’m home, I can be online looking for a job that actually pays the bills and uses the license I’ve earned. I can be working on my writing or my art that hopefully I can sell somewhere to earn a few bucks.

The only issue is, after 6 months of not having even a whisper of a decent job, I start to get anxious, depressed and completely unmotivated to do anything. So, not getting anything done at home either. I don’t want to go out trying to get a local job. It’s really not my lifelong ambition to work at Walmart. It’s hard trying to put on the act that I really want the job and will stick around (knowing that I’m going to quit as soon as anything offshore comes up).

The few companies hiring offshore already know simply by looking at my resume that I’m not going to stick around. They know anyone with the license I have would jump at the first opportunity to use it. So they don’t bother replying to me either.

I’ve decided to keep on looking for work in my field, but try harder not to stress about it (that is not going to be easy). I still have other things I plan to do this year. I have an art show coming up in our local gallery in July and I have to be there for the reception July 10. I’ve also signed up for another cruise (foodies tour of France), it’s supposed to be in May but I need to move it back to November. And… I’m still trying to make the move to Mexico, so I need to get back down there!

Now, if I can just get a couple of hitches in before July, I’ll be OK. I actually got 3 last year and all 3 were as mate/DPO, so better than the year before when 1 of the 2 was as AB. They keep saying ‘it’ll be better next year’. I really, really hope they’re right this time!

I actually think I’m being forced into retirement (since I want to continue in my field). I had planned to work until now and if I had been able to, I would’ve been able to retire the way I wanted to by now. All my bills would’ve been paid off and I could live nicely off my rentals.

But… now that I haven’t been working, my savings are greatly depleted, and if I don’t keep getting at least that little bit of work every year I won’t be ABLE to keep working after 2021 since I can’t afford to keep paying for the required “training” and my licenses won’t be renewable (lack of sea time), so no matter what, I won’t be working after that unless things improve.

SO, I’m trying to figure out: how in the hell can I make the rest of my savings last me for another 20+ years (hopefully)?

1- move out of the USA! I’m trying hard to get to Mexico.

2- start house sitting. That will allow me to keep traveling (which is just about my favorite thing to do). I’ve been trying to do that already, but seems about impossible when I don’t have any sort of schedule. That is such an issue on so many things. I suppose if/when I just give up on ever trying to get work that problem will go away. 😉

3-? any suggestions?

What are you all doing? Still working? Retired? What are your goals for 2020?

Now What?

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Well, I’m back home again. I’m so grateful that I got to go on that fantastic trip. Cruising to Antarctica has been a dream of mine for decades, and I’ve wanted to see Chile for a while too.

I had hopes that I’d be able to get some work when I got back, but I’ve already been home a week and there is still NOTHING at all going on out there. This time of year is usually the best time for getting work. People want to be home for the holidays. But for 5 years now, everyone has been scared to death to take a vacation. It’s still THAT BAD out there. 🙁

My friends ask me if I’m retired yet? Well, I probably would be if I hadn’t been laid off 4 years ago and not able to find any real work since. Yes, I’ve managed to get 1-2 real jobs every year and lucky to get that. No more than that- when I used to work 8 hitches or more. I’ve beat the bushes and scrambled to make a few bucks doing other things like teaching, selling some art, garage sales, etc.

So far, I’ve been able to survive. I’ve even been able to do a bit of traveling over the last couple of years. Not nearly as much as if I’d have been working, but enough to keep my sanity.

Now I’m home and after spending all week looking for work again I’m at the point of being extremely frustrated- also bored and depressed. I have a million things I could be doing: cleaning the house, pulling weeds, cutting down the damn mimosa trees that never stop coming back.

I could be figuring out how to publish the book I’ve been working on. I could be finishing the pastel drawing I started. I could be uploading more of my photos to the stock agencies. I could be pitching stories.

I could be doing all those useful and productive things, but I don’t feel like it. Instead, I spend my time on the computer (not doing anything useful). Why?

I should change my attitude- my outlook on life- but HOW? I’ve never been able to figure that out. How do you change your most basic thought processes?

Weather Delay

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I was supposed to fly out of Houston yesterday afternoon. A friend drove me up to the airport so I didn’t have to leave my car at the parking lot for 30+ days. I was waiting at the gate for my flight to depart when I noticed they had posted it was delayed.

It was now due to depart about 3 hours late. I was told weather in Miami had delayed all the flights. If I had waited around for that flight, I would’ve missed my connection in Miami by about 2 hours!

The company travel lady set me up with a hotel for the night near the airport and new flights for today. I made it out of Houston this morning. I’m in New York now, waiting for my connection to Madrid.

It’s ‘only’ a 7 1/4 hour flight. The one I was supposed to take was almost 10 hours! I’ll get to Madrid about 9:30 in the morning and then on to Las Palmas. I should get there around 3 pm. I just hope my luggage also makes it (they refused to send it all the way through- I’ll have to pick it up in Madrid and go through the whole rigamarole with check in, security, etc all over again).

I don’t know how much I’ll be able to post once I get to the ship, so if you don’t hear from me for a while, that’s why. I hope internet is better than the last ship, but it’s always a toss up these days.

Home and Gone

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Sorry I haven’t been able to post for a while. I was actually at work (SO thankful to have gotten that last minute gig). The boat was pretty sweet. It was “brand new”. Christening was only a couple of weeks before I joined. This was her first job.

A friend took this photo with his drone. This is Oceaneering’s new MSV Ocean Evolution

So we had a few things to learn (one of which was extremely limited internet access while offshore, out of telephone range).

We were offshore for about 2 weeks. Did a quick job for one of the oil majors. The actual thing we were there to do (pumping some chemicals down the well) only took a few hours. The preparations took a few days. We had to put all kinds of equipment onboard, secure it properly (welded down), test it, etc. The voyage to the work site took 48 hours (with a test for the ROVs on the way) and 36 hours to get back to Port Fourchon.

We were supposed to crew change July 3, I was looking forward to seeing the fireworks and party with friends on the 4th. But we didn’t get in til early morning on the 5th. I got home late that afternoon and so tired I was falling asleep at the wheel on the way home from the airport.

I woke up Saturday, had my morning cup of tea, sorted through the huge pile of mail and took a look for anything important in my email, turned on my phone (it doesn’t work offshore, so I just turn it off). I got some bad, sad news from a friend.

My best and oldest friend had passed away while I was gone. She had basically adopted me when I first moved to Texas, barely 17 and all alone. We had a hell of a lot of good times over all those years. I spent the day Sunday with her/my family. I’m glad I was able to be home for that.

Now I’m on the way back to work. I left yesterday. I’m glad it’ll keep me from dwelling on all that. I’ll be busy and distracted for at least a month.

Celebrate!

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I’m so happy! I finally got a call to go to work! Yeah!

I was thinking a lot about my situation. I have only had 5 weeks of work since the end of October. I had planned to go to the Rigzone job fair in Houston today and meet a friend for lunch afterwards. I had to blow off that and everything else and just get ready to go to work. Pack, clean out the fridge, get rid of garbage, drop off library books, get all the bills in the mail, make important phone calls, etc. This job is only for 2 weeks, but thank goodness, it should pay my bills next month.

I heard from a friend late last week that they needed a relief on his boat, so I called about it yesterday. They called me this afternoon and asked if I was available. Hell yes! I’ve been available for months!

I can’t get this song out of my head now. 🙂

Share Your World- May 2019

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I haven’t been keeping up with blogging as much as I’d like lately. Part of the reason is I got some work last week and had very little internet access. The other reason is that it takes so much time to do a post justice (especially since they came out with the new WordPress style) and I just haven’t been able to get motivated.

I’ve been home for a few days now. My last job was cut from 3 weeks down to just one week. I’ve been able to rest up and now have the time to check into the blogging world again. First up in my reader was this post from Melanie and her sparksfromacombustiblemind blog.

Is it better to suspect something (bad or hurtful) and not know or to have your worst fears confirmed by sure knowledge? I would rather know for sure. I figure that way I can at least try to do something about the situation. Then again, there are so many things I just can’t do anything about. All the things going on in this country (and the world) make me sick! If I think about it, it makes me miserable. Sad, frustrated, angry, depressed, mean and just miserable. Sometimes I think it would be better to live in ignorance. I’m sure I would be much happier to not know all the things I do know. 🙁

What makes you laugh aloud? Crack up? Laugh until your sides split? When was the last time you had a great big belly laugh? Watching a funny movie, like something from the 3 Stooges or the Marx Brothers or Mel Brooks.

Here’s a screen shot of what gave me the last big belly laugh…

“Boat hack #117 – Form two Little Debbie brownies into a shit shape. Wipe toilet paper across it so the crime scene looks legit. Strategically place in head and sit back and watch your crew blame each other and argue over who cleans it up. Film and post if possible”

I saw that yesterday in a Facebook page I follow- Offshore Supply Boats & Crew Boats. Maybe you have to have some experience working offshore in the Gulf of Mexico to get it, but I cracked up laughing.

Maybe I’m just weird, and still have a juvenile sense of humor, but I really enjoy a good shit-fart-sex joke. The more disgusting, the better. 😉

Do you suppose Noah had woodpeckers in the ark? If he did, where did he keep them? Apologies to the Darwinians in the crowd…this is merely for fun, okay? Great question! I am a “Darwinist”, but have thought about stuff like this many times. One of the reasons I’m a “Darwinist” and not a follower of the Bible. If that story is true, he must’ve had some woodpeckers in there- all kinds of woodpeckers. Some of those guys can really do a lot of damage. I imagine they would’ve put a real hurtin’ on that old ark by the time the floods settled down. Maybe Noah fashioned a special metal lined cabin for them all?

Why is “Charlie” short for “Charles when they are the same number of letters? Another good question! Why is Billie short for Bill (or William)?

What happened in your world this past week that made you feel thankful, joyful or grateful? I am so thankful I got even that short week’s worth of work! It gives me at least a couple of weeks breathing time before I start really worrying about paying the bills again!

Why I Haven’t Been Blogging

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In accordance with the idea of ‘if you don’t have anything good to say, don’t say it’, I haven’t been saying anything here. I’ve been sharing a few interesting posts on Facebook and Twitter, but that’s about it.

I’ve been at home since I got back from the DS-6 March 19. I’ve been home almost 6 weeks already. I accepted a job right after I got home that was supposed to start Apr 4 ending Apr 25. The start date got changed to Apr 11, then to Apr 16, then cancelled altogether. It looks like the promised upturn in the industry is still a long ways off. 🙁

Because I had accepted that job (and was on call to go offshore from the time I said OK), I turned down 2 other ones that would’ve conflicted with it.

I’m supposed to go out now starting May 8 and just hope to hell they don’t do the same thing again! I’ve already turned down 2 very good (better) jobs because of it.

With all the uncertainty (and major stress) I haven’t been doing much of interest: cleaning house, laundry, pulling weeds, working on taxes, doctor appointment, dentist appointment, look for work (including 2 job fairs), traffic court (fighting parking ticket I got while unloading my paintings at the art gallery- I lost), etc. So, nothing worth blogging about. 🙁

Still Sticking Around

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my ship is the one on the left in this photo

It looks like I’ll be able to stay here a little longer. Yeah! I need all the work I can get after the last 3 years of having so little of it. It’s been rough, tho I managed to survive. Many of my friends have not. People who’ve been working in the maritime industry for decades and who’ve worked their way up to the highest levels have lost their licenses and so their livelihoods. It’s such a waste!


Same as the ships they’ve been scrapping lately (and for the last few decades). There’s really nothing at all wrong with them. In the case of the tankers, the IMO ruled that they must be double hulled. Perfecly good ships, thrown out like yesterdays’ garbage. Driven up on the beach in Alang to be torn apart by miserably low paid peons who have no better options and are happy to have the work.


Lately, they’ve started scrapping the semisubmersibles and drillships. Yes, some of them are (a little bit) outdated- but still perfectly capable of doing the job they were designed for. Even some of the latest 6th generation drillships, barely out of the yard are being scrapped. We’re talking multiple hundreds of millions of dollars for each vessel- wasted!


I’m docked here in Las Palmas looking over at least 11 of them right now. I’m pretty sure there are at least that many parked over on Tenerife. I know there are more in Trinidad, and sitting in the Graveyard off Southwest Pass.


How many billions of dollars are going to be wasted before this downturn is over and we can go back to work? How many thousands of highly skilled people will be kicked to the curb with no other job prospects but a possible managers’ job at McDonalds?


I consider myself one of the lucky ones. I’ve been through these downturns before, so I knew what was coming. I survived the early ‘80’s, the early 2000’s. I even managed to work through the Macondo moratorium. I saved everything I could. I constantly put as much as I could into my savings account. I bought rental property and spent any spare time and money fixing them up so I could get them rented out and paying for themselves ASAP.


Thank goodness I did do that. Those rental properties have been my saving grace. The rents have been practically my only income for the last 3 ½ years. I’ve managed to find a boat job every few months which allowed me to stock up my savings a little bit and take the edge off, but not nearly enough work to keep from sucking up my savings and stressing me out.


I put my best (and most expensive) property up for sale when it became clear I wasn’t going to get any kind of regular work for a while. It still hasn’t sold. I still can’t afford it.


Still, I’m one of the lucky ones. I had enough DP time to renew my DP certificate. I had enough sea time to renew my US Coast Guard license. I had enough money in the bank to (re) take the required classes we have to take in order to go to work. I know so many people who were not able to do those things. They’re not going to be able to go back to work even when things do eventually pick up.


It’s hard to go from a lifestyle of earning over $100,000/year for only 6 months of work. I went from close to double that as a SDPO (senior dynamic positioning operator) to only earning $3000/month MAX from my rentals. I usually had expenses to pay out of the rents, so my take was less than $1000/month. Sometimes I didn’t have anything left and had to live off my savings. It was hard, really hard, to adjust…

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On My Way to Munich

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I’m feeling much better today, even tho I’m pretty darn tired. I FINALLY got called for a job that didn’t get cancelled. I only got the call on Thursday and didn’t know for sure until late Friday and didn’t get my flight information (so I would really know for sure) til yesterday.

I’ve been keeping myself fairly ready to leave since I got back from my trip around the world. I left right at the beginning of November and got home right before Christmas. I was supposed to go to work January 3. I’ve basically been on call since then. I’ve had about a dozen calls to go to work since that first job got cancelled, but none of those jobs actually happened.

I still had a few things to take care of before leaving. Laundry, cleaning out the fridge so I won’t have to come home to a fridge full of rotten food, paying any bills that might come due before I’m due back home, calling my property manager to clear up any issues that might come up while I’m gone, arranging a ride to the airport, get my ‘smart phone’ working again for the trip, and finish up packing.

I left home yesterday around noon. Got to the airport and for some reason they wouldn’t check my baggage all the way through to my destination. My flight was delayed for about an hour, but thank goodness I have a club pass and could spend my time chilling out there. It was about a 10 hour flight to Munich and of course I really couldn’t get any sleep.

So here I am now in the Munich airport, waiting for my flight to Las Palmas in the Canary Islands. Thank goodness I have a long layover! I had to get my passport stamped into Germany so I could collect my luggage, then run across the street to another terminal and go through security again. I thought we were ridiculous with our security theater in the US, but Germany takes it to an even more absurd level!

I’m so glad I was able to get the TSA pre-check in the states, but as far as I know they don’t have any kind of international program like that. I really wish they did! I didn’t have to take my shoes off (I’ve still got my flip-flops on), but I had to take out EVERYTHING from my pockets including cash (which I HATE to do since it’s so easy for someone to walk by there and steal it all), credit cards, passport, etc. Remove not only computer, but ALL electronics from my bag. Thats Kindle, cameras, phones, iPod, etc. What a bunch of insanity!

Apparently the world is overrun with suckers that are completely willing to trade their freedom for ‘security’. It’s as true now as it was when Benjamin Franklin said it over 200 years ago.

You CAN’T make that trade! You give up your freedom for NOTHING but an ILLUSION! It infuriates me that we ALL have to put up with this violation of our rights all because the majority of the people on this planet are so gullible.

While I wait for my flight to Las Palmas, I have a little bit of time to blog. I can’t connect to the wi-fi here. I don’t know why. There’s supposedly free wi-fi here in the airport. I should arrive at 1830 and someone should be waiting to bring me to the ship.

I’m going out as Chief Mate this time. I did sign on this time as Chief Mate, not like the time I signed on to the Sevan Louisiana as Second Mate and they made me Chief Mate anyway and then refused to pay me for it! I’m a little nervous since I haven’t sailed Chief Mate for quite a while snd never really on anything so complicated. I’m hoping everything will go well and I’m looking forward to a great learning experience. It would really build my confidence to get through this trip without any major issues.

I’m not sure how much time I’ll have to get online once I get to the ship. As Chief Mate I expect to be a lot more busy than I usually am as DPO. Will be spending more time on deck instead of stuck on the bridge for 12 hours a day. I guess I’ll just have to wait and see how it goes.

Wish me luck! 🙂

PS- I finally got the wi-fi to connect. 🙂

This Is Where I Work

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When I work.

This is the kind of ship I’ve been working on most recently. This video was taken on the DS-4. I used to work on the DS-3 and DS-5 and a couple of other sister ships. Sisters, meaning they’re all built to the same basic plan.

These drill ships are technological wonders. They’re very capable and fairly comfortable ships to work on. I would go back in a NY second! I keep hoping the price of oil will go back up. There will be no work for me or anybody else out there until it does. According to reports, there are around a half million people out of work due to the low price of oil.

I read the news every day to see the price of a barrel and how many rigs are working. So far, the price has recovered from around $26/bbl to around $50/bbl (just dropped back down to $47 last few days). The ON SHORE drillers have been taking advantage of the situation and are drilling like crazy!

They have already returned a couple hundred rigs to work. Every time they do, they put downward pressure on the price of a barrel of oil. That only delays offshore drilling from starting up again.

At this point, I’m wondering if we’ll EVER be able to go back to work. it is not cheap to drill for oil offshore. They’re not going to do it at a price of only $50/bbl. The companies that work offshore can’t work without making a profit. That means oil must be over $60/bbl and it has to stabilize there before any of us see steady work again. (IMHO).

I know, most people are happy to get cheap gas, I would be too if I was actually getting it as cheap as it should be with price/bbl so low. And if so many people weren’t out of work because of it.

If I could find some other type of work that was in any way comparable, I would be doing it. There’s nothing like offshore. There’s nothing I’d rather do than be a mariner. I’ll just keep hoping things get better before I’m forced out for good.

Lost Out

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…on work today (again). I was scheduled to work, but since we finished the training early yesterday, they called it off. So, I’ll have a grand total of 2 days of work for June. 🙁

I counted it up last night. I’ll have a total of 16 days of paid work since the 1st of January this year. 🙁

I’ve put off applying to local jobs since I’ve been spending so much time trying to find something in my field. A ‘real’ job. Job-hunting IS a full time job! Also been trying to find ways to earn money from my writing and photography (and this blog). Check out my photography for sale at Society6- or if you see any you like here on my blog, just send me a message. All my photos are for sale. Here are a few examples…

close-up of daylily adds interesting texture

Yesterday I started filling out applications for local convenience stores (they do pay more than minimum wage).

It’s sucks, that someone with 2 college degrees (AAS in Ocean Marine Technology and BA in Mathematics) and over 20 years of experience can’t find  anything but entry level employment. 🙁

Sucks even worse that the only jobs I’ve seen for offshore are offering $60/day for CHIEF MATES! Now that, that is disgusting! Even worse, some are offering ‘jobs‘ for ‘trainee DPOs’ where the prospective DPO has to pay a few thousand dollars per month for the ‘privilege’ of spending time offshore!

This is for people who have college degrees and enough experience to earn a license! This is NOT any kind of entry level position. But these yahoos, these despicable people who run these predatory companies can get away with treating people like shit because of the situation offshore right now- the low price of oil and all the layoffs because of it. They take advantage of our desperation and fear of losing our ability to EVER return to the work we love (because of new licensing regulations) and they laugh all the way to the bank!

I have a pre employment test scheduled for Friday afternoon for a local tutoring job. At this point, I have to hope I get it. I don’t know if I can survive on only 2 days of paid work/month. I have to find something else to do. 🙁

Maybe something like that will help pay the bills and if I only get part time I can still work in Houston and have enough time to keep hunting a ‘real’ job.

Oil prices are going up, but still a LONG way from getting back to work offshore again. This is really hurting a lot of people all over the country (and the world). All I can do is hope, I’m doing all I can.

This is Messed Up!

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Here I was this morning, feeling good and all ready to go home. I even managed to get an upgrade to business class for the 10+ hour flight from Amsterdam. It was expensive but I thought it was worth it for a 10+ hour long flight. I just HOPE they’ll give me a refund! Continue reading →

8 Weeks!

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It’s crew change tomorrow! I will finally be able to leave this ship and head home (that’s if there is no problem with the helicopter).

I left home on May 27th (after spending 2+ days on call). I will have spent over 8 weeks away from home this time. All ‘in the service of the ship’, so technically work time, even tho this company won’t figure it that way.

I’m tired of the way things are going out here, but that would take a whole ‘nother post to go into…. It’ll be so good to get off!

Half And Half No. 2

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The challenge from the Daily Post was Half and Half. I didn’t know what to post for that subject. I took a look at a few of the other entries and saw a lot of sunsets. That is usually one thing we get a lot of out here! Half sky- half water. 🙂

Sad to say, offshore Angola is sadly lacking in this area. I don’t know why, but it’s almost always grey, gloomy and overcast skies. It’s very rare to see a nice sunset here. It’s kindof depressing. Day after day seeing nothing but grey skies. I’ve been here almost 8 weeks now this hitch and so far, I’ve seen the sun only 2-3 times. 🙁

Morning Drills

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We had morning drills (fire & abandon ship) today and the computer has been waaaayyy toooo sloooow all day. I’m too tired to post anything interesting.

More coming tomorrow! 😉

Make the Ultimate Apple Pie

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Everything You Need to Know to Make the Ultimate Apple Pie | Epicurious.com.

I’m out here on the ship and REALLY starting to miss my sweets!

They try, but somehow they just don’t ever seem to get it right. I’ve very rarely been aboard a ship without great cooks. Most companies understand that a good, hot meal is the only thing the crew has to look forward to during the day and it helps morale enormously to have good food to eat.

I’ve been on this ship a few times now and I have to give them credit. They have improved a lot since I was first here. I just wish they would get the snacks and sweets down!

They have a BBQ on Saturdays here, and they make a very nice apple crumble. I had it yesterday. It was really good. The only problem with it was the “crumble”. It didn’t. I know a couple of easy recipes to fix that part. Or maybe this lesson on apple pies in the link above at Epicurious.com would help?

Time Off?

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I’m still on the rig. Everyone I came out with has already gone home. The hitch here is 4 weeks on, 4 weeks off. I’m still in the pool so I don’t really have a relief, but the guy who was supposed to be coming back to relieve me just ‘resigned’. He just had enough of all the BS we have to deal with out here. I can’t blame him at all. I’m just about in the same frame of mind at this point.

People are a little surprised I’m not upset about staying out here longer. I am upset about a lot of other things going on around here, but staying over isn’t too high on the list right now. Actually, this works out well for me. I’ve been trying to get time off to take a trip down to Costa Rica for another writing/blogging/photography course. I’ve been asking for months and never getting any reply. This is the same course I signed up for last year and had to cancel when they messed up my schedule last year.

When I signed up for it this year, it was in the middle of my scheduled time off. They changed around my schedule a couple of times and all the sudden it was in the middle of my time on! So, now if I work over a couple of weeks, it will be back in the middle of my time off again.

It sucks to have to struggle so hard to get the time off I need to do anything. I can’t plan for anything. I ‘d really like to start booking flights, hotel rooms, etc but I can’t since I still don’t know when I’m getting off here.

I’m hoping to spend at least 3 weeks down there. Costa Rica, maybe rent a car and check out some of the other countries nearby? Anybody have any suggestions?

Too Busy

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I’ve been pretty busy out here the last few days. Too busy to spend much time online, so haven’t been able to post.

I was busy with work.The big project was to move the rig. We finished up one well and moved the rig over to start another one. You wouldn’t believe the amount of paperwork we have to complete in order to move this ship a couple of miles!

Checklists, checklists and more checklists! It really gets crazy.

Once we get the paperwork done so we can depart, we immediately start on the paperwork so we can arrive. We didn’t actually finish the arrival paperwork until halfway through the next day.

I still haven’t caught up with everything and probably won’t any time soon. We’re only drilling a ‘tophole’ at this location. A tophole is where the drillers just start the process of drilling a well, they won’t try to drill all the way down to the oil, they only drill down a short distance. They ‘spud in’.

I still don’t know much about what they do on the drilling side here, but here’s a simple explanation of what I think is going on. They basically just stab a big pipe (casing) down into the mud, jet it down to a certain depth, run some more pipe down inside that and then cement it up. They’ll set a well head on it that sticks up from the sea floor a few meters when they’re finished. Then somebody can come back later, stick a BOP (blow out preventer) on the well head, drill through all the cement, and actually drill down through the rocks to the target reservoir (and hopefully find some oil).

We’ll be going through the whole process again in just a couple more days when we’re due to move on to the next one. Oh joy. 🙁

OTC 2015

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I haven’t really done much since I got home. I just can’t seem to get over the feeling of being so tired. I’ve been super lazy, but I did get out to go to the OTC in Houston on Tuesday.

I wanted to see all the neat new stuff they always have there. It’s a really great place to learn about what’s happening in the oilfield and get a feel for what the work situation will be like over the next year or so. I wasn’t able to go last year when it broke all records, but considering the price of oil and the feelings of most oilfield workers I’ve heard from, it did pretty good this year.

One thing they changed this year and I definitely did NOT like, was that they banned all photography. I really have no idea why they would do that and for someone that likes taking pictures as much as I do, it really SUCKS. Here’s a picture of the outside of the NRG center which is where the OTC is held in Houston every year.

I went to a lunch presentation about DP (Marine Technology for Dynamic Positioning). It seemed to be mostly promoting the German companies involved in the marine industries (MAN, Schottel, L-3) and wasn’t at all what I was expecting. I did meet some interesting tablemates: a couple of guys from Malaysia, a couple more from Turkey and an engineer from Paragon Drilling (which recently split off from Noble).

I wandered around for a few hours checking out all the displays. I was especially interested in the ones with new vessels coming out. I liked the ones from Ceona, McDermott, Boa and Subsea 7. I talked to a few people at the booths about future hiring possibilities. Sad to say (tho not unexpected in this market), most were not looking for any new crew.

I did meet a recruiter from Swift. They had a booth outside and were the only ones I met who were very actively looking for people to sign on. I was happy to talk over job prospects in their air conditioned tent over a beer. My feet were starting to ache after 4-5 hours of walking around!

All in all an interesting day, but if I’m home again next year I’ll go on Thursday when it’s FREE!

Chillin’

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I got home from offshore the other day and I’m still trying to get back in sync with things around here. I’m still pretty far off the sleep schedule, but slowly getting back to normal.

Last night I stayed up late watching TV. I watched Saturday Night Live, then stayed up for the Texas Music Scene and the Conspiracy Show. Yeah, I love all that stuff!

  • Humor- not politically correct.
  • Music- that never gets played on the radio, (or maybe only on KPFT).
  • Conspiracy theories- too many questions for the ‘official story’ to be accepted as told (no, I don’t believe all that stuff, I just think the questions they bring up are VERY interesting and deserve a wider audience).

Those are 3 of my favorite shows! Too bad they’re on so late at night. Then again, if they were on in the daytime, I’d never be around to watch them.

During the day yesterday, I cooked up some banana nut muffins and a big pot of 15 bean soup with the hambone I had left from last time home (I cut up the ham and froze most of it for later). I worked through a bunch of paperwork: mail, bills, etc. I got online and made a few blog posts. I did some Facebooking. I took a walk and checked out how my plants were doing (lots of tiny lemons, raspberries barely growing, grapes on 1 vine!).

So today was just a lazy Sunday. I slept late, got up around noon. I made it out to the store to pick up a few things (strawberries on sale). I read the Sunday papers. I registered for the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) and the KP Happy Hour.

The conference starts tomorrow and goes on all week but I’ll probably only go on Tuesday. It’s a HUGE big deal here in Houston every year. You can find out all about everything to do with oil drilling. I think it’s pretty interesting and try to go if I’m in town. Good thing I live nearby tho, since almost every hotel room in Houston was already booked up yesterday.

I guess tomorrow I’ll keep on with the paperwork and maaaybe even get started on the taxes! I got my property tax appraisals in the mail and oh boy did it get me going! They doubled the price on most everything! That’s a post for another day.

I’m trying to stay mellow!

Share Your World- Week 17

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I’ve got a couple of hours layover in Paris and access to the Air France lounge, so I decided to answer Cee’s Share Your World Challenge for Week 17, 2015. She always has interesting questions and I enjoy reading her answers and the answers that other bloggers come up with.

So, I’ll add my 2 cents and hope it will entertain some of you as well. 😉

 What is your most favorite smell/scent? I’ve never really thought about it. Some I really like are: the scent of fresh snow on the air when it’s crisp and clear outside (we don’t get that much here in South Texas!), the fresh and salty sea breeze far out to sea, the smell of cinnamon rolls baking in the oven, I love to smell all of those things, they usually mean good things are coming my way! 🙂

Do you prefer long hair or short hair for yourself? Short! I used to have long hair when I was younger, but the last time I grew it long was when I went back to school a few years ago. I let it grow all the way down to my butt. It was beautiful (I’m a natural redhead). As soon as I went back to work, I found out that it was a mistake to have long hair. It was SO hard to keep it neat. It would constantly get in my face. I HATE it when my hair gets in my eyes! I’d have so much trouble with snarls. As soon as I got off that hitch I had it all whacked off. I’ve kept it pretty much shoulder length since then.

Do you plan out things usually or do you do them more spontaneous (for example if you are visiting a big city you don’t know?) I guess I’m kind of in between on this one. If I’m traveling to someplace new, I like to  look through the guidebooks and the internet to get a good idea of what there is to see and do in a place. Then, I’ll make a (long) list in my head of all the things I REALLY want to see or do, along with all the things I find interesting and would check out if I have the time. I almost never stick to the plan when I arrive!

I do like to find a place to stay for the first night or two. I’ll go online and book a place, usually somewhere very easy to get to from the airport. I like to have a little time to get over the jet lag and find my bearings in a new place.

When I get out and start exploring, I find so many other things that I never found out about in my ‘research’. I meet people and they’ll tell me about all sorts of cool things: great local restaurants and bars, small museums, local hangouts, etc.

What is your favorite outdoor activity? My favorite thing to do is traveling, but not sure that counts as a strictly outdoor activity. After all, it includes a lot of eating, drinking, shopping, exploring museums and other tourist attractions, etc so I don’t want to count is as an ‘outdoor’ activity/

Hard to decide between hiking, sailing and SCUBA diving! I love hiking around and exploring beautiful country, but I’m fairly lazy and like to be comfortable. I don’t like carrying around anything more than a small fanny pack. I love to SCUBA dive, but it’s so hard for me to do now a days. I have to rent the gear and spend a few hours (minimum) going somewhere decent to dive. So, sailing beats out the other 2!

I joined a local meetup group called Sail La Vie a couple of years ago. Since I joined, I’m able to go sailing just about any weekend I want. I don’t need to have a boat or pay for any of the associated expenses. They go sailing out of Kemah, which is still a little over an hour away and it would be better if it was closer, but a couple of hours wasted on the road is a small price to pay for a nice long sail out on the bay!

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up? I’m grateful that I was finally able to get off that ship (I worked an extra week!). I’m looking forward to some down time at home. I’m really looking forward for just a chance to spend some quiet time at home. Time to spend catching up with friends and projects around the house.

I have lots of projects to catch up on, things like finishing up my taxes (I got an extension), working on the garden (whacking down some of the overgrown weeds taking over my yard), working on my photography, going to another painting class or two, etc. I might even get around to cleaning the house! 😉

I’m really looking forward to getting home and some sleep! 🙂

On the Way Soon

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I should be getting off the ship sometime this morning and then flying out tonight. It’s a long flight from Congo to Houston. I’ll have a layover in Paris (not long enough to leave the airport). I should be home by Wednesday evening.

I’m so ready! Four weeks out here is long enough. Five is too long!

I’ll be taking the crew boat in. One of the “Surfer” boats. I’m just hoping I don’t drop my luggage or fall in the drink myself when it comes alongside. It’s been a long time since I’ve had to transfer by boat. Been spoiled by the helicopters for too long. 🙂

Cheesecake

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PHILADELPHIA Classic Cheesecake Recipe – Kraft Recipes.

I don’t know about you, but I LOVE cheesecake! I have a cookbook at home with recipes for about 100 different kinds and I could eat it every day. 🙂

I haven’t been too impressed with the cooking over here offshore Africa. I thought at first it was because it must be really hard to get good ingredients. I’ve heard since that other rigs do manage somehow to have the usual excellent food we’re used to working out here, so now I’m not sure what to think.

Our cooks here have been making a dessert lately. It is like cheesecake in a pan. It doesn’t have a crust, which IMHO is no great loss. Probably saves some calories even. It doesn’t look anywhere near as impressive as the picture at the top of the post, but it does taste just like a classic cheesecake. 🙂

Hectic!

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Yesterday, I’ve been here for 28 days. That doesn’t count the 2 days travel time and the day we spent in Mauritius in a safety meeting (ALL day).

It’s been non-stop since I got off the plane. I thought it might slow down when we finished our acceptance trials (we had to show the client that we could do everything we said we could- test all equipment, etc). The auditor left a couple of days ago. But now we are preparing to go to work and things are still moving a mile a minute.

A new ship is nice, but there are always bugs to work out and lots of extra stress getting everything working the way it should. I hope things will get closer to normal in the next couple of days.

Most of the crew I came with left the ship to go home yesterday. I sure wish I went with them!!!

Tarawa Sunrise

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Here’s a sunrise for the Daily Posts Weekly Photography Challenge. This week, the challenge is to show a photo “taken in the early morning light”. Be an “early bird“.

I’m most definitely NOT an early bird! Last time I can remember really enjoying early morning was as a kid getting up for Saturday morning cartoons. 🙂

I was always a night owl. I used to stay up ’til 2-3 in the morning. I used to go out partying a lot. Or, I might stay at home reading a good book. Sometimes I just couldn’t put it down ’til I finished.

I’ve cut back a lot on keeping those kinds of hours now a days. Mostly because I have too much to do now. Things that have to be taken care of during normal business hours (9-5). Now I try to get to sleep by midnight (and it really isn’t too hard to do anymore). 😉

I only see the sunrise when I’m working the midnight to noon watch like I am now. I haven’t seen many good sunrises (or sunsets) this trip yet. Since we made arrival off Congo, it has been overcast. It clouded up a few days before we got here and hasn’t cleared up yet.

I took this photo while I was working on the tuna boat a couple of years ago. We were coming into the lagoon at Tarawa. The sunrise was just stunning. I had to run and get my camera.

This is one of my all time favorite ‘sun’ pictures. I keep one of my others as my header.

Weekly Photo Challenge: My Home- Afloat

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Here’s my entry for the Daily Posts Weekly Photo Challenge: Afloat. I have LOTs of good pictures for this one. I’ve spent most of my life at sea. I’ve already posted a few photos, here are some of my latest ‘home’ afloat.

These photos are from my latest ship, the Ocean Rig Apollo. I’m actually aboard right now. We’re delivering the ship from the shipyard in Korea to it’s first job offshore Congo. I joined the ship with the rest of the crew onboard right now in Mauritius about 3 weeks ago.

These are some pictures from our voyage. The first one is our departure from Port Louis, Mauritius, the ‘cliffs’ are the coastline of South Africa, after we passed Cape Town (I was asleep for that so missed getting any pictures from there).