Category Archives: travel

Cancelled: Gwangalli Eoban 2014

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I went out the other day to go to the Gwangalli Eoban Festival. Yes, I was taking chances. There have been a lot of event cancellations around Korea this year because of the ferry disaster.

The internet said this festival was cancelled, but I figured I would go and see myself since I had heard that the Lotus Lantern Festival was cancelled too, but I went to the park where it was supposed to be held it was still going on.

The Eobang Festival is another fishermans festival, like the Gijang Anchovy Festival I tried to go to the other day (which was also cancelled). It sounded really interesting and I was really looking forward to it. Especially after seeing Andreas’ post in her blog about last years.

So, who knows? I tried it. I got there and – no festival! Oh well. It was a pretty decent day. A little overcast, but that was good for me since I get sunburned really easily. The beach was nice.

There were a lot of local people out enjoying the beach but it wasn’t too crowded. People were out flying kites and walking their dogs. I saw a couple of fishermen. A vollyball game was going on and looked like fun. Lots of picnics were sprinkled around the sand.

People were skateboarding and bikeriding along the promenade. The other side was lined with bars, restaurants and coffee shops. I stopped and had some coffee and watched the scene for a while.

Here are a few photos so you can get the idea. 🙂

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Cancelled: Gijang Anchovy Festival

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I tried my luck with the Gijang Anchovy Festival but it was cancelled due to the ferry disaster. 🙁

I couldn’t really tell that anything was different in this place tho. There were tons of people out shopping for anchovys (and all kind of other seafood).

There was no festival going on, but other than that, everything seemed normal.

People were shopping for seafood, haggling over prices. Eating BBQ squid and anchovys. Fishing off the seawall. Checking out the restaurants.

Check it out…

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Songs of the Sea: The Downeaster ‘Alexa’- Billy Joel

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I’ve been in Korea for the last week or so. Seems I still can’t get away from the ocean. 😉

I’ve spent a lot of time going to the local markets. They have a LOT of seafood in their markets here!

Yesterday I went to Gijang. They were supposed to be having a festival yesterday. The Gijang Anchovy Festival. It said on the internet that it was cancelled. I went anyway since it also said the Lotus Lantern Festival was cancelled and it was still on. 🙂

I figured it would be an interesting day out anyway. Yes, the festival was actually cancelled. Yes, it was still an interesting trip. 🙂

I took the metro up to Haeundae Station and then the local bus (181) from there to the harbor where the festival was supposed to be. The town was obviously set up as a place for people to come and buy and eat fish, (more kinds than just anchovys), but I saw no signs of any kind of festival. I guess it really was cancelled (due to the ferry accident).

I wandered around for a while and took a bunch of pictures. I’ll have to take a look at them later and will put some in a later post. I’m trying to stick to my goals for the Blogging 201 Challenge, one of which was to get back on track with my “editorial calendar”.

So I am posting today another Song of the Sea. All that wandering around the fish market and the fishing boats made me think of this song by Billy Joel. It’s about the fishermen in the USA (NE Coast), but fishermen around the world are all the same. 🙂

It’s always hard work and the pay is never enough, but of course it’s still totally worth it!

I hope you like the song as much as I do. Enjoy. 🙂

 

The Downeaster ‘Alexa’

Well I’m on the Downeaster Alexa
And I’m cruising through Block Island Sound
I have charted a course to the Vineyard
But tonight I am Nantucket bound

We took on diesel back in Montauk yesterday
And left this morning from the bell in Gardiner’s Bay
Like all the locals here I’ve had to sell my home
Too proud to leave I’ve worked my fingers to the bone

So I could own my Downeaster Alexa
And I go where the ocean is deep
There are giants out there in the canyons
And a good captain can’t fall asleep

I’ve got bills to pay and children who need clothes
I know there’s fish out there but where God only knows
They say these waters aren’t what they used to be
But I’ve got people back on land who count on me

So if you see my Downeaster Alexa
And if you work with the rod and the reel
Tell my wife I am trawling Atlantis
And I still have my hands on the wheel

Yeah yo [x4]

Now I drive my Downeaster Alexa
More and more miles from shore every year
Since they tell me I can’t sell no stripers
And there’s no luck in swordfishing here

I was a bayman like my father was before
Can’t make a living as a bayman anymore
There ain’t much future for a man who works the sea
But there ain’t no island left for islanders like me

Yea yea yea oh [x4]

 

Incheon Quickie

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This is the first day here that I’ve been able to use my own computer. So it’s the first time I’ve been able to do a lot of things online.

I’ve been wandering all over and taking tons of pictures, so I thought I’d do a preview of some of the things I’ve seen so far. I haven’t had time yet to edit my photos, so all of these are straight from the camera. Enjoy. 😉

Korean Chinatown

Korean Chinatown

This was the beginning of my first day out in Incheon. I wanted to see Chinatown. I heard it was the only one in Korea. It was very quiet through the afternoon. I left before seeing if it got any busier at night.

Wolmi Island

Wolmi Island

This was one of the ones I took at Wolmi Island. It’s kind of a playground for kids and adults. There’s an amusement park, a couple of museums, a maritime school, tons of seafood restaurants, bars, coffee shops, etc.

Sunset at Wolmi Island, Incheon

Sunset at Wolmi Island, Incheon

I went to Jayu Park and wandered around downtown for awhile.The trees and flowers were all in bloom and the blossoms were falling all around in the breeze. The petals were covering the ground like snow.  I finally figured out I was not going to be able to walk to the fish market, so I put it off for another day.

The next day I went to the fish market. Wow! What a huge place. It was crowded with all kinds of people from the smallest babies to the oldest grandmothers. Whole families were out shopping together. There was every kind of seafood imaginable (and some that I have never imagined at all).

Fresh, frozen, dried, still alive and squirming. It doesn’t matter, you can pick it out and they’ll wrap it up for you to take home, or you can bring it over to have them cook it up for you in the little kitchens in the back. There are also food stalls all around outside in case you want something other than seafood (or you can have more seafood!).

 

I found out those little pancakes are called something that sounds like “hotdogs” and they’re really pretty good. They’re stuffed with something kind of sweet, I think maybe bean paste. Then they add nuts. I like them. 🙂

After I got tired of wandering around the fish market, I made my way down the street to the Marine Square where some of the fishing boats and ferries dock. It was pretty quiet and I just watched the local people hang out. A bunch of kids were playing with the seagulls. They were pretty entertaining. 🙂

fishing fleet, Incheon Korea

fishing fleet, Incheon Korea

I was about ready to call it a day, but I was kind-of hungry so I spent a little time wandering around near my hotel in search of something for dinner that was not too spicy. I wound up going to a place that I thought had a picture menu (it didn’t). I wound up having chicken soup. It was interesting watching the Koreans cook their dinners at the table.

 

That was the end of my night and going to be it for me tonight too. I’ve got another busy day planned tomorrow! 🙂

Moving on to Busan

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Today I’m rested up enough to think about traveling again. I’ve also seen everything I REALLY wanted to see here in Incheon, (tho it is an interesting city and there are a few more things I wouldn’t mind seeing).

I went to explore Chinatown and Jayu Park with its statue of General MacArthur. I went to Wolmi Island (nice place to watch the sunset over a seafood dinner). I finally found the fish market and wandered around from there to Marine Square. I wandered all over the area near where I’ve been staying (right next to Juan (chew-on) Station). I’ve decided to go ahead and make a move.

I’m going to head on down to Busan. For a couple of reasons. They’re having a couple of festivals in the next few days-the Lotus Lantern Festival and the Gwangalli Eobang Festival. I think both of them will be worth seeing.

Also, I wanted to visit the Korean Maritime University there and I’ve met someone online who lives there and has offered to show me around. I might be able to meet up with some of my colleagues from Dongwon who I used to work for on the tuna boat a couple of years ago. It’s also close to Geoje Island where my best friend from Oceaneering has been working for the last few years. I’m hoping he’ll be back in town so we can visit.

I’d like to post some of the pictures I’ve been taking the last couple of days, but they don’t have wi-fi in my hotel (Fox Hotel- 91, Juan-ro, Nan-gu- +82328664477) and I can’t get my photos uploaded. Other than that and the fact that my mattress is very hard, I would recommend this place.

It’s a good deal (approx $50/nt), the managers are very nice and helpful. The lady doesn’t speak English but her husband does. The rooms are not too small and they’re stylishly decorated. They have coffee pots with tea/coffee and a refridgerator in the room (also bottled water). I would stay here again.

It’s very convienient, right accross the street from Juan train station where you can come direct from the airport and go anywhere in the area, including into downtown Seoul (much cheaper than taxi).

The next place I’ve booked is supposed to have wi-fi, so hopefully I can get some pictures on here in the next couple of days. 🙂

 

 

 

I made it!

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Well, after over 40 hours of traveling, I made it to my hotel in Korea! 🙂

This is just going to be a quick post since I am totally EXHAUSTED!

I left the house at 0400 yesterday, left Houston at 0730. I made it to Washington DC with barely enough time to catch that flight. Flew from there to Beijing (China). Again, I had just barely enough time to catch my next flight (and I never would have made it if I hadn’t asked to cut ahead and go in the ‘fast track’ line).

If you ever go through China, be sure to put ALL your cords in a separate bag. I have no idea why, but the security wants to see all your electrical cords (phone cords, camera chargers, kindle chargers, computer cords, etc). It delayed me quite a bit digging all that out! Oh yeah, they don’t like cigarette lighters there either (they confiscated mine).

So I got to Korea (Inchon airport for Seoul) at about 1830 tonight. I had an easy time getting out of the airport. It was all very modern, English signs for everything, information booths everywhere.

I decided to take the airport train into town. I had to get a transportation pass first. I asked the lady at the tourist information booth at the airport and she was very helpful. I got a pass for 10,000 won. It should last me for a couple of days at least and I can charge it up when I need to. I ‘think’ she told me it was good all over the country, city bus, metro, etc.

Easy enough to take the train into town. I can’t beleive how helpful everyone was! I found the train at the airport and started talking to a Korean man who was just coming home from working in Japan. He helped me figure out which stops I would have to get off and transfer. He even gave me a bag of chocolates from Japan!

I made the first transfer OK, but the 2nd one was a little more difficult. Lucky I only brought fairly small roller wheeled luggage! This station had stairs, stairs and more stairs and no elevators (at least that I could find). A very nice lady helped me, she just grabbed one of my bags and started walking up the stairs.

The tourist information lady had called my hotel for me so she could tell me how to get there (which was what I had originally asked about there), they said I would spot it right away when I came out of the station. OK, I wandered around for an hour and saw no sign of it.

I tried asking people. No one had any idea. One very nice man called them for me. Turns out, I had exited the wrong side of the train station. He took it upon himself to make sure I found the place and led me back through the train station (NOT as simple as it sounds, it’s a maze)! He had the lady from the hotel meet us at the door coming out of the station.

Wow! What amazingly helpful people! I got to the hotel and the lady gave me my key and right away showed me my cute little room and where everything was. It’s called the Fox Hotel and now that I’ve seen it, I have to say it’s really a pretty good deal.

It’s small, but it’s cute and it has everything I need. There’s a little fridge, with bottled water and cans of coffee and something I haven’t figured out yet. It has a picture of a lady in a cornstalk on it. Any clues?

I’ll be here in Incheon for a couple of days. I think then I’ll head down towards Busan. I haven’t really decided yet. Maybe I’ll learn something while I’m wandering around here tomorrow to give me some ideas. 😉

 

Capt Jill Journeys to Korea!

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I’ve hardly been home a week. SO much to do and not nearly enough time to do it all. I had to leave a lot undone. I’m leaving this morning for my vacation/travel writing workshop in Korea. I’m at the airport now so I don’t have much time.

I saw on the news this morning about the capsized ferry. Hoping to learn more about what happened. What a disaster! I feel so sorry for those people and their families. So many kids are missing.

I really want to know what happened. What would make it sink like that? Here we go again with a similar situation to the Costa Concordia where it sounds like the crew did not alert the passengers to abandon ship til it was too late.

From what I gather from the news reports, it sounds like they’re doing a pretty good job of rescuing the people who did escape the ship itself. The water is pretty cold and I think most people would develop hypothermia a lot sooner in 50 F water then the 1.5 hours they’re saying. Jeeze!

Anyway, I’ve got to go catch a plane. More later! 🙂

Rambling On: Crew Change, Korea, and the Frontier Discoverer

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I made it to the airport! I was only out a short time this trip, but going home still feels as good as ever. I was out on the Deepwater Pathfinder. It was a pretty good hitch, even if it was shorter than usual.

I was a little frustrated over the weekend with not being able to get a flight out of New Orleans til early evening. Hard to believe there wasn’t an available flight til almost 1800!

Turns out there is a big golf tournament going on in Houston and all the flights are booked solid.

I was lucky to get a flight at all!

Really, it worked out that I was on the late flight since the weather was foggy with a cold front between us and the heliport. I didn’t get to the airport til almost 1300. At least I wasn’t panicking about missing my flight. 😉 It all worked out in the end.

So, I should be able to catch up a little bit here over the next few days and get ready for my trip to Korea. It’s only about a week away, YEAH!

I really have no idea what to do there other than the travel writing/photography workshop I’m going to Seoul for. I haven’t had time or internet availability to do any research. Anybody have any suggestions? I have a couple of weeks before the class and a week after.

I was thinking I might go down to Busan to visit the company I used to work with when I was on the tuna boat. The new captain on the ship I just got off mentioned that they have a good maritime university in Busan. That sounds like it might be worth checking into.

I’m hoping to go see an old friend I used to work with at Oceaneering. He’s an ROV (remotely operated vehicle) mechanic. When they brought our boat to the Gulf of Mexico to work, he was able to get a transfer to Korea and has been working there ever since.

I would have LOVED to do that too, but Oceaneering only had one vessel over 1600 tons and so they didn’t have any other jobs to offer me. Being a ships officer/DPO doesn’t make for an easy job transfer when there isn’t any other ship. I felt I had no other option but to leave at the first opportunity.

Too bad, they sent the ship out of the Gulf only a couple of months later. When I found out, I was sad I didn’t stay longer. The job I took instead turned into a disaster and I didn’t even stay for the whole trip. 🙁

I hated to quit that job. It sounded so perfect when I decided to take it! I had never really been interested in drilling since it always seemed so BORING. Sit in one spot for months on end, never moving, never really doing much ‘SAILING’.

But this one seemed to be a great option. It was supposed to work in Alaska in the summer and Australia in the winter. I would actually get to do quite a bit of sailing. 🙂

But when I got to the ship, I felt a little queasy. Not because I was seasick!

The ship was in bad shape. It was old. It was rusty. It had issues. LOTS of issues!

It was basically an old ship (built 1966!!) that they had cleared off the topsides, then stuck a new house and a drilling rig on top of it. It had not been taken care of properly. I was not comfortable with it at all.  Bad news. 🙁

I’m not any sort of safety nazi, not by a long shot, but I was really concerned about the condition of that ship and the lack of concern for all of the ordinary things we seamen look out for.

I stayed on there as long as I could, hoping that things would improve. I finally had to leave after only 3 weeks. I couldn’t stick around knowing the problems that were bound to come up. No job is worth my license I’ve worked so long and hard to earn, or my life! This one was seriously putting both at risk.

I couldn’t figure out WHY they would want to bring an old piece of sh*t like that up to work in the pristine waters of Alaska, KNOWING Greenpeace would be all over them.

Turns out, they DID have all kinds of problems on the trip to Alaska and since. They’re presently back in Asia in the shipyard (again) and all plans for Alaskan drilling on hold (again).

I wonder if that was the plan all along? If they had a nice, new, fully functioning rig would there have been such an outcry? Would there have been so many problems? Would the oil companies all have put off their plans to follow the success of this adventure in Alaska?

I don’t know, but I think if they had a better ship/rig, they would be drilling by now instead of still spending a fortune in the shipyard. Was all this a case of trying to save a few bucks by using old, worn out equipment? If so, they sure messed up on THAT decision!

Is she, or isn't she aground? I'm sure glad I got off when I did!

Is she, or isn’t she aground? I’m sure glad I got off when I did!

Preview: Back to Boston

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Just a quickie here, that’s all I can manage til I get off this trip. It’ll only be a couple more days and I’ll be home again. 🙂

I was looking at the pictures I already had uploaded here (since the internet is too slow for me to get any more on and I can’t spend much time on it here).

I thought I might go back to Boston where this blog really got started. 🙂

I had been thinking about it for a while. I really had no idea of how to do it. How to get started. How to make everything work.

I had been interested in the idea of travel writing and photography for a while already. I figured since I LOVE to travel and take pictures of everything, it would be a perfect fit!

Yeah, I guess it would be if I could manage to find the time to actually WRITE.

I DO manage to take pictures, tons and tons of pictures. But I learned while taking a workshop on how to be a travel writer/photographer that I was not taking good enough pictures. They had to be PERFECT. 🙁

At least I learned what I was doing wrong and why my photos were rejected (mostly to do with the quality of my camera lens).

I also learned that you could do a lot with a computer to improve your pictures. I still haven’t learned how to do that very well. I’m better than I was, but I still have a lot to learn. I also still don’t have the time to spend editing all my pictures. Even getting them uploaded onto my computer is hard sometimes.

I am still working on my photography and I still toss around story ideas and put together a little thing every once in a while, but I’ve only actually tried to get my pictures accepted twice (so far) at stock agencies.

I’ve never tried to send in an article (yet).

It seems I’d just rather spend any spare time off on another adventure. When I’m forced to stick around the house, I spend it taking care of business I can’t put off any longer. Like working on my taxes (ugh) and other fun stuff like that.

I had heard that blogging was a way to make money online while doing something you enjoy. I was all into that!

When I found out there was going to be an additional blogging session as part of the travel writing/photography workshop I was interested in , I was sold on taking time off for another learning vacation!

I just barely managed to get this blog started before I left for Boston. I had such a hard time figuring out how to do things like upload a photo, make a ‘gallery’, add a link, etc. Things that I do all the time now and seem so simple. 🙂

The workshop was great. Paula Pant, who has a blog called Afford Anything, was our instructor for the blogging session. She was really inspirational and a lot of help.

I met incredibly interesting people every day there and the instructors sent us out and around town on some helpful assignments. Then we had our work critiqued. I learned a lot there but was still hungry for more. I still feel like I could use more help.

Especially with the part about how to make some kind of an income from this internet stuff! I’m really enjoying the whole process of blogging and meeting people from all over and interacting, but I’m spending a lot more time on it all then I ever thought I would.

Remember I started out this post saying “just a quickie here”? That’s what I mean…

Here’s a ‘taste’ of Boston, I’ll be back with more later. 😉

PS-I’m going to another workshop in Korea in a couple of weeks, can;t wait to get over there and see/do/try everything!! Maybe I’ll even run into some of my old tuna boat crew. 😉

A Sailors Sad Choice

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I was just really missing my job. Yeah, I know that must sound really weird. Crazy even. But I’m not crazy! Really!!

I don’t miss the work I do NOW, right at this moment. I DO miss the work I’m still sometimes able to find. Those few jobs that allow me to do what I’ve trained all my life to do. To sail the seas AS A SAILOR.

I went to sea for the FREEDOM it afforded. Freedom to just do my job (no worries), and enjoy life at sea with an occasional port call (with enough time to go ashore). Not much paperwork, no one really bothered us. We literally were in our own little world out there. Our own community. We all did our jobs yet worked together as a team.

OMG have things changed!!! (NOT for the better)

It seems like it’s almost impossible to find that sort of employment any more. You’ll take a job that’s totally confining, one almost as bad as if you were working on the beach. Paperwork out the ying-yang. Do a JSEA before you even get out of your bed (seriously, on one boat they actually wanted us to do that!). The only advantage is you don’t have to commute every day.

They micromanage every tiny little detail of your life, even to the point of telling you how to dress yourself every day.

WTF??? They hire us to run a multi-million dollar vessel with hundreds of peoples lives in our hands, but they think we’re too stupid to know how to dress ourselves? What’s UP with that?

At least the money’s decent. Not enough for the BS they put us through, but decent.

The other option is to find an interesting job. An enjoyable job. A job that actually lets you use the skills and knowledge you’ve worked so hard to gain. One that might actually GO somewhere INTERESTING at least every once in a while.

But it seems that every one of THOSE types of jobs entail working for people who think that their company is just SO wonderful that we’d just all love to work there for free and they don’t even want to come up with the minimum wage! 🙁

I’m still looking to find that happy medium. A job that lets me be a sailor that actually pays the bills at the same time! 🙂

Those tuna boats were close, I really enjoyed my time there. Take a look at these pictures and tell me you don’t understand my craving for adventure, don’t get it just a little bit, don’t wish you could be doing something like this instead of wasting hours in traffic everyday to get to a ‘regular’ job?

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How To Travel The World For Free

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Budget Travel Vacation Ideas: How To Travel The World For Free | Budget Travel.

I absolutely LOVE to travel. I go somewhere other than home every chance I get. I originally went to sea for the promise of travel to exotic ports in foreign countries.

Even tho I almost never get to go anywhere other than Fourchon Louisiana anymore, I still hold out hope that someday soon I’ll find another job on a vessel going somewhere interesting.

So I read this article with high hopes for something new and actually do-able. I’ve heard of a lot of these ideas before, but it’s nice to see them all in one place. I’m not especially interested in a full time job in another country, but I wouldn’t mind having something to do.

Get a job? 

I’ve heard of the worldwide workers on organic farms (WWOOF) before, and wondered how much work it actually entails and how hard it would be. I’ve never really gone very far with researching it yet. It does sound interesting and a great way to learn new skills and really get involved with things in a new location.

I’ve also heard of house-sitting and have subscribed to Caretakers for a few years now. I’ve seen a few great looking opportunities there but so far, none of them have fit in with my schedule. I’m still hoping to arrange something with them.

Be a bum?

I’ve also heard of couchsurfing and love the idea. I would love to meet other travelers from around the world and have been planning to sign up. My only issue is that my schedule is so unpredictable that I don’t know how I can make it work.

Save your points? 

Travel hacking is another way to get around for ‘free’, but to me, this one seems to take a LOT of work. You need to spend a lot of time and effort to score points with your credit cards. I do try to maximize my credit card points, but it’s important that you can pay off your balance every month or you’ll get screwed by the money you wind up paying in high interest costs.

Be a teacher? 

Teaching English in a foreign country is another option I have looked into previously. When my old ship the Performer was still working overseas, I was very seriously considering it.

I’m still thinking about it, but I haven’t made any moves towards DOING it. I think I would like to take the TEFL course somewhere first and have the schools help in finding a position. The main reason I haven’t done it yet is basically that I’m spoiled. I don’t want to get tied down in a foreign country and totally dependent on that job!

I want OPTIONS! What happens if I sign on to teach at a school and it turns out that I just can’t stand it? The living conditions suck? Or they don’t follow through in some other way on promises made? If I have no cash in the bank or if my visa is tied to a particular school, then I am basically stuck with it. I don’t want to be in that position. SO, I am still putting off doing anything constructive.

Teaching overseas does sound like a really good option for someone who already has some teaching experience.

Volunteer your talents? 

Volunteering abroad sounds like a great idea. I would be much better motivated to do this if most of the opportunities didn’t cost so much. Some of the volunteer opportunities I’ve seen cost thousands of dollars in ‘program costs’. Of course that is ON TOP OF whatever value your time and effort is worth.

I’m not sure how they can call this ‘free’ traveling. I haven’t seen most of the places they mention in this article, so there probably are some very affordable ways to travel this way. I’ll have to be sure to look into this further. 🙂

Make a trade? 

House swapping sounds like a great idea. I’d like to do this, but I wonder who in their right mind would want to trade houses with me? I live in Lake Jackson, Texas. There is not really a whole lot there to see or do. I live 50 miles South of Houston, which I suppose SOME people would like to see, but the only thing in Lake Jackson is a lot of chemical plants. 🙁

Yeah, I am exaggerating (slightly), but my relatives all thought I was NUTS to move here from Florida. I gave up the beautiful beaches and clean, clear water to move to Texas, where our beaches are brown instead of white, and the Gulf is brown instead of blue, from all the mud washing down from the rivers.

I moved there to go to school. I stay there because even tho our beaches are not as pretty as the ones in Florida, we can still enjoy them fully! We don’t have the restrictions that Florida does. We can fish, camp, drive on, drink on, smoke on, play on, overnight on our beaches without the crowds and hassles and rules and regulations that Floridians have to put up with now.

I guess it’s not really that bad here. It’s quiet and there’s plenty to do once you spend some time and get to know people. People are friendly and helpful. We get together to play cards or have a BBQ. The beach is decent and the fishing is pretty good. The bays are great for kayaking and bird watching. There are all the usual small town events, kids baseball games, county fairs, etc.

I wonder if anyone from a foreign country would be interested in spending 2 weeks or more doing that kind of thing? Anybody on here interested in a house swap? 😉

 

 

Travel Journey of the Week: New Orleans

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I was looking around at the list of blog events for the Zero to Hero assignment for Day 22 and I found this one I thought would be interesting. It’s called the Travel Journey of the Week from Melissa at the Liberated Traveler’s blog.

I liked her idea of asking other people contribute by writing a post and linking back to hers. Since she seems to be focusing on FOOD, which of course New Orleans is deservedly famous for, I thought I would add to hers by posting some photos of places to find some great food in New Orleans.

I’ve got everything here from the Cafe DuMond for their famous chicory coffee and beignets to Rouses grocery store for the best muffaletta to the old JAX Brewery. World Famous restaurants Arnauds and the Bourbon House compete with less known but just as good local favorites.

You’ll find everything from classic French to Cajun and Creole. Old style steak houses. Oyster bars. Fresh seafood and local delights like catfish and alligator fixed a dozen different ways.

If you just have to have it, there’s always a slice of pizza to go with your daquiri. Hot dog stands supply snacks you can eat as you wander down Bourbon Street with your Hand Grenades and Hurricanes. It’s hard to miss a good meal in the French Quarter! 🙂

 

Here’s a link to the original post: Travel Journey of the Week: New Orleans at the Liberated Traveler blog.

Zero to Hero- Day 11: Be a Good Neighbor

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The assignment for day 11 in the Zero to Hero Challenge is to make 3 comments on blogs you’ve never commented on before.

Well, that should be an easy one. I’ve never been a shy one when it comes to saying something anonymously (or even semi). 😉

Since I’ve been looking around the blogosphere more than usual for the previous assignments, I do have at least a couple of blogs I haven’t commented on yet.

Let’s see if I can find something interesting now…

A Yankee in the Cajun Navy

I found this blog the other day for the day 9 assignment (I think). I saw his mention of the Cajun Navy and knew exactly what he was talking about and from his blog tagline “A Yankee in the Cajun Navy”, I could just imagine how entertaining he was going to be.

So, today I checked his blog and found this neat video to watch. My computer is so slow it messed up the music but it was fun to watch anyway. I wanted to say more, but tried to keep my comment short(er)… here’s a link to the post and comments…

http://newenglandwaterman.com/2014/01/09/2013-in-review-a-timelapse-review/#comment-1307

Home Improvement

The Eleventh Stack is another blog I found while looking around for the Zero to Hero Challenge. I really like the variety of things they talk about there. It’s a library sort of blog so I guess it can really cover EVERYTHING. 🙂

I went to look around again for todays assignment and found this post on do-it-yourself projects. I’m a big fan of DIY.

I love to watch all those shows on Home and Garden TV like the Property Brothers and Househunters International. I get all kinds of ideas for fixing up my house and my rentals. I don’t have much time for TV but when I do watch, it’s probably going to be some of that stuff.

So, here’s the post that caught my eye today and my comment…

http://eleventhstack.wordpress.com/2014/01/09/i-can-do-that/#comment-15846

Another Jills’ Journeys

I noticed this one while I was on assignment too and really just checked it out since we have the same name. But the more I look around her blog, the more interesting things I find. She has a really neat series on a trip she took to Easter Island which is also on my bucket list.

I picked her post on the free museum days to comment on. Just because I thought it was funny that we both posted on that, we both have the same name, we both love to travel (to out of the way places). I thought it was cool. Here’s the post and comment…

http://journeysbyjill.com/2013/09/25/museums-open-doors-with-free-admission/#comment-2182

Corso Zundert

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Corso Zundert – Welcome at the website of Corso Zundert!.

A friend sent me an email about this event the other day. I’ve been to the Netherlands (Amsterdam) a couple of times and always had a great time.

me and a friend in Amsterdam

I’ve always wanted to go during the spring to see all the flowers bloom. This event takes place in September, in a town called Zundert. So now you can see the flowers all summer and into fall!

I never even heard of this event (Bloemencorso) until my friend sent me the email (thanks S.!). It’s kind of like our Rose Parade out in California, but they make the floats out of dalias.

cid:16.1392976078@web181101.mail.ne1.yahoo.com

Take a look at the link to the website (they do have a flag you can click to get it in English), they’ve done a fantastic job!

cid:11.1392976078@web181101.mail.ne1.yahoo.com

Weekly Photo Challenge: Let There Be Light- Singapore

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Here are some photos I took the last time I was in Singapore. The first 3 are at Clarke Quay. It’s a nice area near the Singapore River with lots of bars and restaurants. The kids love to play in the fountains all lit up in different colors. It’s really quite beautiful at night. The next 2 are from the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple in Chinatown. The last one is of the Singapore River near Clarke Quay. I took all these photos with a point and shoot camera. I usually only have a pocket camera with me when I’m working. I had just got off the ship and stayed a few days to sight-see before I had to go home.

These are for the Weekly Photo Challenge, this weeks theme is ‘Light’. I thought some of the other people who posted had some really nice shots. If you want to see them, or enter the Challenge, here’s the link

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/11/29/photo-challenge-lights/#more-61860

None Dare Call It…

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None Dare Call It… | Laissez-Faire Bookstore.

Interesting article from Laissez-Faire. It talks about Obamacare and how no one in the insurance industry is really speaking out against it. Yeah, I noticed that too. I know the insurance industry had a hand in the creation of Obamacare.

I admit, I have not read the ‘law’. No, I haven’t got through even 10 pages of it’s 4000 or so. I don’t know exactly everything it says. I only know about a few of the things it’s supposed to do. But I’m pretty sure the big insurance companies didn’t allow Obama or anyone else to cut their throats. To REALLY do them any damage.

MONEY runs this country and there’s no way this situation is any different than any other in the last 100 years. Big money has protected itself at the expense of the rest of us. Let’s wait and see? Or lets get rid of it before it hammers the final nail into our coffin?

I’m pretty sure the insurance companies are going to benefit from Obamacare. WE, (regular people) are the only ones who are really going to be hurt by it. Regardless of the hope that Obamacare will help the little guy, I can pretty much guarantee that the little guy is the only one that is going to get hurt by it.

If it doesn’t hurt you by turning your hospital into a depressingly substandard VA experience, or turning a visit to your doctor into a visit to the DMV (remember the last time you renewed your drivers license). It will for SURE hurt you when it becomes the final straw that breaks our financial system!

Then we’ll all be in the same sinking boat together. Of course the fat cats that created this mess will probably escape. You DID notice that they all exempted themselves from Obamacare, right? Unless you’re a much better prepper than I am, the rest of us are just going to get screwed. 🙁

The worst part of this whole scenario is what they mention towards the end of the article. The people who work in the insurance industry are not the only ones fearfully staying silent. The writer mentions remembering East Germany and the pervasive atmosphere of FEAR.

I can already see signs of it here. I have felt it myself. It’s all I can do to keep my mouth shut at the airport. I have to do it for fear of being hauled off to be ‘indefinitely detained’ and lose my RIGHT to travel forever.

All for simply wanting to exercise my RIGHT to travel FREELY and my RIGHT to speak freely about the loss of that right too!

I have talked to dozens of people since 9/11. Almost all of them are willing to justify our huge loss of liberty in some sadly delusional trade for safety. Apparently, most of them have fallen for the security theater in our airports and truly believe it is really doing something other than stripping them of their freedoms along with their dignity.

I can’t imagine what it must feel like to live like that. To choose to give up your freedom for ANYTHING, much less an impossibility like total safety. It’s really sad. 🙁

No, it’s not (JUST) Obamacare, that’s bothering me, that’s wrong here. It’s the entire system! The basic reasons for the founding of this country are being lost little by little. People just don’t care any more. Either they want ‘free stuff’ like the health care that Obamacare (falsely) promises. Or they are living in such FEAR that they are willing to not only give up THEIR right to live freely, but giving away MY rights too. 🙁

The Vermont Sail Freight Project: Alternative Sail

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The Vermont Sail Freight Project.

I think it’s really wonderful that this group is trying to bring back commercial sail in the US. They’re also working in another area I like which is good food. The sailing barge Ceres is working with a great project bringing farm fresh food down to New York City.

I think there is a definite place for sailing ships even in these modern times. With all the attention being focused now on the environment, climate change, the high price of fossil fuels, etc., we should be taking a new look at sail (traditional or new improved models).

I’ve been keeping my eye on the Tres Hombres (Netherlands) which has been sailing since 2009. She’s a beautiful brigantine and sails between Europe and the Caribbean. She carries cargo that is not as dependent on a fast delivery time. She only carries about 35 tons so she makes it count with high value cargo such as rum and chocolate (yum). 😉

She can also carry trainees who will pay a fee in return for the adventure of a lifetime and a certificate to boot! With just a quick look at their website, I see that they will give you certificates all the way up from ordinary seaman to captain! Too bad they’re not recognized by any government. 🙁

Sailing General Cargo Schoenerbrik Tres Hombres

Even so, I’m sure the training you would get on board a ship like that would serve you well in any other. You’ll be better off then just going to work on any power vessel. You’ll also get an interesting, fun adventure, which is all but eliminated from the merchant fleet these days (at least in America). 🙁

I’d love to make a voyage on her myself. Or any of the other similar ships around the world. There are a few of them now, the Bessy Ellen and the Tres Hombres (both with Fairtransport) which are truly cargo ships along with the Ceres of Vermont Sail Freight Project.

The barque Picton Castle (home port Nova Scotia) is primarily a sail training vessel but also does some cargo work. She sails worldwide and is presently making her way across the Pacific.

New designs show promise as not only for pure sailing vessels, but as additions to the usual container and other modern ship types. The addition of sails or kites should help fuel consumption at least. Here’s a link to the Skysails website where you can learn more about that idea and how it works…

 http://www.skysails.info/english/skysails-marine/skysails-propulsion-for-cargo-ships/.

Others are working on more new designs to take advantage of the wind. I posted previously about one of them, the ‘Vind’…

 http://captjillsjourneys.wordpress.com/2013/10/23/blowing-in-the-vind. 

I’m really looking forward to seeing more of these ships in the future. I hope one day I will be able to take the time to sail on one of them again. There really is nothing like sailing on a real tall ship. Spending a day is just a small taste of what it’s really like. Get that taste and you WILL want more! 🙂 

Submarine Racing

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🙂

The Haunted and the Haunting: Best Places to Visit on Halloween

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The Haunted and the Haunting: Best Places to Visit on Halloween | Off the Road| Smithsonian.

Here’s a good article in honor of it being Halloween tonight. 😉

Smithsonian tells about the best places around the world to get your Halloween chills and thrills. Enjoy reading about the Blair Witch Forest, the mummies of Guanajuato, the Capuchin Catacombs, the hotel from The Shining and more.

It would be cool to do some scary stuff on Halloween. I won’t be home til late and will probably miss all the trick or treaters. 🙁

How the Shipping Industry is the Secret Force Driving the World Economy

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How the Shipping Industry is the Secret Force Driving the World Economy | Ideas & Innovations | Smithsonian Magazine.

I thought this was pretty good, despite the reservations I have from only seeing this article. It’s an interview with author Rose George about her latest book: Ninety Percent of Everything. She somehow arranged to spend some time sailing around on the container ship Maersk Kendal. I’m going to have to find a copy of this book to read. 🙂

a container ship underway

a container ship underway

She makes a lot of good points. That people who aren’t personally involved with shipping are totally unaware of the industry. That those of us living in ‘first world’ countries don’t know any seafarers personally any more. That the ports have been moved so far away from the cities that most people don’t have any awareness of them anymore. That people on the beach have absolutely no idea what it’s like to be a seafarer.

I do think she got a lot of that correct. She sees how isolating it is out here now. She mentions the lack of communication and that the ships don’t provide internet or phone access to their crews (because of the expense). I do agree that it is an expense. I do not agree that it is an ‘extra’ expense. I don’t think it’s very much to pay a couple of thousand dollars a month when that would be something like 1% of expenses on most ships (if that). Isn’t it worth that for such a HUGE increase in crew morale?

a tank ship underway

a tank ship underway

I don’t really know if she’s right in her assessment of how much or how little sailors have a ‘sense of romanticism’. She mentions that she thinks the captain has more of it then he lets on, that he still secretly loves the sea.

She seems to think that most sailors are only out here for the money. I might agree that most sailors from the poorer parts of the world go to sea for the money. They probably went to sea because it paid better than anything they could find at home.

I would agree that the great majority of seafarers are not in a great position at sea. Some of the conditions sailors work under are just horrible. A lot of shipowners do flag foreign just so they can cut expenses.

They all say that the cost of the crew is their largest expense so they cut it any way they can. They cut the crew size, they lengthen the hitch (2 YEARS or more), they skimp on groceries, they skimp on medical care, they refuse to pay for visas so the crew can’t leave the ship in port, etc.

That’s not even to start on the issue of crew abandonment. Rose George seems to think the Maritime Labor Convention (MLC) will help. I’ve seen in the news there have already been 3 ships detained, but I have serious doubts it will actually help the crews.

In spite of conditions like that, I believe most seafarers do still enjoy sailing (at least sometimes). 😉

romanticism of life at sea

romanticism of life at sea

I know I still do. Most of the time. 😉

This Alkaline African Lake Turns Animals into Stone

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This Alkaline African Lake Turns Animals into Stone | Collage of Arts and Sciences.

This is an interesting article (with lots of cool photos) of a deadly lake in Africa. I’ve never been to Africa but I would love to go. I always thought about taking a safari or climbing Mt Kilimanjaro, I didn’t know anything about this lake. It sounds like an interesting place. Just seeing pictures stirs up my wanderlust. 🙂

New Orleans (Workboat Show 2012)

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House of Blues

House of Blues

OK, so sorry to all my faithful followers 😉 I’ve been SO busy! Since I got off work I’ve been going non-stop. I made it to the beach clean up (fantastic turnout there)! I managed to get some work of one of my rental houses done . I FINALLY got my taxes for 2012 turned in to my accountants (still was not really finished but there was no way to get all the information to them before time was up so I just had to drop off what I had). And now, I’m in New Orleans for the Workboat Show!

Yeah, its way early this year. Its usually the first week of December. That’s nice since the weather is cool and everything is all decorated for Christmas. It’s different this year, I didn’t think about it, but they’re already decorating for Halloween, so that’s pretty cool too.

I’m staying over a couple extra days to do some tourist stuff. I’m going on a plantation tour tomorrow and a 3-in-1 combo ‘witches brew’ tour Sunday night. I have not managed to get any pictures on the computer yet since I’ve been home, but just to whet your whistle, here are a few from last years show here.

Pat O'Brians, New Orleans

Hurricanes at Pat O’Brians, New Orleans

Preservation Hall, New Orleans P1010914 P1010923 P1010950

Voodoo Bar Bourbon Street New Orleans

Voodoo Bar Bourbon Street New Orleans

Street musician, Bourbon Street New Orleans

Street musician, Bourbon Street New Orleans

A Word a Week Challenge- Arch

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I finally got off the ship (DB-50) in Singapore and stayed over a couple of weeks. I wandered around and found this art museum. It had a lot of interesting things and the buildings were very interesting in themselves. It used to be a school (if I remember right) 🙂

Arches, Singapore Art Museum

 

http://suellewellyn2011.wordpress.com/2013/09/17/a-word-a-week-challenge-arch/

A Word a Week Challenge- Arch

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Singapore Art Museum

I finally got off the ship (DB-50) in Singapore and stayed over a couple of weeks. I wandered around and found this art museum. It had a lot of interesting things and the buildings were very interesting in themselves. It used to be a school (if I remember right).

http://suellewellyn2011.wordpress.com/2013/09/17/a-word-a-week-challenge-arch/

A Word a Week Challenge- Arch

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Paris Las Vegas

Another one from Las Vegas. I was there for the Freedom Fest a couple of years ago. I had to miss it this year since I couldn’t get off work. 🙁

Here’s a link to the original post…http://suellewellyn2011.wordpress.com/2013/09/17/a-word-a-week-challenge-arch/

Health Tip

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Maintaining the Ship of Mercy

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Maintaining the Ship of Mercy.

The Mercy ships are really doing such wonderful work around the world. I wish I could afford to work on one of them for a while. I haven’t been able to manage that (so far).

If anyone is interested in a fantastic experience and has some sort of sponsorship or can live without an income for a few months, this would be a great place to do something useful.

They don’t just need ships crew, they need all kinds of health care workers too. Maybe some other kinds of things would get you a spot on board. Worth checking them out if you’re at all interested. 🙂

www.mercyships.org

What TSA Really Stands For

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What TSA Really Stands For | Laissez-Faire Bookstore.

Thousands Standing Around, Trampling Several Amendments, Too Stupid for Arby’s, Touch Sex Army, Teaching Submission to Americans, Touchin’ Squeezin’ Arrestin’, Theatrical Security Agents, Touchin’ Sensitive Areas, Taking Scissors Away, Tough Shit America!, Totalitarian Security Agents, Tremendously Stupendous Arrogance, Taxpayer Supported Assault, Trampling Stupid Americans…..

Take your pick. I could go on (and on). They are nothing but a bunch of well paid (from our tax dollars) government goons. They have somehow been brainwashed to think (if I can use that word in this instance) that by violating our rights daily, they are actually doing some good.  🙁

To anyone who seriously believes that, I have a bridge to sell you!

Its all I can do to keep my mouth shut when I have to go to the airport. I’m sure one of these days they’re going to put me on the no-fly list and then that will be it for me. I’ll be unable to work and that will be that.

People tell me to just refuse to fly if I’m so against the TSA “keeping us safe”. Yeah, riiiiiiggght. Please tell me how I am supposed to get to work over in Singapore when I live in Texas without flying??? Oh, and by the way, the TSA is now in train stations, bus stations, ROAD BLOCKS, MALLS, STADIUMS, and they were even at the last presidential nominating conventions. So how the hell can I escape them???

The fact that they are shredding the entire constitution in the idiotic (impossible) quest to make us all “safe”, is not an issue to 99% of the people I see at the airport. I think THAT fact bothers me even worse then the TSA itself. That AMERICANS who are supposed to be so supportive of freedom that we will go halfway around the world to fight other peoples battles for them will not only accept these NAZI tactics, but cheer on the thugs. I can only shake my head and grit my teeth. What the hell has happened to us?

Yeah, the linked article is a little tongue in cheek but it does make some good points. Seriously.

I recently applied for the ‘trusted traveler’ program the Customs & Border Patrol  (CBP) runs. Only so I can get through the lines faster. In hopes that will help me  keep my “privilege” to travel for a while longer. It’s still in process (probably to be denied after this rant). The officer actually told me that because I have a criminal record (30+ years ago, another one 5+- neither of which had anything remotely to do with security) I might not be approved. WOW! She actually told me that my RIGHT to travel freely was NOT a right but only a privilege!

Well, NO! It is NOT a privilege! It IS a RIGHT!!!!

Despite the fact that I already have a TWIC (Transportation Worker Identity Card) which is given out by the TSA after a background check and is SUPPOSED to be so we can have UNESCORTED access through a PORT (airPORT), and also (had) a security clearance for work which also gave me a pretty thorough background check, I had to pay another $100 for the CBP background check for this program.

I asked the agent why with this being the THIRD background check, she was not able to see that I had been arrested and had a criminal record? Of course, she was not allowed to tell me that! 🙁

By this point I was getting pretty upset. She insisted I would have to trace down my own records and FAX them in to her within 30 days. OK, so I managed to get the records and tried for hours to fax them in. No luck, phone always busy. With all that money the government gets, they can’t do paperwork any other way but by fax? they can only afford one phone??? WTF???

I called and reached another officer (mine was off) and they gave me a different number to fax. No luck on that one either. So, here I am at work (offshore), we don’t have a fax. I have no mail or email that I can send the papers to. I only get off to go home the day before my time runs out. They sure make it easy to do something to help yourself instead of them. Yeah, riiiiiight. 🙁

Some free country we have… yeah, riiiiighhht. Sure you don’t want to take a look at that bridge?

Daily Prompt: Toy Story- Sea Snark

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Daily Prompt:Toy Story- What was your favorite plaything as a child? Do you see any connection between your life now, and your favorite childhood toy?

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/09/12/daily-prompt-memento/

I’m not sure if my sea snark qualifies as a toy but playing with it (sailing) was my favorite thing to do while I was growing up (other than reading).

I used to take my little sailboat our almost every day, usually after school. Sometimes, I would even sail it TO school 🙂

Made out of Styrofoam, it was indestructible. Unlike the Titanic, it was actually unsinkable 🙂 We DID test that quite regularly 😉

I had SO much fun with that little boat. 🙂 I would go by myself. I would take out my friends. My brother would run circles around me with his outboard powered dingy, but I didn’t care. I always loved just sailing. Letting the wind drive me where I wanted to go. It was so engaging, so peaceful, so enjoyable. I STILL love sailing and go out every chance I can.

As a kid, I never would have imagined that I would wind up ‘sailing’ for a living (that’s what we call shipping out- ‘sailing’). I was on track to be a doctor back then. My grandparents were both pharmacists. My fathers mother was one of the first female pharmacists in the state of NY 🙂 (I definitely take after her) 😉 I made straight A’s in school and I did love studying all my subjects in class, especially math and science.

What happened was: I got sick and tired of taking the same classes over and over again in school. For example, I had been taking algebra since at least 5th grade. I always made straight A’s. I just couldn’t see the point of taking it AGAIN in 9th grade.

So, I started skipping those classes that I’d already taken. I was still making good grades. I could still keep up with the work. After all, I HAD already taken those classes (more than once). I’ll never understand why parents put up with the school systems dumbing down their kids so much!

Eventually, my family got tired of hearing about my transgressions from the school district. My grandmother decided I needed to go to a boarding school, to keep me from skipping 😉 Well, I give her credit. She tried. She really did.

Along with my Aunt Helen, my grandmother and I went on a road trip from Freeport NY, up through Niagara Falls (loved the Maid of the Mist) into Canada. We came back down through the Detroit area (went to a concert there- grandma wore earplugs 🙂 ). Visited family friends near Chicago. Stopped at a dozen fancy schools before we made it back to NY.

I have to admit, I was a total BITCH the entire trip. I didn’t want to go to any fancy-schmantzy rich kid boarding school! I would never fit in. I liked my life the way it was. I loved my town where I grew up and I could spend my days hanging out with my friends on the beach. Sailing, swimming, fishing, even sometimes jumping off the bridge to let the current carry me out to the Gulf so I could swim back in 😉

Yeah, I was also hanging out at the amusement parlor and the pool halls, sometimes the bars 😉 I was drinking and other things I wasn’t supposed to be doing.

It was really a lucky stroke of fate what happened when my grandmother got me back to her place in Freeport. She was so fed up with me after that search for an acceptable school for both me and her, she took me to the library and threw the book at me. Literally! She told me that it was a book listing ALL the accredited schools in the country and if I could find one in there that I liked, I could go there.

The book landed on a table in front of me. Opened to a page with a picture of a square-rigged ship in full sail. I was hooked! I grabbed that book and started reading that thing like my life depended on it (turned out it really did in a way).

The book gave details: the Oceanics School (http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1310&dat=19720827&id=nN1VAAAAIBAJ&sjid=5eADAAAAIBAJ&pg=6581,6541976). Based in New York City, the school would charter these large traditional sailing ships for months long cruises with their students aboard. The ship sailed around the world and the students learned to operate the ship. They held classes on navigation, seamanship, oceanography, cultural studies and languages of all the countries the ship visited.

I was so excited. I told my grandmother “that’s it!”. That’s the one I want to go to!! She was aghast!! She told me “no way”. “No way are you going to ruin your life with those damn boats like your father did!!” Up til he bought his dream boat, the “Island Girl”, my father was an engineer. A ‘respectable’ professional career man. My grandmother would never forgive the Island Girl for my fathers decision to quit the corporate world.

When I got home and told my dad about the Oceanics school, he was almost as happy about it as I was. He said “you’re going”, and “while we’re at it, we’ll send your brother too”! “You can’t skip school when you’re on a boat in the middle of the ocean” 😉 So, soon enough my brother and I were off to sail around the world. We had some absolutely fantastic adventures sailing the 3- masted schooner Ariadne from Athens to Martinique!

That trip changed my life. I returned without my brother to sail the Ariadne again from Martinique back across the Atlantic. I had some incredible experiences with some wonderful people. It DID change my life.

I will be forever grateful to the Gallaghers (especially Stephanie) who took a chance on me and then helped me SO much. Even after I graduated from the Oceanics, Stephanie was instrumental in getting me set up in the Ocean Marine Technology program in Texas that got me started on the way to earning my license.

Because of the chance to go to the Oceanics, I am STILL sailing. Almost 35 years later.  🙂 I recently upgraded to Master Any Gross Tons and can sail pretty much any ship on the ocean. I still love the traditional sailing ships best but there just aren’t enough of them around to make a living on. Too bad 🙁

So, yeah, you could say my favorite plaything when I was young is still my favorite plaything now. 🙂

Here are a couple of great links. The first one is by Tim Harris of the ship Statsraad Lehmkuhl which he sailed on as a cadet with the Oceanics in the early 70s. The next one is of the same ship in a storm. The last is a link to the ship itself, in case you’re interested in sailing her 😉

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=iokDVlHybtE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_YWgRBmVtY

www.lehmkuhl.no

Chinese cockroach farmers are making a bundle selling pulverized bugs for $89 per lb.

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Chinese cockroach farmers are making a bundle selling pulverized bugs for $89 per lb. – Quartz.

OK, I have to admit, I REALLY don’t like cockroaches. Especially these big ones. Or the ones we get down South near the water where I live. We call ’em Palmetto bugs. I’ll never forget the night I was just falling asleep. It was a hot muggy night (so no covers) and one of those huge suckers flew across the room and started crawling up my leg. I must have woken up half the block with my screams!

So, the idea of people actually FARMING these things just gives me the creeps. Maybe its just me? The Chinese people seem to think there’s some real good medicine in these things. I just remembered this exhibit I saw at the Chinatown Heritage Center in Singapore last year.

Sign at the Chinatown Heritage Center, Singapore

Sign at the Chinatown Heritage Center, Singapore

I guess if you grind it up and add enough other stuff to it, you might not even notice it going down? I do try and taste different foods when I’m off traveling, but so far, the only bugs I’ve managed to try were some ants -chocolate covered- that helps 😉 – and some kind of grub they had at the ‘tasting kitchen’ at the New Orleans Insectarium (http://www.auduboninstitute.org/visit/insectarium). Those tasted almost exactly like that Honey Nut Crunch cereal. They did have other flavors, but I was OK with just trying that one 🙂

Tasting room at the Insectarium in New Orleans

Tasting room at the Insectarium in New Orleans

Trying out some of the taste 'treats' at the New Orleans Insectarium

Trying out some of the taste ‘treats’ at the New Orleans Insectarium

I do see plenty of people in Thailand and Indonesia snacking on grasshoppers, water beetles, grubs, etc at the bars I go to. I always figured they must just be drunk. I never managed to work up the nerve to try any of those larger samples. Maybe next time…

Learn how to prepare your pests for tasty treats!

Learn how to prepare your pests for tasty treats!

Or maybe not. I did read something recently where the scientists were recommending that we should ALL start eating insects. It would go a long way towards helping to feed all the starving people around the planet. Yeah, they are a great source of protein. Yeah, they cost a lot less to produce, they don’t cause as much damage as cattle, they’re easy to raise… yada, yada, yada. Personally, I would prefer people start using birth control before we’re all reduced to eating bugs for breakfast 😉