Day 152 - Home

We ended up back at the house just after 1:30pm on Friday. I had planned to take a picture of the luggage when we unloaded the car, but somehow it didn't happen. Little things like the air conditioning not coming on conspired to keep us a little busy when we got back. However, after a little shopping (okay a lot of grocery shopping) we're somewhat back on track. I will take a little time in the next week and put some overall thoughts about the trip online. This isn't so much for people that we know, but for strangers doing a search perhaps on Rickmers. This is originally how I found blogs from other passengers before we left on our trip.

Day 151 - Oil Refinery

This is the last picture from Houston and likely the last one from the road. The picture is of a refinery we passed on the way into Houston. It was strangely a quite pretty site to see the flame from the stack reflected in the water.

We stopped tonight in Flint, Michigan with only a few thoughts of driving straight through. It was quite late though when we got into Flint, so we’ll make a fresh start of it in the morning. Anyway, we should be home in the early afternoon assuming that the border crossing goes well. Either that or that our luck runs out with all of the road works we’ve passed. So far most of the road works have not actually been working, so you only need to slow down a bit. What we’re concerned is that we’ll suddenly end up on a stretch that’s closed or something!

Day 150 - San Jacinto

There isn’t much to add for today. Just driving, driving, driving. We’re just about 900 miles from Houston, with a little over 700 to go before home. We have a stop planned for tomorrow, so we likely won’t make as many miles as we should. The picture I have for today is of the San Jacinto monument and the Battleship Texas, which were visible while sailing into the port of Houston.

We're in.... Mt Vernon, Illinois. I had to think about that for a moment.

Day 149 - Pelican

This morning we left for SunPark, the lot we had left our car in. It wasn’t a big surprise that the car didn’t start. The staff at the lot tried giving us a boost but in the end we decided it was likely a dead cell in the battery. From what we remember, this is actually the original battery in the 11 year-old Pathfinder, so perhaps it was time for a new one. A call to AAA and within 30 minutes we had their battery service at the lot installing the new battery. The vehicle started smoothly and a few minutes later we were off, on our way back to the ship.

Leaving the ship was tough. Both the captain and crew wanted us to stay for a day or two. There wasn’t another passenger booked into our cabin, so it would have been okay. At this point though, we had everything packed, so we decided to get started on our way back north. We stopped just past Baton Rouge, Louisiana for the night and should be home by Friday.

The picture for today is of a pelican. I took many shots of them in Panama; however, the last shot that I took during the Houston transit is the best. Mainly because we were moving in Houston so they came closer to the ship looking for fish in our wake.

Day 148 - Pilot Boat

We spent our last day just enjoying the ship, having done our packing yesterday. The call for the pilot was for 4pm, so this was great. It meant that we would see most of the transit in the daylight. The Houston pilot was probably the most talkative one yet and spent most of the trip talking to us, the captain, well anyone who was around. It was also the first time I’ve seen a twin-hulled catamaran used as a pilot boat. You would think with all the talking we did I would have asked about that. Anyway, that ended up being the picture I used for today. I did my last load of laundry and finished up my packing just after we docked. Tomorrow morning we will go off the ship and see how the car held up.

Day 147 - Steamboat

Since we’re still in New Orleans at the moment I’ll use a picture of a sister ship to the one we were on yesterday. Loading and unloading went much slower than expected. I suppose it has a lot to do with all of the help wanted signs you see everywhere. The guys working on the wharves seem to be working longer hours than even they want to. Neither the afternoon crew nor the evening crew worked a complete shift. Anyway, it’s almost 3pm, which is our departure time. The engines have just been fired up and before I lose my internet connection I’ll update the blog.

Day 146 - New Orleans

We had a perfect day in New Orleans. The morning was cool, but not cold. The walk to the bus stop was a little longer as the gate we thought we could use was only Monday to Friday. However, at this gate we found a very nice grocery store. (This is important to the story later.) We caught the bus and got off near Riverwalk, a mall of sorts. We walked through it and had coffee and beignets at a branch of the Café de Monde. We walked down to the French Quarter after that and wandered around for a while. This was followed by a jazz brunch at the Court of the Two Sisters, a restaurant we quite enjoy. Then we walked down to the river and took a river cruise for part of the afternoon. It was just warm enough that the breeze from the river was cooling.

Okay, one warning. Never let a bartender named Bayou Billy pick a drink for you. We both had a Hurricane to start with, an old New Orleans special. I went back later for another drink but he was out of grenadine. The margaritas weren’t quite frozen yet so I just asked for a suggestion. He filled a 20 or 24-oz glass with ice and poured Malibu rum to a point where I should have stopped him. Then some pineapple and cranberry juices were added. All in all it was a great sail.

We knew we didn’t want dinner at 6pm so we took the bus back to the port gate, well a few streets north. This gave us a chance to walk through a beautiful neighbourhood on the way back to the grocery store. We bought the makings of a nice cold dinner and headed back into the port. When we were just through the gate a very nice gentleman offered to give us a lift back to the ship. It turns out that he was the night superintendent for our ship. We suspect that the woman at the gate told him she had just let us through. Not only did he save us a bit of a walk but he got us through that secondary gate we had a problem with last time! We even got direct to gangplank service before he went off to park. It was a perfect end to a perfect day. Since I have wireless access from the ship I will upload today’s picture before we sail.

Then tomorrow… we pack!

Day 145 - Mississippi Sunset

We’ve started our transit up the Mississippi River just before 5pm this afternoon. The sun just set a few minutes ago and we’re going to try and nap until about 1am. Then we will get up to see the city passage in the dark. At that point we’ll try and go back to sleep again assuming that immigration doesn’t want to see us. I’m not sure, since technically we left the United States and entered Panama. For some strange reason I suspect we’ll have to pass customs and immigration at 3 or 4am in the morning. I thought I’d update this before I go to sleep so I’ll have it ready to update in the morning. I should have access from the ship, although I might do it downtown instead.

Day 144 - Gatun Locks

Today I was going over the pictures I have taken since we left. I hate to admit it but I’ve taken just over 3000 pictures since we left Canada. That sounds like an unbelievable number of pictures but it works out to just about 21 pictures a day. For those who might be looking forward to seeing pictures of our trip, don’t worry. I have no intention of sitting people down and showing them hours of pictures. In fact I burned a sample DVD today that runs just about 17 minutes. That’s really not bad when you consider that we’ve visited over 20 cities/ports and transited two canals. Today I’m using another shot of the Panama Canal – the Gatun Locks on the Caribbean side. We should start our transit into New Orleans late tomorrow afternoon, although it’s a 10-hour trip. It sounds like we’ll only be in the city for a single day, so it’s a good thing we spent two days there on the way out.

Day 143 - Canal Trains

Now that we’re through the canal I think everyone’s sleep patterns are back to normal. The wind has picked up although it’s still beautiful and warm. We’re headed north through the Caribbean Sea towards New Orleans. At the moment it’s unclear how long we’ll be there. We should be tied up by Saturday morning, but the only information the captain has about the departure is Sunday in the AM. That could be anywhere from midnight until 11am. We’ll find out more once we’re in the city. Hopefully it will be the actual morning on Sunday, as we would like to go to Preservation Hall on Saturday evening to hear some jazz.

I’m using another picture taken at the canal for today’s picture. It’s one of the little trains that help guide the ships through the canal. They used three of them on each side of our ship when going through. One of the officers told me that it was so nice as the ships don’t scrape the sides of the canal, unlike passage through the St. Lawrence Seaway in Canada!

Day 142 - San Pedro Lock

Well, we’re through the Panama Canal, and I don’t think we could have arranged better transit times. The pilot came aboard just after 2am but he then found out our slot in the lock was 4:20am. We moved slowly into position and transited the Miraflores double lock in the dark. In the dark isn’t quite accurate as everything is well lit. We then continued on to the single San Pedro lock as the sun was rising. It wasn’t quite fully light out as we started to sail to Gatun Lake. I will admit that just about 9am I decided to take a little nap, so I missed them dropping anchor. The afternoon transit started with the pilot coming aboard just before 4pm, with the transit through the Gatun Locks being completed just about sunset. This schedule was far from the 1:40am and 10:40pm one that the captain got, and we were all glad. Even the crew who weren’t on duty were up on the decks watching the transit.

Day 141 - Gulf of Panama

This morning dawned the clearest that we’ve seen since we dropped anchor. After wiping the fog off the lens I took some pictures. Yes, it’s that big a difference in temperature between the cabin and the hot humid weather outside. We found out at lunch that our transit will take place on Tuesday. Well, more like Tuesday morning at 1:40am. We’ll be up to see it even though it’s not likely I won’t get any pictures. It’s actually unfortunate for our German passenger as the second half of the transit is currently scheduled for 10:40pm. We’re lucky enough that we’ve been through the canal before so it’s only a minor disappointment.

Day 140 - Covered Pool

Late last night the clouds rolled in, the lightening started, and we got a little bit of tropical rain. It didn’t really clear up today but we didn’t get any more rain. The pool was filled up in the early afternoon allowing for a swim. I think I mentioned the cover a number of days ago. Since then they have improved on the design. Since I had the camera with me yesterday I took a couple of pictures. The new tentative date for transit is Tuesday, with no specific time given. We’ll see if that changes or not. The crew are enjoying their evenings at anchor as this gives them time to fish from the lower decks. They then set up a barbecue and enjoyed the freshly caught fish.

Day 139 - Lifeboat

I don’t think anyone who has been reading along will be surprised that our 2am Panama Transit didn’t happen. Yesterday at dinner the Captain told us that not only had our time not been confirmed, but also that he didn’t have a new scheduled time. Yesterday was a very hot day so it’s a good thing that the pool was filled. As it was Saturday there was a safety drill, this time we were told that they would be putting both lifeboats in the water. So before my swim I grabbed my camera so I could take some pictures. The bigger, covered lifeboat would actually carry all the crew and passengers. Although in this picture they lowered it by a crane, it’s actually on a 45-degree angle and would self-launch if needed. There are actually at least half a dozen life rafts/vessels on the ship, including a raft on the forward section of the ship. It makes you feel safe, i.e. no pushing for seats, but on the whole I’d rather the whole thing not come up!

Day 138 - Antwerp Bow

You can tell today that we’re getting closer to shore. The first clue was that we suddenly have a small flock of seabirds around the bow, looking for fish in the churned up water. Later in the morning we started seeing a few ships. Then at noon, we actually saw land. Okay, it wasn’t that visible, but you could see it. We passed Jicarón, an outer island of Panama, just after dark. By the early morning we should be anchored in the Gulf of Panama, awaiting our transit. Nothing has changed, so our transit will start with the pilot coming aboard on Sunday morning at 2am. The thing is, we may or may not start our transit at that time. Knowing us, we’ll be up on the bridge, just in case!

The picture for today was taken in San Diego as we were taking off for the day. It was nice as the wharf was empty and the unloading hadn’t started yet. I couldn’t get a good angle for the full ship, but since I got one in Kobe it wasn’t as important.

Day 137 - Pacific Sunrise

The day was again spent enjoying the lovely weather. Dolphins were spotted off the bow in the morning and our fellow passenger saw a ray of some sort in the afternoon. I would have thought the water was too deep, but who knows. We’re really just passing the days away on our way to the Panama Canal. I’ve taken some nice pictures of the sunsets but today I’ve actually pulled an earlier shot of a sunrise. It was taken a few days before we came into San Diego. The pink shadow on the right hand side is actually the moon, which was full at the time.

Day 136 - San Diego Sunset

The weather continues to be beautiful. In fact, perhaps even a little hot. The air conditioning is on but to keep the cabins cool you need to keep the cabin door shut. It’s funny, but you tend to get used to the doors being opened. You say a hello as someone passes, or the captain will pass along information as he goes into his cabin next door. The other passenger mentioned that he feels more cut off as he’s starting to close his door as well to keep it cool. Up on deck today it’s definitely hot. When you’re in the sun you definitely need to find a breeze. In fact even in the shade you need to find a breeze. The swim in the afternoon was great, with clear warm water sloshing around the pool. They have put a tarp over the pool to keep it clear of soot from the stack. It turned out to be a good thing as the back deck is in full sun during the afternoon. If the pool hadn’t been covered it would have only been a quick dip. As it was you could laze around in the water for quite a while.

Day 135 - San Diego Skyline

Our fellow passenger made a comment at dinner that I think I agree with. He’s hoping we never get to Houston. Because of the length of the trip the American passenger left the ship in San Diego, and this fellow will leave with us in Houston. The sailing down the west coast has been lovely. The sun shines with only a few clouds now and then. The sea is fairly calm with only a slow rocking motion reminding you that you’re at sea. The pool gets filled each day now with clear fresh water that is getting warmer every day. I checked last night and we will arrive in the Gulf of Panama early Saturday morning. The captain believes our transit will begin Sunday morning (probably at 2am). It’s a 12-hour transit although I suspect we’ll be up at 2am just to see what’s going on. We can sleep afterwards on the way north to New Orleans.

Day 134 - Santa Fe Station

Well, not only has the weather stayed nice, but also it is time to open the pool again. The water is a touch on the chilly side but as the pool is refilled every day it will only get warmer. The skies are clear and the water is a deep beautiful blue. The weather is getting quite a bit warmer so now when on deck you are looking for somewhere with a little bit of a breeze. It’s kind of sad that this will all be over in probably two weeks. We heard from the Captain tonight that there would be seven passengers on the next voyage. Four people will join the ship in Houston and another three in Camden, NJ. Although the ship can carry up to 12 passengers without having a doctor on board, the cabins available allow for seven people. This means we will have to be packed and ready to go when we arrive in Houston.

The picture today is of the Santa Fe railway station in San Diego. The gaslamp district has a number of restored Victorian-era buildings. Modern skyscrapers back the rail station pictured here. There really is quite a mix of architectural styles.

Day 133 - Horton Plaza

We have just over six days of sailing to reach the Pacific side of the Panama Canal. If the weather is anything like today it will be just wonderful. We’re sailing south at the moment off the Baja coast. I found a spot on the deck in the afternoon with lots of sun and just a little wind. Since it’s Sunday the crew (mostly) have the day off. So it’s like having the ship to yourself. Since the upper decks were painted back in Japan it’s likely that the upper deck will be clear of work while we sail down to Panama. These are the days I’m glad we’re not on a passenger freighter. There’s no cruise director, no organized activities, and you don’t have a fight for a deck chair or a spot to place it.

Anyway, the picture for today is one I took yesterday of Horton Plaza. I took so many pictures of it that it was difficult to pick the one I liked best.

Day 132 - Old Town

This morning started early, at 4am. The pilot came aboard and we sailed into San Diego. Customs and immigration came aboard around 6:30am and we were off to see the city. After wandering around the port for a few minutes we asked directions to the port gate. As it happened, it was the port captain who we had asked. He gave us a ride to the gate and dropped us on the main street. He had actually offered to take us downtown if we waited until the unloading had started. We have learned our lesson about this and declined his offer. It’s easier to find your way back to the port if you’ve made your own way out. There was a trolley stop near where he dropped us and this was just perfect. We bought our tickets from a vending machine and boarded the trolley to the old town. After a nice breakfast at the Courtyard Hotel, and a quick internet use, we wandered back to the old town. This is actually a state park that preserves some of the earlier buildings in San Diego. As it happens today was Cinco de Mayo so there was a three-day celebration going on.

Afterwards we caught the trolley back into the Gaslamp Quarter. After walking around the various streets we visited Horton Plaza. This is probably the most interesting shopping mall I’ve ever been in. It’s a six level rambling galleria built around an open plaza. We had our lunch in a Brazilian grill restaurant, wandered around a bit more, and then sadly had to get back to the ship. It’s amazing how 8 hours can pass so quickly when you don’t want it to. The captain welcomed us back on board with the offer of a cold drink. I think he was just happy to see us back when he asked us to be. We also saw the port captain again and spent a little time chatting. We set sail just before 7pm, and sailed out of the bay just as the sun was setting. It was just a perfect day.

Day 131 - Propulsion

I’m writing this quite early this morning as the late evening, when I usually put this together; I’m hoping to be asleep. We’re close enough now to California that I know we’ll make the 4am pilot call for tomorrow morning. I might waver about getting up at that hour, as there will be little to see. However, customs and immigration will come aboard at 5:30am and the captain told me this morning that they do want to see the passengers. Each port is slightly different, although mandatory attendance in the United States doesn’t really surprise me.

For pictures it has worked out well as today I will use the last of my reserve pictures. This is a small section of the engine system – the seven cylinders. The ship’s propeller is driven by a single drive shaft almost 8 meters in length. I know I’ve already mentioned it but the engine room is quite amazing. Even the fresh water unit is surprisingly small, using a vacuum system to produce more than enough fresh water for us every day.

Oh, and for anyone keeping track, I think the current arrival date in Houston is now May 19th. It’s wavered around that date a couple of times so it’s probably fairly accurate. I suspect until we’re actually leaving New Orleans I won’t know for sure though!

Day 130 - Bosun and Fitter

We went through our 8th and final time change last night. Well, technically there are still three more to go, but they will come after we leave San Diego. Both of us are still having problems with the time changes. In fact, so is the captain. We were talking today and his last vessel sailed from Australia to Asia with a maximum of 2 hours of changes. So for him this is a big change as well. The weather is getting a fair bit warmer and if you can find a piece of the deck that is sunny and shielded from the wind it’s very pleasant. I’m looking forward to the sail down the west coast to Panama. Hopefully the water will be warm enough that they will fill the pool each day.

Today’s picture is one I took in Kobe. It was the morning I went onto the wharf to take the picture of the ship. On my way back a couple of the guys were waving and shouting for me to take their picture, so I did. At morning break I took the laptop down to show them the pictures and I ended up being asked for copies of it and the one of the ship as well.

Day 129 - Bridge

Today’s GPS information actually makes us feel like we’re getting closer to San Diego. It’s Wednesday today and the pilot call is for 4am on Saturday morning (the 5th). We will only have 12-hours of unloading in port however it looks like the port couldn’t be more convenient to the city. I even printed a small map out of Microsoft Streets and Trips, the software I’m using for the overall trip map. So assuming everything goes well we have a plan for Saturday. One of our passengers will disembark in San Diego. The voyage has taken longer than expected and she doesn’t want to wait until Houston. It probably doesn’t help that we will be going to New Orleans before Houston. For us this was good news, even with a later arrival.

Today’s picture is of the bridge. I’ve tried a couple of different shots however they all tend to be a little overexposed because of all of the windows. I keep meaning to try taking one in the evening but so far I haven’t.

Day 128 - Waves

Well, the first of May started ominously, with dark grey clouds. It did clear up during the day however we’re still getting a fair bit of a roll. It’s actually a nice constant rocking motion. This is quite different from the crossing of the Atlantic where these side-to-side rolls were interspersed with lunges forward and back. Later in the day I played with the camera a bit. I rested it against the windowsill in the cabin and took shots as the ship moved from side to side. It’s quite interesting to see them together. I was up on the bridge today and we’re showing as 10pm at the pilot station on the 4th of May. I suspect it will change a little and I know we’re really hoping for a morning transit. It’s kind of a catch-22, as a late evening transit would likely let us have more time in San Diego.

Day 127 - Engine Control Room

Yikes, another time change tonight. I figure at this point we have four more evenings at sea and we need to do three more changes. At the moment I’m hopeless about sleep. Last night I was still awake at 6am and thinking I might as well get up later and go to breakfast. I did fall asleep at some point before 7am but only really slept until 9am. I think I dozed off and on in the living room until just before lunch. I wasn’t going to sleep this afternoon but gave up and managed to catch a few hours sleep. My mother is doing marginally better, but not much. Even the captain mentioned it tonight at dinner as he’s finding himself awake at odd hours and not able to get back to sleep. Gunter, one of our fellow passengers, is finding that he can sleep at 4pm but not at 10pm. Oh well, a few more days and we’ll be in California and at least for a while there will be no time changes.

The picture today is one I took back in Shanghai, while getting a tour of the engine room. It’s a huge, multi-level structure that it pretty much spotless and well lit. The day we went through it we were tied up. Even so the noise level made it almost impossible to get more than rudimentary information. This room, which was quiet, is the control room. From here they can monitor and control the many pieces of equipment. I don’t think you are prepared for how the engine areas look after seeing one too many movies shot in the bowels of ships.

Day 126 - Officers' Mess

The weather has finally cleared and we’re getting clear, slightly warm days. I’m not sure what the temperature ended up at today but it was 13C at 8am. With the many time changes (five now) my internal clock is a bit messed up so I didn’t sleep at all last night and ended up napping in the afternoon. Tomorrow if the weather holds I think I’ll do my napping in a deck chair on the upper deck. The picture for today shows the officers’ mess where we eat our meals. I know a while back I talked about the meals, so this is only to show the room and the centre platform that holds all the condiments, meat, cheese, water, juice, etc.

Day 125 - Nagasaki

Well, it was another quiet day at sea. The weather improved slightly today with the sun finally coming out. I think we’ve officially passed the halfway mark to San Diego. We were teasing one of the other passengers today as we passed Hawaii. This was something he had asked about, so the captain pointed out that we would be sailing past it tomorrow. Of course it will be almost 1000 miles south of us. I suppose that’s a little too far for a quick stop.

The picture for today is a last shot of Japan, specifically Nagasaki harbour. The rest of the shots until we reach the United States will be of the ship. We were talking about it tonight, being quite happy we will dock before going through the Panama Canal. Sometimes you get a little stir crazy when at sea for too long. It probably wouldn’t be so bad if the weather were better. When the weather is better you can spend plenty of time outside, so it doesn’t seem so bad.

Day 124 - Container Handling

Our second Friday passed uneventfully. The weather has started to clear up a little bit and the sun keeps trying to break through the clouds. It was quite pleasant on the decks although they are still quite wet. We’re crossing our fingers and hoping that the weather improves as we approach North America. The only bad thing is that we have another 5 time changes to make before we dock in San Diego. I had originally thought we had 7 changes to make however I hadn’t taken daylight savings time into account. The three changes we’ve gone through have already started to affect my sleep patterns.

The picture for today was taken in Kobe, although we’ve seen this type of handling before. The equipment is used to take the containers off the incoming trucks and stack them in the local yards. It’s quite interesting to watch them work. I’m still amazed by how much cargo is moved by the many ships travelling between ports.

Day 123 - Kobe Park

There’s nothing really to say about today. The weather continues to be dull and grey. This morning was grey, by afternoon it was worse, by dinnertime you couldn’t see the bow of the ship. The only good thing is the waves are modest and the wind is nonexistent. The most interesting thing is that today is Friday and tomorrow will be Friday again. Yes, during the day tomorrow we will cross the International Date Line. Somehow I thought we would actually repeat Saturday, but I guess not. We’ll also see how this affects our arrival date in San Diego. I noticed today that our arrival is now projected for May 4th instead of May 5th as we’re making good speed across the Pacific.

The picture for today is also from Kobe. I think it is Higashi-yuenchi Park however I could be wrong. I know that the statues and design of the park had a dedication plaque. Of course, I didn’t take a picture of it so I’m not entirely sure.

Day 122 - Kobe Tower

It is beginning to look like we could have poor weather all the way across the Pacific. Today again has been grey and stormy. It hasn’t really been raining, but this isn’t the type of weather you want to be outside it. It doesn’t seem to be as bad as crossing the Atlantic was although it’s possible by now that we’re just used to it. With the second time change the routine now seems to combine sleeping late with listening to audio books in the afternoon. Even adding today’s position data leaves a large expanse of ocean to cross.

The picture of the Kobe tower is obviously one taken when back in Japan. Like a lot of city towers you could go up to see views of the city. Unfortunately when we got to it that day it had just started to rain a bit so we didn’t go up. This was actually where we caught the city tour bus that gave us some great views of the city. I think we were both sorry that we really only had one day in the city.

Day 121 - Current Location

The rain picked up this morning. There were various levels of rain throughout the day however it was constant. We have another time change tonight, although last night we seem to have solved the problem. Instead of going to sleep early, we stayed up later. Since we almost never go down to breakfast at 8am it really doesn’t matter if we sleep later. Dinner tonight included wine from one of the other passengers, so we all sat after dinner having a bit of a chat. The captain has been providing wine on Sunday usually. Last week we decided to beat him to it. So he just provided wine on Saturday. You can’t be sneaky about it since he gets the order slips once you have signed them.

For the picture today I just updated our position on the mapping program. You can see that even though we’re only into our third day away from Japan that there is still a very long way to go.

Day 120 - Dangerous Work

Well, we passed what will probably be our last sight of land this morning. Specifically, they were the islands of Hachijo-kojima and Hachijo-jima, off the coast of Japan. Our passage will take us on a slightly northern arc, coming back south as we near the coast of the United States. It’s pretty windy on deck, so we spent most of the day inside. There’s only a slight roll. You can tell it’s not too rough, as the chairs aren’t locked down in the dining room. Last night the water bottle had been put out on its side. That’s the first sign of rough weather. It was slightly calmer today, so it was back upright. I was watching the guys painting part of the ship today, with only a tether around their waists. It would stop them from falling off the ship, but not from falling. Our first of seven time changes will come tonight, something I’m not looking forward to. When crossing the Atlantic we went through six changes, and I found that it really threw off my sleep patterns. Hopefully this time will be better.

Day 119 - Fully Loaded

Our first day at sea in the Pacific wasn’t a promising one. The morning was grey and rainy, with it only clearing a little by the late afternoon. I went up to the bridge in the morning to look at our projected arrival time into San Diego. At the moment it is showing as May 5th, in the early afternoon. The course computer shows arrival in local time, so for now I’m going to assume this means it will be May 5th with the repeated day. If this is correct it means almost 14 full days at sea. Hopefully we’ll see the sun tomorrow. The picture for today was taken from the pilot deck in the late morning. It wasn’t actually raining at the time, however, the strong winds made it impossible to stand up there for more than a few minutes. It shows the ship fully loaded for its trip across the Pacific. The white objects (both the rectangular and the bubble shaped ones) are part of power-generating windmills. They are bound for Houston and part of something called the Comanche Project.

Day 118 - Sailboats

We woke up to pouring rain this morning. We knew this was a possibility when we chose not to go into the city yesterday. The problem is that everywhere we had picked to see was an outside location. We got up anyway and had breakfast, in the hope that it might clear up. It didn't really look like it was going to clear but you can always hope. After lunch we decided that it wasn't going to clear and as the rain had stopped around the port area that we would just go off the ship to the local store. This was mainly because we had some Yen left over. We made a few purchases and stepped to the door of the mall and were met by pouring rain. We hung out for a bit, but eventually decided just to walk back. Even with rain cape (mother) and umbrella (myself) we were soaked by the time we made it back. The snapshot of the sailboats was taken yesterday. I was going to take a few pictures of the port as well, however, it never cleared up well enough to do so.

We sailed just before 9pm, and it was still raining. That’s the last land we will see until we get to San Diego. I believe that will be 12 or 13 days from now. I’m just a little confused with how crossing the International Date Line will affect the projected date, as we will repeat a day. Tomorrow, once we're at full speed, we will have a general idea of how long it will take. The course plotting system shows a visual location and the time to the next pilot system. It is constantly changing as our speed changes though, so it’s only a rough guide, especially for longer passages.

Day 117 - Nagasaki Harbour

We arrived in Nagasaki this morning, although for various reasons we did not go ashore until the afternoon. As we are here for a full day tomorrow, we just wandered off down the street once we were out of the port gate. We went past a pachinko parlour and wandered through a local shopping centre before heading back to the ship. We have a tourist map of Nagasaki City, which is about 15 to 20 minutes by bus. The plan is to head into the city tomorrow morning. This is assuming that the number 7 bus that runs down the street here is the one that goes into the city. We should have attempted to find that out today, but didn’t. Either way, we’ll see some of the area. I do hope it’s the right bus as the tourist map looks quite good and even points out four places I can get internet access.

Tonight we’ll walk out of the port again with some of the crew. Although I think they would like to shop as well, I’m not sure if the shopping centre we were at today took US dollars. That was one thing we did before we left – get small amounts of local currencies for predicted ports. Perhaps just enough to pay for a taxi if needed, but it has been very helpful. Even though I think it may bother our American passenger not all countries are interested in you paying in US dollars. The exception to this is usually the closest variety store to the port and the nearest bars.

(late evening update)

We discovered something very important tonight in the local port area. There are no bars. We found only restaurants, shops, and a pachinko parlour. We walked into a residential area in one direction, and at least a kilometer from the port road in the other direction. Also, the crew couldn’t get any money changed at all. The banks are only open from 9am to 3pm on Monday through Friday. Since we couldn’t find a bar we chipped in the Yen we had taken with us, along with our German passenger (Gunter) and we bought beer and snacks to take back to the ship. It’s important to know that you cannot buy alcohol on the ship while you are in port. This isn’t usually a big deal, but tonight it was. We tried setting up a bar on the pool deck, as the night was quite warm, but eventually moved into the crew mess.

Oh well, tomorrow we will head into the city. This is assuming that the No. 7 bus is the one that actually goes there. We have enough Yen left for the bus trip in and out as well as a reasonably priced lunch. Assuming I get this online tomorrow, this will be the last update until at earliest San Diego. At the moment our arrival date for San Diego is May 6th.

Day 116 - Rickmers Antwerp

Last night’s weather was a little rough when we swung into the Pacific. It was nothing like our sail across the Atlantic but it was the first time we’ve had a noticeable roll to the ship in a while. The morning dawned bright and beautiful and the day’s sailing was wonderful though. Today they were painting the pilot deck and the deck with the pool on it. The ship is constantly being scrapped, primed and painted. I suspect it’s a losing battle no matter how hard they try.

It’s just after 7pm and we’re almost at the anchorage point. Unless it’s changed, the pilot will be aboard tomorrow morning just before 7am. This will be our last port before crossing the Pacific so I will try and update the blog in Nagasaki. Some of the crew asked if we wanted to go to the seaman’s mission tomorrow night. If it’s actually a mission it will likely have internet access. If it’s a club it will likely just have beer. I’m not sure if the distinction between club and mission is quite so important to the guys.

Day 115 - Motomachi Shopping Street

Last night’s rain had cleared away by morning. I was up early and thought for a bit that it wasn’t going to, but it did. At breakfast the captain mentioned that we would be leaving early, but wasn’t sure exactly what time. He was hoping for noon, however, in the end it turned out to be 3pm. With no specific departure time it was a bad idea to go back to the city. Just before 9am though I went down onto the wharf and managed to get a picture of the ship. This sounds easier than it is. Usually between equipment waiting to be loaded, and traffic, it’s not possible to get the entire ship. I missed a perfect chance in Avilés and haven’t had another good one since. The picture I chose for today is of the Motomachi Shopping Street. It’s numbered in six sections, each one being a city block. It’s a really nice place to stroll through. Since the major streets, and even alleys, are open to the elements, it allows fresh air in. You don’t get that mall feel and you don’t have to worry about carrying an umbrella in questionable weather.

We’re currently sailing between Kobe and Nagasaki. Although we’ll be in Nagasaki tomorrow evening, we will drop anchor and wait for the pilot to come aboard on Saturday morning. I had to really think about that for a moment. Today is Thursday. It’s sometimes tough to remember these things.

Day 114 - Minatogawa Jinja

We arrived in Kobe this morning just after 7am. Immigration would not clear us with the crew so it was arranged that the agent would take us to them. This turned out to be the best thing ever. Not only did he escort us to immigration but he took us to a shrine afterwards, as the stores were not open. After letting us out in front of a bank, to exchange money, he arranged a meeting place for the afternoon. The time was actually of our choosing. On top of this he provided a tourist map as well as contact information and another map with instructions for a taxi driver if we chose to come back at a different time. This left the four of us to explore on our own with a guaranteed ride back to the ship. It was just perfect.

Kobe is a beautiful city. I suspect some of this has to do with an earthquake in 1995 that destroyed a good part of it. There is no evidence of this by now, with everything being rebuilt. Some of the public spaces we walked through were beautifully landscaped with large sections being devoted to park space. We walked through two shopping streets that are actually glass covered, yet still open-air. As most cities there is a Chinatown, which is beautiful. I was sorry afterwards to realise that I hadn’t taken many pictures of it. We spent most of the day just walking around, exploring the city. We had Kobe beef for lunch, something at home that is touted as the best beef. It was a pretty good lunch. Late in the afternoon it darkened a bit and rain threatened. We were down near the waterfront and spotted a city tour bus. For 250 Yen (a few dollars) we spent an hour seeing the sights while it rained a little. Now, although the map was in English, the tour was not. It really didn’t matter as the tour map gave enough information so we could follow where we were.

The streets are labelled in English and a lot of the stores have English in their signs, as well as packaging for some consumer goods. This should not be confused as a city where English is widely spoken. Having said that we had very few problems getting around or purchasing what we needed. I had a short conversation in one of the shopping street with a woman whose English was excellent. She had offered help with directions, which I hadn’t needed, and was fascinated by the trip we were taking. Anyway, when we were early back to our meeting spot we went into a coffee house, something the city is full of. The waitress said she didn’t speak English, however, she understood that we wanted coffee, that my mother wanted something sweet to go with it, and afterwards that a restroom was required. So, she really did speak enough English. At least for these horrible tourists who speak no Japanese. Overall, it was a lovely day.

Day 113 - Kaanmon Straights

Last night just around midnight I went up on the bridge to see what time we would be at the pilot station. The display showed about 4:30am although the captain told me that the pilot was called for 6:30am. I went back to the cabin and we set the alarm for 6:30. As it was the pilot actually came aboard slightly early. The good thing was that the ship must have arrived early and slowed down, or stopped. The rumble of the engines woke us both up and we saw the pilot boat pulling away. I actually caught a few late sunrise pictures, something I’ve rarely done on this trip. The passage through the Kaanmon Straights was lovely, however, it’s much more built up than the passage into Masan. We spent the afternoon sailing through the Inland Sea, coming out into the Pacific later in the day. We should be in Kobe sometime late tonight.

Day 112 - Masan

The one thing that’s important when you’re on a trip like this is not to get too invested in your plans for the day. We woke up to heavy rain, so even though we were to stay here most of the day it just wasn’t a day to walk around. With a few exceptions we have generally made no plans of things to do or places to visit. When we came into Brussels we had decided to go to Bruges, however, this was a safe bet as historically the ships were always there at least 3 days. Once we were in and found out we would be there four or five days we added Ghent and Brussels to the list of places to go. Anyway, we sailed out of Masan about 9pm at night. This was almost a perfect time to sail, as this will get us into the Kaanmon Straights early tomorrow morning. Okay, probably about 6am, so perhaps 10pm would have been a better time!

Day 111 - Port of Masan

It was another lovely day in Masan. Activities today included another trip into the city as well as watching the cargo operations. Next to where we are docked there are a constant stream of roll-on / roll-off ships. On the wharf are rows and rows of Daewoo cars and Volvo excavators that seem to be headed off across the world. When passing the cars the other day they are addressed to places like Mexico, South Africa and Chile. As it was Sunday the pace seemed a little slower. The captain had provided some wine with dinner so we had an enjoyable chat afterwards while we finished up the wine. It seems like we will likely be here most of the day tomorrow. So it was probably a bad idea to get rid of all the Korean Won today. Tomorrow we will likely just walk out through the wharf and down the street a bit, although I don’t think there is much to see in the immediate area.

Day 110 - Passage to Masan

The pilot time of 6am this morning ended up being more like 10:30am. I’d set the alarm for 6am, but figured out quickly that we weren’t even close to moving. I heard the captain about and he told me that 5 minutes before they were supposed to come aboard they changed the time. It’s got to be a frustration to him even though he deals with it well. For us, the passengers, this was a wonderful thing. The fog lifted considerably and the sail in was gorgeous. I took tons of pictures even though I don’t think individual pictures quite capture how beautiful the passage was. There were many small islands and rugged coastline. There was still a mist in the background and it seemed every time you turned around you saw more hills and mountains in the background.

We came into the port just at noon and shortly after lunch we decided to go ashore. Originally we were just going to walk around the port area, however, after talking to the supercargo we changed our minds. One of the crew bugged probably every stevedore on the wharf until he found one that understood him enough to write down the port address for us. We managed to get a fellow at the port gate / office to call a taxi for us to take us shopping. We tried to get the concept of internet access across to him - this was a lost cause. He also checked our return address and confirmed it. When the taxi came he came back out and made sure that the driver knew where we were going. It was a great start.

As we passed through the downtown core I spotted what I thought was an internet café. As I was trying to figure out how to get him to stop he pointed to a curb with a number of taxis. I agreed and he let us out there. This was just about perfect as it was a quick walk back to the internet place and now we knew where to get a taxi back to the ship. I should explain that we actually found very little English spoken, even though we got on well. The internet place (PC Zone – this was a hint) was up a couple of flights of stairs and was probably the nicest one I’ve been in since leaving home. I saw the number 1000 on a sign and pulled out a 1000-Won note. This got me an hour’s time and I started 37 days of website updates. I ended up having to take more time towards the end, but got everything done. I answered some email and downloaded the current Manila Times from the website (for the crew).

Meanwhile, my mother did a little shopping, and we bought some lovely strawberries just before we headed back to the ship. Getting a taxi was easy and in no time we were back home with our purchases. After dinner I helped the crew to print out the web pages and now we’re not quite sure what we want to do tomorrow. The city itself is lovely, however, I suspect that the sail in today showed us the best of it. Anyway, we’ll figure it out tomorrow.