Lunch and bathroom cleaning

Lunch today! Well, yesterday since I had this all prepared and couldn't get on the internet. Oh, it's so sweet to have a chef on board. All the meals (minus breakfast) come pretty and plated. And with loads of veggies and other healthy stuff. Hooray.

Hello purple toes! Well, I had two purple toes. They went nicely with my big knee bruise, but they've faded beyond any photographing opportunity. All of these great war wounds have been collected as I continue to fall down (and up! that was the worst!) staircases, and kick everything in sight. (You go barefoot on boats.) I've even had some close calls with being nearly successful in ripping off toes. Apparently, these sort of self-inflicted wounds are common and something that you never really become immune to. Yesterday the deckhand fractured his hand....


As part of getting the boat put back together, I've spent a great deal of time detailing heads (bathrooms). (Note: Out of respect for privacy, this isn't a picture of my boat nor is it even my picture, but I'm using it to give you an idea.) It's something I was moderately hesitant about initially, but really it's not so bad when the bathrooms look like this. I now know every surface, crack, crevice and ledge rather intimately. To help pass the time, I ran out and bought an ipod. Can't believe this is the first time I've owned one, aside from the Shuffle I received for Christmas. But I needed something that held as much of my music collection as possible. Repeating the endless loop of workout tunes got old really fast.

I've only been posting on the nights I'm stuck on the boat for watch duty. Seems like every other day I can't wait to run off the boat once I'm done for the day and hang out with people that aren't on board. I figure I'll have plenty of time to hang out here on the boat in the future.

Moved to sixty-six

For the first week of the job we were in the dockyard (having loads of repair work done) which is nothing at all to take pictures of. We were parked right under a freeway so not only was it ugly, it was noisy and dirty too. And there was a parking nazi. But I digress...

We finally moved to a proper marina! Killing two birds with one stone, we did sea trials and moved docking locations in the process. Essentially we got a nice tour of the river on our way out to sea.

Gawked at all of the waterfront properties along the way.

And here we are now. This was the sunset view from the back of the boat as I went to take down the flag tonight. The weather has been beautiful lately. Today's weather was fabulous which made all of the deck work much more bearable. I'm going to interject here that scrubbing decks isn't exactly my most favorite activity, but I can't wait to see all of the places the boat will be while I'm hard at work. As far as deck work not being my favorite thing, I'm glad to say at least I'm not doomed to be stuck in the bowels of the boat forever.

P.S. Sushi for the second night in a row, yay! I've been so exhausted lately, I can't wait to have my first day off. :) I can hardly keep my sentences straight in my head at the moment....

I got a job!

Home sweet home!

My STCW class ended Friday with the firefighting. Friday night everyone met up at Waxy's (a popular yachtie bar). Saturday was the Wizard of Oz party. Sunday we went to the fair. After all of this go-go-go, I wasted almost all of Monday battling the flaky internet connection as I tried to register myself with crew agencies.

Tuesday I decided I had had enough of this virtual limbo and I wanted to go out and actually see boats. I hitched a ride to a marina to do some dock walking. Resumes in hand and monster-sized butterflies in my stomach, I set out towards my first boat.

Unfortunately, that first boat didn't need any help that day (since the guy was dayworking himself) but he suggested I try the boat back towards the entrance. He had heard that they were looking to crew up.



I arrive at the boat and peer up at it from the ground--it was out of the water and on stilts! I spotted a worker wandering around and asked for the captain. I was told that I should just go up and look for him, since he was there somewhere. I nervously hobbled up the wooden staircase and removed my flipflops to board the boat. Everything was covered in blue tape and plastic sheeting and there wasn't a soul around. I was really hesitant to hop on board and wander around since you don't just enter a boat unless invited or escorted, but I needed to find someone.

Eventually I found someone who found someone who could talk to me. I explained myself and after answering a few basic questions, was given an interview! I wasn't at all prepared. The interview itself went well and I liked the people, but since this was my first time even stepping foot on one of these boats and I didn't really even know what I was getting myself into, I assumed that there was no way I had a chance. They were scheduled to do more interviews later in the afternoon. They'd call me the next morning.

The more I thought about it and ran through all they had talked about in my head, the more I realized that this was the perfect opportunity. Basically after psyching myself up all of the rest of Tuesday and then checking my phone in nervous anticipation all Wednesday morning while I found daywork on another boat, I finally called back on my lunch to find out what the story was.

I got the job!!

Apparently they had tried to call, but my phone hadn't been accepting calls. I finished out my day of ironing on the boat I was dayworking on while silently squealing with glee to myself. I was to report back to the boat first thing the next morning.



The pictures in this post were from my first day of work. It was they day the boat went back into the water. A giant crane came and lifted the boat from its stilts and drove it (slowly!) to its spot at the dock to be lowered into the water. The whole ordeal was really quite something to watch. The pictures are a bit deceiving since they make it hard to really grasp the scale of the machinery, but it was incredibly impressive how well these large things were maneuvered.

Until yesterday, I was still living in the crew house but reporting to the docks from 8 to 5. That changed yesterday when I packed my bag and moved on board. Tonight is my first official watch duty and it's a bit eerie to be on the boat all alone at night.

I'm sort of already missing the morning scramble to get ready, coordinate with my ride, fly through Dunkin Donuts to get breakfast and rush to the docks. But really, I just miss the people in the house. Most of them had left already and new people arrived in their place (such is the constant rotation in a crew house), but people are people all the same. Can't wait to have a night off again. :)

But I'm employed! On my first real day of job searching! I'm a lucky son of a gun, I am. And to top it all off, the people on the boat are simply amazing. It's a week later and I still can't quite believe it. :) What a whirlwind.

We went to the fair. We were there! At the Fair!

We went to the fair.... more than a week ago. I am so behind! The house internet has been down and I've been overwhelmingly busy, but I'll get to that later.

We, of course, got corndogs. Good ol' American nourishment on a stick. I finally got it right and went on the rides first and THEN ate my greasy food. Last time I did it in reverse order to not so pleasing results. I really like rides that fling you around a lot. Gotta love the Zipper.

We collected beads from the passing parade and went to the circus. There were no bears. :( The website had a picture of a bear with a ball. Liars.

The boys played games with visions of winning electric scooters in their heads. Not surprisingly, we went home empty handed. Well, no scooters anyway. But it was fun! At the fair!

Crewhouse Commons

A typical evening in the crew house. It's also common for everyone to sit around with their laptops and ignore the TV. Lately, we've been watching non-stop Deadliest Catch, but more often than not the TV is spewing some awful MTV reality programming.

Wizard of Oz Crew Party

Our crewhouse all dressed for the, you guessed it, Wizard of Oz themed crew party. The people in my house are awesome! Normally I would have gone all out in costume myself, but due to lack of resources I was played it tame and went as Toto.

The tin man and the yellow brick road were simply brilliant. Getting everyone ready and put together was so much fun. It's great to be surrounded by people who have such a great sense of humor.

The crew appreciation party itself was great as well. Free food and drink (alcohol). Sushi! And the chocolate fountains were amazing as well. The view of the docks as the sunset was quite nice, but I was too busy snarfing down the sushi to really take notice.

House dinner tonight. There's an absolutely ridiculous huge cut of meat that's going to be served up and the rest of dinner smells amazing. Can't wait!

P.S. I've started the job search. Wish me luck.

Firefighting part 2

Gearing up in class for the first time. I have to admit I felt a bit claustrophobic.

We did drills putting out different types of fires with extinguishers and the fire hose.
Meet "the can". Each group of three descends down into this burning container to practice some firefighting techniques. It was so hot, I don't think I've ever sweat so much in my life! I literally had to peel my sopping wet clothes off once I wiggled out of the suit.

We did search and rescue, too, where you crawl through a simulated pitch black smoky apartment to find and remove a body, but that's not exactly something that you can photograph.

Firefighting 1

Since Blogger and the internet connection here at the house aren't cooperating, I'm only able to post this one picture and tell you that I got to fight fire. And that the whole house is leaving now for a Wizard of Oz themed crew party. Of course I'll elaborate later.

Gumby suits and the STCW

Today was the second day of my STCW '95 marine safety training class. We started off quite fashionably at the pool doing drills in our lovely red survival suits. These "Gumby suits" are essentially giant wet suits that have an insane amount of buoyancy to keep you afloat in an emergency situation... but they are hugely oversized and fill up with water to insulate. Jumping off the board into the water in this awkward suit was a bit daunting, but it was fun watching everyone shooting back up like a cork. (A few people came back up feet first!)


We also did drills with the life rafts. We had to practice flipping them back over right side up and climbing inside as a group. The gumby suits made maneuvering difficult but amusing. At the end of our pool time, climbing out of the water with several gallons in each leg and arm was quite a trip!

Later in the afternoon we were back in the classroom dying of boredom as they lectured about the dangers of drugs and alcoholism in the yachting industry. I had heard it was dull, but after a tiring morning in the pool it was positively brutal. Three cups of coffee and tea, though, and I managed to make it through and pass the daily test.

Trolley to the beach

Sitting on the grass today at the bus stop while waiting for the trolley. Just fork over a mere fifty cents and it'll take you the few miles to the beach saving you from needing to find parking at the beach (which had been a nightmare the day before).

Yay for trolley riding.


Looking down the beach in Ft. Lauderdale, this beach is full of people. Not my favorite beach ever, but interesting for the odd people watching opportunities.


We got ice cream cones and walked the beach for hours. The clouds rolled in with the wind and the crowds disappeared.


Headed back to take the trolley home, but found ourselves in the bar ordering "the fishbowl". Wee! Split between two, it was a feat to finish.


Surprise! The alligator held straight shots of rum. Thus, we named him Rummy.

Yikes, I need to go to bed. Tomorrow is my first day of class.

A Change of Pace

Well, I guess I've put this off for long enough. I've got big news! First, the bad news: I will no longer be baking. The good news: I've headed off on an adventure! So, as the title suggests, we're in for quite the change of pace.

I quit my job, found a home for my rabbit, sold my car, moved my stuff out of the house and across the state to sit in my parents' garage, said goodbye to my friends, packed my life into a backpack and boarded a plane headed for Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.


I don't think I'll ever outgrow my love of window seats. I can spend nearly an entire flight staring out the window, mesmerized by the changing landscape. My emotional butterflies were slowly calmed by the views of the world as I was finally able to relax for the first time in weeks. Flying over Southern and Central Arizona, I entertained myself by identifying all of the familiar landmarks that rose up out out of the haze. The landmarks that embodied the familiarity of the life I was leaving behind.

(The view of the back porch of the crewhouse where everyone congregates for a drink, a smoke and conversation.)

So here I am in Florida. After my initial disorientation of landing alone in a strange (and humid!) place late in the evening, things have been well since I've gotten to know the others who live in this crewhouse. Everyone I've met here has been super nice. One very cool roommate has taken me under her wing and been gracious enough to show me around and give me a taste of the kind of lifestyle I've gotten myself into. Last night the TGIF celebration started early out on the back porch and continued after a brief walk to the "yachtie" bar. Today's plan is margaritas and people watching on the beach. Rough life! ;)

My STCW '95 (safety training) class beings on Monday and will take a week. Then I get to register with crew placement agencies, do some interviews and hopefully I'll land a job as a stewardess on a luxury yacht. Wish me luck!