30/10/2011 20:48:18
Its been a while since I wrote. Everytime I start, something comes up which needs my attention. This time, its the monthly due items which are to be completed before 31st. Except for a few items, they are all done. So now, Im free to write to you until next week, when my ship reaches the next port.
6 days have passed since I wrote to you. A few interesting things have happenned in the meantime. My lucky pen broke, I experienced a large roll which single handedly pulverized the entire ship, I saw the movies 7g rainbow colony and Deivathirumagal(it is strange because of the fact that I watched it with people from 3 different nationalities who did not understand tamil) and so on.
4 days ago, I leaned over the chart table to pickup something and heard a cracking noise. Sensing that it came from my pocket, I searched it to find my lucky cello gripper pen in two pieces. At first, I was upset, but then, for some reason, I pulled out the refill and started writing what was in my mind. When I finished I was surprised to see that I had written 7 A4 sheet papers in 1.5 hours, about just a broken pen. This, I believe, is my first long article. I will put it in my blog when I have the time.
Day before yesterday, around 23.45, a sudden huge wave pushed the ship all the way to 30 degrees to startboard(right hand side is called starboard, left is called port). Things started flying around on the bridge. I switched the light on and secured the things immediately. I then got calls from everyone asking what happenned. I found out that in most of the cabin, unsecured items were thrown off the table. Things in my cabin were ok, since I had cleared up most of it, due to bad weather.
The rolling still continues, but its much better now than it was yesterday.
The day before the rolling, I watched Deivathirumagal with a few of my friends(2 korean, 1 filipino, 1 guy from Kolkata and 2 guys from Chennai). I was surprised to find everyone, even the guys who didn't understand the dialogues, in tears during the court scene where the girl is sent back with her dad. I learnt that language is not a barrier when it comes to expressing and being affected by emotions.
Onto today's news. Dad is now in Vandavasi on the occasion of grandpa's brother's 16th day function. He is also attending Periyappa's retirement celebration and party at Thiruvannamalai. Mom is at home as she does not have anymore leave.
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25/10/201114:04:12
I was a little busy yesterday. Nothing important happenned yesterday. The fixing of ballast tanks is still going on as per schedule. The Chief officer is a little busy.
Today we received the new dmi advice during my watch. So I saw the captain change the route on the ecdis. It was a good learning experience. I have updated WILD regarding this.
I had my last 'ready to eat' yesterday. Today I told one of the filipinos about deepavali(which is tomorrow, as you already know) they told me that it was unfortunate that I will go hungry on deepavali. it turns out tomorrow is the day we advance our clocks by 3 hours. I still havent figured out how the working hours are going to be.
today I also managed to get some sleep in the afternoon and then went on to complete some of my monthly items.
I heard from armando that there is a good shopping mall in balboa. I will try it out when I go there next time. I have also asked for 400 dollars cash advance in balboa. I already have 650 dollars now(including the ones that I lent) and so I will enought cash to buy anything at balboa. I was thinking on the lines of a new electronic device like a music player that I can use on the bridge.
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23/10/2011 12:49:06
Still weary from my long watch yesterday, I started today at 12.15 in the morning. Then I was involved in a mooring operation which lasted till 01.30 AM. It didn't go well. The mooring rope fouled itself on one of the winches and I had to fix it. It was fixed eventually, but only after a long struggle. Then I slept till 6 AM.
The departure was also a nightmare. I was sent to the forward mooring station where it took almost one and a half times the normal time to let go all the mooring lines, due to a delay from the shore crew. I was on watch till lunch.
After lunch, I watched Murugesh play angry birds for some time. It reminded me of the time I was addicted to flash games during my idle period in 2010. I left later and then went to sleep.
I had vegetables and egg for dinner and then relieved Sudheer at 1800. It seems the Chief officer will be busy hereon with the Korean repair team. I hope this 6 hour watch does not become a regular affair.
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16-10-2011 14:27:00
My ship just docked at a port called Yantian, just a few miles away from Hong Kong. I had too short a port stay at Hong Kong to go ashore and to my utter dismay, arrival here is on a bad time and hence I wont be able to go ashore here either. My friends are going out here though. So it would have been just another day over here with absolutely no surprises.
I just talked to my dad over skype. My mom is right now on election duty(remember the local body elections in Chennai?). She has to stay at the election centre along with the voting machines. Our family knows someone in Madhavaram where my mom is and so Im guessing she will visit them and stay at night over there.
When I called Dad again to let him know I couldn't reach mom, he was on another call with Elumalai uncle. I wonder what they were discussing.
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15-10-2011 12:52
Hong Kong Anchorage
This is my first entry onboard this ship. I have started to blog, thanks to the comparitively faster internet onboard this ship. When I first saw the blog interface, I could not figure out why someone would have to click on a particular post to view, since most internet users are not sure what they wish to access(hence the facilities like 'stumbleupon'). So I decided to use the static page facility, which is, after all, a garland of posts once its formatted well. I dont think anybody would follow my blog in the near future and so, not worried that the enthusiasts may not be well informed about changes made by me to my blog.
Life is not good enough to be called good, but its not bad enough to be called bad either. Stepnica is now my home, and my home is right now at anchor off the coast of Hong Kong. There is speculation onboard about when we will reach Hong Kong, since no expected time of arrival has been informed to us by our agents.
Just watched Michael Madana Kama Rajan movie on my laptop, with one of my friends onboard. It turns out that classics can be watched any number of times without being bored, if there is company.
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