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Sunday, June 6 th 2004
It wasn't easy cramming my studio into a suitcase so it took me nearly two months and without the help of Daene, I would probably have missed the boat but I was nearly ready by the time the Safmarine driver arrived at 10.00 AM on Sunday. This was not to be the only time on Sunday I was to be grateful not to be traveling by air, but more on that later.
The ship is berthed at
Milnerton container terminal and boarding is no problem, until I discover that my wife hadn't packed my Berry Blaze or toothpaste. With a bit of cell phone persuasion she drops off the missing objects but not too long after that I unpack my photographic equipment but to my horror I find that I've left all my vidcam batteries behind. Another call, this time to my daughter, solves this and within an hour I have the batteries. Like I said, I'm lucky to be traveling by sea. No way you can get service like that at an airport.
Some hours after the battery problem I discover that I'm watching
containers getting loaded from 20 ft away because my cabin faces forward and I've got a grand stand seat of the proceedings. I take the opportunity to film the loading of scores of containers which I already know will make a great scene when speeded up. Did I mention the three other passengers, the purser, steward or the Captain? Well I had interaction with all of them, not that I was invited into the Captain's cabin, I just sort of wondered in because the door was open. How was I to suspect that he's got the cabin next door to me? Yes folks, this is a 60,000 ton container ship and there are only four passengers on board. I've been fantasing that this sea trip is like boarding a star ship, the Nostromo, to be exact. Now it's only 10.30 PM but I'm trying to change my routine by going to sleep early. See you in 57 years?
Monday 7 th June Day 2: It isn't like I get up early at home, but I'm woken sometime before 7.00AM by loud unidentifiable noises. I try ignoring them and am almost back into dreamland when there's a loud knock on my door. Not sure what's up, I croak out; “Come in” but that doesn't get me any reaction so try going back to Club Duvet, blissfully unaware that ‘general quarters' had just been sounded. My wife has always told me that we could get robbed and I'd sleep through it, let's just hope that the next time I hear that sound will be in the movies, and not hundreds of miles out to sea. Sleep broken, I struggle into yesterdays clothes in the strange environment I've abruptly been woken into. I'm on a giant container vessel somewhere off the West coast of Africa but what is going down? Making my way down a few flights of wobbly stairs I eventually make it to the dining room come bar/lounge. The purser is dressed in a boiler suit and he tells me that there's been a ‘fire', but it's ‘nothing for me to worry about'. It doesn't exactly explain why the ship is now leaning heavily to one side. Sometime after breakfast I make my way up to the bridge where I find out the real story from one of the
bridge crew. One of the ‘chippies', a term for junior seaman, has gone missing during the night and in case I didn't know it we've turned around and are steaming south to look for him. I understand why the ship is leaning so heavily to the side. It's because we're 60,000 tons and we're in a hard turn. This is terrible news. I run downstairs, grab my binoculars and join the watch. There's also a search going on aboard in case he's just holed up somewhere but unfortunately no trace of the missing seaman is found and after some hours of futile searching we turn around and head north again. Word has it that no one can last more than an hour in these waters but that doesn't stop me from thinking about falling two hundred feet into a cold ocean. We're a hundred miles from nearest land so it's understood that he doesn't have a chance. The rest of the day is somewhat somber. The officers don't chat and the crew are busy checking and re-checking every part of the ship. After lunch I pass out on the couch in my luxury cabin, not sure what I should be thinking about.
Supper begins with an introduction to our Captain and officers, and a general clearing of the air regarding their lost shipmate ensues. It's obvious that no one can just ‘fall off' a ship as steady as this, so it's just as obvious that either he jumped, or was pushed. No one wants to think that there's a serial killer on board so we all agree that he must have had bad personal problems to want to end his life like this. Alone in my dark cabin, I'm not too worried because I'm an optimist and time is always in the present, but I've double-locked my door.
Tuesday 8 th June Day Three: The ‘
Transit of Venus' promises a new age, complete with love, compassion and understanding, maybe even some wisdom. This is why I wake more than an hour before breakfast, which is at 8.00 PM . I've slept surprisingly well on the shuddering pillow of the night and after a quick breakfast make it up to the bridge, complete with camera gear, solar glasses and an unused lens from an ill-fated attempt to view the total eclipse of the sun, back in December 2002, but that's another story. The shoot goes well and I get to film some
cadets looking up into the sun with the yellow glasses. The lens works well with the binoculars, as well as with the cam and I clearly see the black dot of Venus crossing the sun. This takes up most of the morning, after which is lunch. I can see it's going to be an effort eating continuously on schedule but will take this as it comes. In the afternoon I decide to go on a hike to the front of the ship and do some photography. Packing everything I think I'll need, including spare clips for both cameras, both tripods and something to drink, I make my way to the bow. Hell, it's only 175m forward, but there are six flights of metal stairs plus lot's of greasy handrails. No biggie, except for the view from upfront. It's just as well that I applied suntan lotion before going because the weather is turning hot. I think I got some great footage and my jeans got greased, but in the edit who knows. Coming back to the cabin after two hours on deck wasn't as claustrophobic as I thought it would be because my cabin is really huge and faces directly forward over the bow. I've arguably got the best view on the boat outside the bridge, which is not surprising because the bridge is only one floor above me. Shaving lightens my load, and I even get to write some sci-fi before supper, which wasn't anything to write home about so I'll stop here for the day. One more thing, they set the clocks back an hour; but how does that affect you if time is always in the present?
Some Photography
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