A PIDGEON THAT NEVER FLIES

Cape Tallin enroute to Houston, Texas U.S.A. , Some where in the Atlantic, time zone is UTC -03:00



Was off the hook in cleaning the distilled water tank located on the steering gear room and instead was put on the task in helping out the new pump man in changing the isolation valves for the COW IGS machines (a.k.a butter wash machines) and replacing the old gaskets, For the moment where still in the 3 wings area (cargo hold area no.3 port and starboard side , Left and right for short). One thing I find funny on the said task is that I'm cutting out gaskets in Teflon plastics sheets, Honestly I don't see any point on why am I making Teflon gaskets and making that much effort , I mean during my previous ship we don't exactly "Made" Teflon gaskets at all and instead buy them from IMPA and received them via the provisions. I guess Career and CSM Management is very stiff when it comes to its crew eh ? Oh well anyway it doesn't really matter at all if that would be the case, I'm just disappointed that we have to "make" them instead of ordering one. Hopefully I only get to sail with this company for two ships only and after that I'm moving on, regardless of the situation.



In other news we recently had a fire drill and familiarization here at cape tallin , the drill isn't exactly a "Drill" at all and that its more like a re-organization of sorts and we were informed by our Russian Chief Mate of our new task whenever if there will be a fire. As to document or record what a fire drill is onboard , I slipped in my spy pen camera to record it on video. Everything was going fine and I was recording it when Mess man Ferdinand notice my spy cam and told a few people that I'm currently recording, I told him to be quiet but he kept on mumbling and as a result 3rd engineer Cranz and the New Pump man discovered that I have a spy pen as well. Not a very good sign really and to avoid further discovery from other people I just made an alibi that my spy pen ran out of batteries to 3rd engineer Cranz , The New Pump man and Mess man Ferdinand and hid it under my right pocket.



One thing I really hate about having Filipino's onboard is that the word "Confidentiality" is poorly understood here and that sooner or later some big mouth guy will spread something of what he knows and in my case I'm annoyed that Mess man Ferdinand cramps my style and that he should have kept his mouth shut about me having a spy pen. Honestly I'm the kind of person who values confidentiality and privacy , I dislike people that have big mouths.



In other news around onboard , I'm still continue the gym program "Patrick" gave me with and being at the gym really helps on my strength and stamina (though I couldn't say if my muscles will ever get built up) , I do my gym every other day as not to injure myself and even have my very own gym gloves ( the one I bought at TOBY's sporting store 2 years ago and brought it along). I plan to do gym exercises late at night to avoid prying eyes from some of the crew, unfortunately one gym session had me going to the gym a bit early as in 6:30 pm and as result 3rd mate Corales saw me doing gym sessions. To avoid any more further questions I hurriedly finished the gym session.



Going back to matters on the deck ….



I admire the pigeon that always stayed near the paint room , and even thought at the moment were currently in the mid Atlantic area it was always there and stays on that area, it never flew far off and was always staying there patiently. Some of the crew gave it food and water , and took it as a "Pet", the pigeon is very friendly and doesn't get startled when people are around - probably it indicates that this pigeon is already domesticated and is already used to having interactions with humans for some time .



Believe it or not it relieves stress seeing a pet around the deck area and having it as a pet, Unfortunately I should know better that we can't keep and take care of the pigeon on the long run and sooner or later this bird has to go. Its ok for now to keep the pigeon until the trans-Atlantic transit.



In other news on deck….



There has been a rumor that this ship will not yet get to go to the ship yard for repairs (Dry dock) and said that there is a possibility that after Houston this ship will be at Valenzuela and probably to Asia (best bet is china, since this is a Chinese made ship). For the moment I don't know the exact details but what I did heard from Patrick is that this ship will be in a "lightering condition" In Houston to remove some of its cargo as its overloaded from Houston standards . Expect another ship to ship operations in Houston, only this time its unloading and not loading.

EXONERATION

Cape Tallin , Position : In the North Atlantic enroute to U.S.A. E.T.A. July 28 2013



After sometime that he was suspected that he used the IMMARSAT phone , it was finally revealed that A.B. "Patrick" did not used it at all. He's innocent - it was Mess man Ferdinand Penera who used it. Captain Igors Slabada verified the number that registered to the IMMARSAT to Career Ship management and Captain Galang ( Career Superintendent ) said that the number was from our Mess man. I'm not sure what will be the repercussions for mess man Ferdinand on using the IMMARSAT phone - it could cost him he's promotion for O.S. ( Ordinary Seaman) , or a bad report to the shipping office. What ever , It doesn't really matter anyway . The main point was A.B. Dondonilla was exonerated from the accusations, showing he's innocent - that the accusations are purely vengeance and jealousy related.



A real sense of justice for him knowing that "Patrick" was right and them wrong.



In other news related to work onboard



Soon after we left , we were immediately put off on deck work cleaning. On my part BOSUN AMICAN gave me a job cleaning the forward part of the ship ,removing bird dropping as the sea gulls from Amsterdam littered the place with their poop. Cleaning the forward part wasn't an easy job having only a deck brush in hand , I was with the new A.B. cleaning the said area until around 10 am.



Later in the day, A.B. "Patrick" volunteered to teach me Gym and body building lesson, I hesitant at first but I figured I got all the time to spare here onboard and that he has a point, I do need it in the sense that I could lift and carry objects and to maximize my abilities as much as possible. I agreed and said that the gym lessons will start this Saturday.



Saturday July 13, 2013.



Since this is Saturday - its only half day work, Based on what I learned from the new A.B. and the new Pump Man , Some ships here in Career Ship Management don't have Saturdays and Sundays off and that Cape Tallin is a blessing considering that Saturdays is just only half day work and Sunday to be rest day. Having no rest day onboard means that everyday is work day , Oh my ! I guess that's a total nightmare if I'd be put on that kind of ship and I think its worse. Sometimes I do think having a full crew of Filipino's is way better than a mixed nationality , on the sense that there is a rest day and that the only problem I could see is that Filipino's have a nasty habit. As bad as Filipino's could be - some nationalities are even far off worse, but then again I'm not staying long here in career - as a matter of fact I'm just hanging out to make a solid foundation on my sailing job.



On the morning work, I had my hands full in transferring the mooring wire from the aft part of the ship to the forward part of the ship. It wasn't an easy task as we had to use the port winch in dragging it and later manually lifting it with our bare hands and dragging it to the BOSUN'S Store. My back hurts like crap there in lifting the wires.



Before the drill, I asked "Patrick" for professional advise in regards to using my stored equipment, He gave me an advised that it would be best if I use those said equipment after he disembarks on the ship and that it might brought jealousy around the people on board if I use it now. For the moment he said , there is a huge possibility that it will happen. I took his advised and will waited until "Patrick" and some of the crew disembarks on next port.



Late in the afternoon, We went on to a drill - actually its more like a shipboard familiarization to the five new crew members. As usual they (including us the old crew) were debriefed and was showed around on the safe emergency equipment onboard. The new Chief mate showed us the emergency Foam generator and generator room, as well as the CO2 room (Carbon Dioxide Room ) which its primary function is that if ever the fire gets out of control (something close to a firestorm) the last resort would be gassing out the fire and deprive it with oxygen. Last part of the Familiarization was the lifeboat operation , which 3rd mate Corales demonstrated on us on how to operate the life boat and launch it . Good thing I brought along my spy cam for the "field trip" and took videos on the familiarization drill, unfortunately for me when I check it out on my computer the aim of the spy cam is only on the body of a person and not on what I'm looking at , oh well maybe the next familiarization drill I'd fare better in getting some secret video's



In the evening I had decided to start taking Gym / weight lifting lessons from "Patrick" , after all he has a point that since being a sailor is more related to a manual / construction job , it would be best that I get some "Power" and "Strength" on my bone and muscles. After all I don't get to use my brain here and its more "Muscle" rather than thinking. On the Gym Weight lifting lesson , My performance was horrible and that I could only lift a barbell for only six repetitions out of 12 and one set of exercise out of three . Aside from that after the said gym lesson , my whole upper body (Chest and arm area) was very heavy .



"Patrick" says that its normal to be horrible at first , as time goes by my performance and strength will improve, Just patiently do my Gym every other day and Improvement will arise on the latter.



Sunday July 14, 2013



Thank God its rest day and In some ways I feel thankful that there is a rest day here on this ship. According to what I heard correctly from A.B. Mallorca, the "new" A.B. and from the "new" pump man, Some ships in CSM don't have one.



For the moment, I had already collected enough dirty gloves and decided to wash them since working gloves here on this ship are hard to come by. My washing procedure is to wipe the dirty glove (or coveralls) with anti-grease gel detergent called "Gresol jelly hand cleanser" , then put a small part of a bar of soap called "ZOTE" and if possible add a few amounts of a typical laundry detergents (just directly put these in the washing machine - don't wipe) , and wash it in a washing machine of 60 degree's Celsius of water . The results were staggering and after washing ,it showed that the grease marks and stains were permanently removed and that the gloves looked like almost brand new.



Before I discovered "Gresol" I was having difficulty removing grease stains on coveralls and Gloves as normal laundry detergents, bleach and even a standard liquid based detergent called "Tee-pol" is in effective in removing grease. I discovered it by accident when I washed my hands with Greasol , as the part of my grease riddled coveralls that was exposed to greasol showed cleared "Spots" indicating that even grease stain marks were removed. On the latter I decided to experiment and covered my grease riddled coveralls whole with Greasol and put it in a washing machine, The results went more than I hoped for and I don't have to worry about grease stains or marks ever again. Absolutely "Gre-Sol" is the wonder detergent to us against grease here on the product tanker. Unfortunately all wonders have limitation as Gresol is not intently used to wash for Coveralls and gloves (its is used meant to be used in bare naked hands only) and this ship has only a limited supply of it - as in only a box and I already used half of it by now.

Thank god there is "GRESOL" not only washes dirty oily hands but removes tough oil stains on clothes

Going back to what I did this Sunday…..



I ordered on the bond store for this day , 6 cases of mineral water, 1 case of Coca Cola soft drink and 6 PCS of TOBLERONE chocolate bars. 6 cases of water seems to be a bit exaggerated but here onboard Cape Tallin , Water is essential - as water here does not come for free for some reason and it is bought from the bond store. Good thing that I'm no longer constrained on the financial limitations of a "Deck Cadet" as my position now is "Ordinary Seaman" , and I have a bigger purchasing power compared to my earlier (disastrous) days in sailing. Good thing water comes very cheap here and I don't have to worry much about it.



"Patrick" delivered those stuff on my Cabin and we had a conversation, well he's just asking an advice on whether or not he'd repaired the Play station 3 console for his kid. I gave him an advise that it depends on him since I myself don't know about parenting and don't have kids. I said he could do a trial and error system and check out which one is best suited for his kid - I added that having a Play station 3 for his kid didn't worked out well and ended up his kid having trouble adapting socially to other people, why not try not having a Play station 3 gaming console around and see if his kid will be adapt more socially to other people - if It doesn't work out then go back to having a play station 3 around.



The rest of the day I was busy doing other stuff and repairing my working equipment. I was planning if I could put now pouch knee pads on my coveralls just like the one's I saw on Mr. Ards Jekabsons coveralls, which gave me a bright idea about it. Maybe I'd install it later , but I'd definitely put those idea's on my coveralls later on.

RULES TO REMEMBER IN WORKING AS A SEAMAN

PAki rEpOSt LaNg sA mga cAlL CeNtEr AgEnTs nA MAgSeAseAman..........

For more info , come and visit my blog memoirsofafilipinosailor.blogspot.com










Right !! since I don't have enough much time to write and I'm pretty much busy getting all the equipment I needed by now. I would just like to inform (and share) to the general public what three simple important rules that a sailor would be dealing at. Hope this will be important and that 8 to 9 months of contract can be hell if you don't remember this simple rules.



Some rules here are not socially acceptable but here onboard it is ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY. Nevertheless I will not be responsible if your going to use these pointers on land and received a lot of complains from neighbors about it.



1. Never trust a fellow Filipino sailor especially folks that have an ethnic origin in the "down south" if you know what I mean. Sure you might be comfortable trusting your own countrymen but chances are you don't have any idea on what horror are they capable of, and from my experience do not tell any personal sensitive information about yourself which included previous jobs you had before being a sailor, girl friends or even your family back ground to some extent - Believe me they can and will use it against you. Never tell (and share) any useful equipment that you have like medicines , food , etc that might help you in the long run. Racism and distrust is a badword on land , but here in the ship , IT'S A SOCIAL NORM. If its impossible to follow this said rule , try opting to tell half truths or lie for protection and defense. If you really want to go to the "extra mile" - be sinister , manipulative, cunning , intimidation , coercive etc use all the dirty tactics you can throw at. If you can't get your way, then learn to force your opinion down their throat (with a 10 inch BOSUN knife if necessary). Words are nice, but you don't have a whole lot of time, and it might be easier to be the bad guy occasionally to get what you want . A little badness every now and then wont hurt you too much.



2. Bring all the equipment necessary needed on your work, preferably any equipment that is used similar to a land based construction job. To give you a general idea , bring some pliers', screw driver's , pencil, measuring tape, card box cutters, pen lights, an extra hard hat (with earmuffs) , extra coverall, etc all the equipment you'd need during the course of your 8 to 9 month long stay. To simply put it and give you a better view about the situation , just think all the equipment you'd need to bring when your going to be stuck on an island, think of that scenario and you'd have the clearest idea what I'm telling



Here are the different types of equipment you should bring.



Bladed Weapons (things that hurt people)

Containers (things that hold other things to hurt people)

Clothes and gear (Things that help people not get hurt)

Medicines (things that you take)

Tools (Things that do other stuff)



3. Always Maintain Secrecy and Security. Sure being Transparent and sincere is nice , but remember chances are this isn't a land based job and mostly Filipino's (or even other people) are not that sincere and honest as what you may have earlier thought. Keep in mind that you're here on the ship to work and not on a vacation leave - were not here for world peace either, and it doesn't matter on how you do your job as long as it gets done. As much as possible try to isolate yourself from the rest and do some surveillance on the people around on how they behave and tick, keep your cabins lock always , password protect your computer etc, any thing (or any information ) that might be potentially used against you. To be prudent its best that they don't have anything against you but you a lot to use against them, In case (or at some point) diplomacy and stealth fails, use the information you have against them, throw everything but the cabin sink. Do character assassinations and character demolition jobs by spreading this information via gossips, as an added effect also on personal protection bring bladed objects with you and never go outside your cabin without any bladed weapon with you, You can forget wearing underwear but never ever forget a blade under your shorts



To combat depression from prolonged isolation please bring any multi-media equipement with you , Computers , tablets, Mp3 players , cellphone , speaker etc . even a pen and a notebook to (a diary) will be neccessary in the long run.

SHIP TO SHIP LOADING OPERATIONS IN AMSTERDAM NETHERLANDS

EVENTS HAPPENED DURING THE LOADING OPERATIONS IN AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS

July 05, 2013 Saturday to July 10, 2013 Wednesday.





Been quiet a while since I had been here although on a very different circumstances, almost been nearly 2 years since I went here and I was working on a chemical tanker ship , Now I'm here again - This time in a Crude Product Tanker.



On Friday I was waiting for the whole morning as what I latesty heard from the crew that berthing operations will be on early morning , I got up early and woke up unfortunately there was no berthing that happened that morning and it was rescheduled to be happening in the late afternoon. From what I heard on 3rd Mate Corales the Berthing mooring arrangement will be 3 : 2 : 2. Which obviously meant 3 headlines , 2 breast line and 2 spring lines. I waited for the whole morning till evening but no news came in. Until on Friday midnight BOSUN AMICAN knocked on the door of my cabin and said "its time to heave the anchor" , I knew at that moment that berthing operations will be followed soon. I hurriedly dressed up on coveralls and once I got inside I didn't realized that it was still terribly cold in Rotterdam during this time. I hurriedly came back to my cabin to get my sweaters and some wool trousers as insulation beneath my coveralls .



As the usual procedure in heaving up the anchor , the forward ship lights were lit and we removed the bar lock for the hawser so that the anchor chains can freely move , next was to switch on the switches for the winches, followed by the winch being "engaged" then unlocking it.



A few minutes came by and the order to heave the anchor was put up. I hurried went to the lever and pulled it towards me to heave up. Heaving up the anchor wasn't really that bad and just keep my eyes fixed to the BOSUN and the machinery always and pay attention to what the BOSUN is hinting. After the anchor was heaved up the anchor ball was lowered and the forward deck lights were unlit , we went to the starboard side pilot access gangway to heave up the heavy pilot ladder. An hour came by , I received an order to the radio saying that its time to wake up everyone for the mooring operation.



After everyone was woken up , the forward mooring team which includes me BOSUN AMICAN , A.B. Ronal CALDONA and 3rd Mate Corales, immediately went up to set the mooring wires . I later found out that the mooring arrangement will be 2 : 2 : 2 , Meaning that all mooring wires will be used and no loose ropes at all. Mooring operations went smoothly. That the spring lines were given first, Followed by the headline then the last was the breast lines, I had a hook with me to keep them filed and its always with me whenever I go into mooring operations. Its very important to have a hook , if the mooring equipment used on the ship are wires and not ropes , as holding and filing up the equipment using hands to the winches is dangerous when using wires. The main problem I could see whenever we use the mooring wires is that axel grease is always littered around the deck area (near the winches and leads) and that I have to remove them later on using diesel fuel , a laborious process to be honest.



Immediately after, we proceeded to setup the fire fighting equipment as standard S.O.P. procedures onboard each ship. The part I got to fix up and align was the foam monitor equipment and point it towards the port side manifold area. After that I was immediately put up as gangway watchman in the gangway and will log everyone on the ISPS Logbook that comes in and out of the ship, (More like a security guard in a check point), Immediately after an "Ship Agent" went to board the vessel along with the 5 on signers who will replace Fitter Gil, A.B. Ronald, Pump Man Nilo, Oiler Gian, and 4th Engineer Gonzales. A CSM Superintendent also went onboard , probably to delivery cash to the Captain here. A hour later Fitter Gil, A.B. Ronald, Pump Man Nilo, Oiler Gian, and 4th Engineer Gonzales disembarked on the ship and assisted them in carrying their luggage and the new joiners went immediately put up to their work. Pump man Nilo told me that he left me some spare socks to use for winter and that it may serve well on that time , He said he left the bucket in front of my cabin door containing these socks.



The sunrise was very beautiful today and when I saw it coming up , perhaps it was the most beautiful scene on this day - that after a long cold night the sun will come up to bring hope and send a message that everything will be alright.



On mid morning all of the crew were busy with the working equipment provisions that came in plus after it the mooring of an "SCF Pechora" ship (A small product tanker roughly 11,000 to 8,00 GRT ) coming alongside on the port side of this ship. They were very busy working on the huge black fenders that are to be put up on the portside, these fenders are huge black oblong shaped rubber objects the size of a human that serves as a form of cushion to keep the hulls from both ships to connecting. These types of fenders I saw today are very different from the fenders I used on my previous ship as they are very heavy and huge and only a mooring boat could delivery it from one place to another. During the ship to ship mooring operations , 4 line men from the shore ship came by to assist the crew in the mooring of the ropes , they immediately left after the mooring operations were finished.

Ship to ship mooring operations in Amsterdam netherlands with SCF Pechora ship

Next part both of the crews on the ships went to connect cargo hoses for the loading. On my end I was retained on my work up until 10 am given the urgency on both ship to ship mooring operations and Loading of working equipment provisions. After my shift I only had barely 2 hours to rest, sleep and eat a meal , after that I'm going back again to my working shift. It's not easy being a sailor and not easy also working 12 midnight till 10 am in the morning then going back 12 noon till 6pm in the evening , Anyway this is the situation I have to deal with for now.



In the afternoon during my working shift at the gangway , I heard from A.B. Patrick that a "cash advance" was already set up on the crew mess for people who want to get their hard earned money. ( Funny the term "Cash Advance" in CSM Career is not exactly a "Cash Advance" at all. ) When I came to the crew mess , Mess man Ferdinand advised me that he already filled up the form that I'm going to make a cash advance of 300 US Dollars , I replied again that I need to sign up again because I'm not borrowing 300 USD but 500 USD Instead, when I saw the cash advance form I latter found out that the CSM captain only delivery 5,000 USD and the cash advances are just limited to that amount. After getting the 500 USD , I gave the 200 USD to Mess man Ferdinand as he already request to borrow from me earlier (about a month ago) , I kept the 300 USD for personal unannounced expenses I might be doing here in Holland - Maybe even buy some needed items perhaps.



Late afternoon I was advised by A.B. Homer Mallorca , that it's about time I get my External Hard drive from the crew mess - after all he says that its my right and my own personal property and let them buy their own external hard drives if they want to watch something, My hard drive is for my personal use and not for the public to view. He added also that they have a much larger salaries compared to us and yet they could not even bother to buy one and instead uses other people's property for public use. I said to myself that Homer Mallorca has a point , and I'd get my hard drive back by midnight.



SECOND DAY OF LOADING OPERATIONS



July 07 Sunday



For some reason I was late on my watch , mostly likely because I over slept again anyway , Honestly I'm now glad that my co-worker A.B. "Patrick" is now my watch partner from 12 midnight to 4 am, Therefore we could have an endless chatter to almost everything and we could talk on more private conversation regarding our co-workers and ship related work matters. From what I heard on "Patrick" there will be six barges that will come along and load their cargo on Cape Tallin, As expected it's a ship to ship operations.



Late on my watch , when A.B. Mallorca was my watch partner at that time (4am to 6am) . When we were ordered to close the drop valve , preferably Blue and Red Drop valves, which I later found out that it was the three big valves at the bottom of the manifold area - I had no idea it was a drop valve since drop valves in chemical tankers (namely stolt and Odjefl) are very different from this one. Aside from that I did also figured out the crossover connection on were the hell it was. Experience is a good teacher indeed compared to word of mouth coming from my co-workers



On my afternoon to evening Watch, A business man came onboard and it was from sunny euro. I was thrilled that its was sunny euro and I had some items that I need to be bought with like the Swiss army knife (as permanent replacement to bosun's knife) and pelican headlight (as permanent replacement to a safety flashlight), I took an Immediate break and A.B. "Patrick" saw me run-like-the-wind as It was like I'm trying to chase a movie star for an autograph. I made my purchases to the sunny business man and he said that orders will be received after four hours. I immediately went back to my assigned station and saw "Patrick" saying that he never saw me run that fast before.

Some of the working equipment i bought on sunny euro store (website is http://portal.sunny.be) ,

During the later time of the shift A.B. Malorca and A.B. Patrick was chatting about this so called "BoothLeg" . What I do heard from them is that this booth legs is a store or probably some mall of a kind here in Amsterdam and that you get to stuff.


The Ship SCF Pechora finally finished its ship to ship loading and casted off , the next ship to arrived was a small barge roughly I think less than a few thousand gross tonnage.



THIRD DAY OF LOADING OPERATIONS

Pretty cool picture i saw in BOTLEK store , interesting really 

July 08 2013 Monday.

Captain Slabada along with the chief engineer on botlek store

Totally Screwed up on my morning shift , as I arrived late for work , well just 3 minutes late actually. The 2nd barge left this morning and now the third barge just came in to fill up the cargo, Aside from that a ship came by to berth on the other side of the berth . It was a German Tanker's owned ship named "Sea ray" , from what I heard on their Filipino watchman on board they said that the crewing was supplied by Marlow Navigation Philippines (a Manning company in the Philippines). He added also when me and A.B. Marloca talked to him that the salary of an A.B. there is 1,500 USD.



In the afternoon to evening work shift. My chat with A.B. Patrick Dondonilla urges me to take an licensure exam for sailors, saying that its not for ambition and financial reasons but for Personal protection against maltreatment from co-workers especially to fellow Filipino's because chances are some sick old bastard out there is going to challenge you every now and then. He added also that people like us are not meant for deck maintenance but are meant to command grunts on the deck.



Early in the evening , I finally got a chance to go to " Booth leg" . Serious I wasn't planning to come along but I found out on the latter that the captain and the chief engineer is going out and it would be unwise to decline their offer ,so I decided to come along. Out of my confusion and panic (since I'm not planning to go out until tomorrow with Mallorca and Patrick) I forgot to wake up Patrick, I was the whole time quiet during my visit with the "BOTLEK" store (it was spelled BOTLEK and not booth leg ) probably because I don't know how to start a conversations with the soviets. If they were British or Australian people I would have no problem starting a conversation with them since I'm well acquainted in their culture. Anyway what I did bought on BOTLEK ? Well I bought a souvenir , a multi tool pliers and a garrison belt.



In other news related to BOTLEK, I had no idea that the ship BOW OMARIA and BOW HERON pictures were posted there. It brings back the memories on my time during deck cadet years, but like I say I was casted out on my former company

These are the pictures that i saw in "BOTLEK" store in netherlands, Small world eh ?

Another picture i saw in botlek from seacap shipping

FOURTH DAY OF LOADING OPERATIONS



So far I got 160 USD on my wallet but I don't have to worry about that since the items I bought on "Botlek" store are souvenir items, proof that I had been on Amsterdam, Netherlands. For the record I nearly got late again on my watch this midnight , I was this time 5 minutes late and this is the third time in a row that I had been late.



About work related matters, well first off I had finally learned to work on how to operate the pilot access ladder. I learned on how to operate it when simply by just looking on what A.B. Mallorca does in bringing it down for the barge representative. On our late watch me, A.B. Mallorca and A.B. Patrick discussed if we are going to the "Botlek" store and but some stuff there this early morning. A.B. Mallorca wasn't sure if he'd make it , but me and "Patrick" expressed great interest in going there.



Before going to Botlek Store, I saw Patrick to be very furious over some reason , I asked what seems to be bothering and he said that it was about Chief Cook Roberto Cervantes Peneranda accusing him of draining his call credits on his sim card. "Patrick" was so furious that he slammed his cabin door in fury and said he's going to confront chief cook and call the Customer Service Representative about this one. A few minutes came by and I saw "Patrick" again and said that he slammed the chief cook and the CSR rep on the other line confirmed that there is still 10 euro's left on the sim card as opposed to what chief cook accuses him of draining the call cards.



Going back , it's a shame that "Mallorca" didn't went along but nevertheless I'm glad that when we went to the "Botlek" store I could see that "Patrick" is very happy that he got out from the ship once in a while. I could see in his eyes that he was happy, I guess he needed that relief since depression is badly affecting him onboard cape tallin , to the fact that its already manifesting in him via aggression on his personal life and relationship on his girlfriend. Besides a little dose of life civilization outside is not bad right? being onboard this tin can for many months has a suffocating effect. That is the reason why I understand some people working onboard has to go on shore leave on ever port every now and then because they have a lower threshold of the suffocating environment here. The thing I regret most about my shore leave along with "Patrick" is that we do not have enough time to go around and enjoy the surrounds , like explore the area's around "BOTLEK" store wander off, Our shore leave lasted only for about an hour and that its was only pure business that we had to buy some stuff. To be honest I think this is one of the best moments I got in cape tallin so far , that is to go out and explore the surroundings.



On my visit to "BOTLEK" I bought some AAA and AA rechargeable batteries for my working gadgets, plus an alarm clock (So I get to wake up early) and a small Flask (one used for drinking liquor ). I had regrets not buying the gloves (leather and chemical) for I need it badly onboard, maybe on the port I'd get to buy some along with the Rambo knife.



For some reason my cabin is locked without my knowledge and the worse part the keys are inside it , I don't know what's going on but its highly impossible for me to "Lock" myself out on my cabin without my keys. Could have someone searched my cabin and looked for evidence ???

Rechargeable batteries i bought in "BOTLEK" both AAA and double AA batteries

I bought in an alarm clock and a a liquid flask as well

The botlek service van 

FIFTH DAY OF LOADING OPERATIONS



This morning is the most busy morning I had for quiet a while , First off there were a lot of people going in and out of the ship , So I was basically busy writing a lot on the log book and radio to the CCR that this person has arrived .Another thing is that I get to operate the cargo crane given that the deck area was short handed at that time , to make matters even busy the ship will cast off by afternoon.



On the morning I was momentarily delay and nearly got into trouble with the two surveyors as they refused to help me out get a cargo sample , One of the surveyors said "I should get it myself" - BASTARD SICK OLD FUCK, would I be asking they're help if I could do it myself , those bastard Dutch bitches better get they're act cleaned because its their job getting cargo samples.



At the crew mess there was a number posted there at the white board , apparently a cell phone number from the Philippines. According to what I heard from the crew this number was used in calling the IMMARSAT communications and from the looks of it was the call cost about a few hundred dollars since its 4 USD per minute and the call lasted for 25 minutes , I wonder who's number is it ? Some rumors say again that this was from "Patrick" but hell I don't believe it and I think he's not capable of doing such a thing.



Before unmooring operations , I was approached by BOSUN AMICAN and told me that I should be careful on my emails (probably Blogging) and that there is one incident that O.S. Hall read them and distributed it to the crew mess behind my back. He told me that I should be very careful and that I am stirring trouble between the rift of Patrick and rest of the crew.



I do understand that BOSUN AMICANS concern about this issue and I said to them that if they have any problems with me then they're free to file in a report to the chief mate and I'd face the accusations , heck they could even file it to Captain Galang and see what he will say about this issue. BOSUN AMICAN told me that I should be careful not to stir up trouble as it could hurt my career here, and that we should settle this before it before it gets up to the chief mate and captain..



First off , I'm not stirring trouble and the trouble they created on "Patrick" is already long there before I arrived here onboard, Now "Patrick" is really pissed off and seeks vengeance on what they done, Now they're putting the blame on me for something I wrote on my blog so that they can escape the responsibility of starting trouble with "Patrick" and even accuses me of being a gossiper , WHAT THE FUCK !!! . Yeah these is the kind of Filipino sailors we are currently living at onboard , a true example of how ill mannered they are , they have the guts to start trouble and yet don't have the balls in taking responsibility on the trouble they make - They have a lot to answer for to "Patrick" and they knew they had it coming.



Mooring operations went smoothly as expected with the new crew and Messman Ferdinand help out also.

CALM BEFORE THE STORM

Immediately after Cape Tallin Departed, the whole deck crew was put in securing all mooring ropes in the BOSUN Store area and Steering Gear Room. It took us the whole day for the ropes to be finally secured. Aside from that we also lashed the Anchors and secured a few remaining safety equipments like life rings, scupper plugs and such. My thumb was also badly injured during the lashings put up in the anchor chains, it was only minor though.



On Saturday, I was busy cleaning the whole upper deck level of the accommodation area. Apparently the new chief mate noticed that the whole level was littered with dirt marks of shoes and told the BOSUN , The BOSUN of course ordered me to clean the whole floor area. Late afternoon I heard from A.B. Patrick Dondonilla that the loading operations in Rotterdam will be ship to ship and that there will be five to six barge that will be loading crude oil to this ship. Unfortunately for me I don't really have much experience in ship to ship operations as mostly (and a majority)of my previous ships berth at port.



Sunday was pretty much quiet since there is no work at all , spent much time repairing and scavenging for supplies. I did visit A.B. "Patrick" on his cabin given the fact that satellite email hasn't transmitted / downloaded emails yet, just to keep him company and see how's he's doing. On my chat with him on his cabin , I found out that working supplies here on this ship hasn't been issued yet (or not issued at all) for months now. He said that even some of our co - workers are begging for supplies to the engine department or even from dock workers just to get a clean set of gloves. I have no idea why this is happening on Cape Tallin, but A.B. "Patrick" suggested that it maybe due to poor management of CSM Cyprus on its crew and ships or Poor Management from Career Philippines, mine on the other hand surmise that it maybe the Russian Chief mate or The Russian Captain that's hoarding off the money for supplies. My backer here Captain Betts suggested on the email that if we don't have supplies , it might be the Chief Mates fault that were not receiving any supplies at all. Anyway the trails leads to different paths why were not receiving supplies here, I may find out on the latter. For now I might be busy doing the triple S work tactic , that is SCAVENGE, SALVAGE and STOCKPILE.



On Monday I was busy degreasing stains marks on winches left and there were a lot did finished it though in at least half a day. I did found out one thing about career that cash advance is not exactly cash advance at all, it only simply means that "I-WANT-MY-HARD-EARNED-MONEY-CAUSE-IM-GOING-TO-BUY-SOMETHING" . Honestly I'm not happy about this knowing that this was the way on the monetary system, Its more like working for points rather than cold hard cash and if I'm planning to buy something say like an electronic goods whenever I'm in Holland or in America I have to plan in advance for it , plus it all depends if there will be a "CASH ADVANCE" available onboard. I think my previous company is much better in a lot of aspects and this also includes the money part since they let us handle the hard earned USD.



On Tuesday in preparation of the upcoming berthing operations in Amsterdam Holland, The deck crew including me pulled out mooring ropes from the BOSUN'S store and Steering Gear room , if I recalled correct we pulled out at least three loose ropes and 2 small other loose ropes probably for the ship to ship berth. On the aft side if I recall we pulled at least 3 loose ropes also. Aside from the preparations we made this ship also anchored on the nearby anchorage area , from what I heard its at least 8 shackles of anchor chain were paid off on the water.



For the rest of the day I was busy scavenging and repairing working supplies, namely leather gauntlet gloves and cotton gloves , did also some work on repairing my safety helmet and inserted a garter to keep the goggles in place.



On Wednesday. Me and O.S. Hall manage to paint the kentel shackle of the anchor chain despite poor weather and light rain, We just put a plastic canvass over it just to make sure that the rain doesn't mess up the paint plus the painted we used was for inside cargo so I guess the paint will be tough against the weather.



In the afternoon me and BOSUN AMICAN, was busy putting the old cargo valves to the deck store, to be specific its was cargo valve yellow (a.k.a cargo valve no.02) and Blue Cargo Valve (a.k.a cargo valve no.03) was a very heavy valve and we had to use a chain block to move it only on a few feet , later since me and the BOSUN could not move the said valves , some of the crew came in to help us out namely and arranged the valves.

DISCHARGE OPERATION IN MOHAMEDIA MOROCCO

"DISCHARGE OPERATION IN MOHAMEDIA MOROCCO "

JUNE 26th and 28th 2013,

Morocco, Mohamedia

Position North 33 degrees 47 minutes, East 7 degrees 22.5 minutes



This ship has already been at anchor for more than a week now and finally from what I heard on the news is that the ship will be berthing soon by tomorrow at 1500 HRS (3pm), and of course I'm going to do again the dreaded mooring again, Seriously I don't mind doing the rope type of mooring and I had already mastered it way back in Bow Ophelia, Unfortunately Cable types are a bit heavy on my part and I cannot (or having difficulty) carry it single handedly. Aside from that of all the work here onboard a ship the thing I most dislike at is the mooring operations, I fare well in unmooring and all other things except that.



During the past few days I had been occupied in talking to A.B. "Patrick" during anchor watch, Nothing really significant but based on what I heard from him is that he's having terrible relationship problems. Aside from talking to his personal life, he describes about how the folks inside Cape Tallin have been treating him. He says that not everything I heard about him is correct.



On Tuesday, I had received word that the Pilot will arrived at Wednesday 0530 in the morning and berthing will be followed soon. Supposedly it was scheduled on Tuesday but was cancelled in the morning due to poor visibility related to fog. We immediately made preparations for berthing.



The mooring arrangement from what I heard was 4.2.4 which meant 4 headlines, 2 breast lines, and 4 spring lines and the spring line will be the wires. The spring lines were deployed without any problems and with smooth operation, However after that things made a wrong turn when. The problem started when the captain radioed in and asked what's taking 3rd mate German Corales, The third mate feeling pressured then shouted at us to hurry up and specifically shouted at me numerous times. This of course caused me to be furious as I didn't like being shouted at. I could have shouted back at the third mate but given the circumstance never got the chance to show them that I fight back. Anyway to make the story short, everybody saw me very furious over the shouting incident. BOSUN AMICAN, A.B. "Ronald", Oiler "Donald" , Pump man "Nilo" everyone at the mooring team "forward" saw me and cursing and slamming the equipment . Everyone knew my rage. My body was filled with extra energy from the adrenaline of fury , and I was just only waiting for 3rd mate to make a wrong move , so I have a justification to unleash my fury on him - never really liked people shouting at me.



When I went to the mid ship part of the ship to assist O.S. Hall , everybody saw that my eyes was filled with rage and fury over the incident. At that moment I couldn't feel fatigue or hunger , I could go on a long way without eating. The Moroccan's came in at the gangway in large numbers. From my estimate they arrive in more than 10 on the gangway and most of them carry some sort of bag (even plastic bags), probably meant to carry



I was very furious that I didn't notice that I was talking with A.B. "Patrick" publicly but hell I care, I was burning with rage. After that I realized on my watch that I only barely got an hour of rest then be back again for work, to immediately cool my body off I went with haste to take a shower and afterwards to counter the negative effects of stress from the immediate "Cooling" I took in a cocktail of meds like Centrum Vitamin, 2 tablets of Vitamin C, a Tablet of B complex, a tablet of Vitamin E. a tablet of mefenamic acid and a tablet of amoxicillin antibiotics.



At my duty station which is the gangway I was approached by one of the watchmen on the shore side and said if I like an internet connection, I said I do however I don't have any money yet as this ship hasn't given us yet any salary at all. He said if I got anything to trade at all like spare coverall's , winter Jackets or even safety shoes. Unfortunately I don't have it also as CSM (career ship management) only issues menial supplies to its crew . So anyway it means that I don't get to have an internet connection even if I wanted to and I declined the offer. By the way for the record, I had been here more than a month now and I haven't been supplied yet on any working equipment at all (cotton glove, leather gloves, chemical gloves) and most of the equipment I had been using are salvaged or repaired equipment that was left laying around. Some times I get to think that that CSM does this to the crew intentionally.



After my working shift I finally got to rest and get something decent to eat then slept for only 2 hours, Honestly I can't imagine myself working that straight from 1 am early morning till 11am near noon then going back to 12 noon till 6 pm . On dinner I was approached by Mess man Ferdinand Penera and said if he could borrow my PC so he can use it for internet, I said it wont be a problem. At 9Pm I gave him my PC, then resumed again in making preparations for my work shift which is 12 midnight to 6 in the morning.



On my midnight to morning shift, I was surprised to see that my co-worker on the deck watch wasn't A.B. Homer Mallorca but A.B. Ronald Caldona. Apparently there was a change of work shift when I recalled and for the 12 midnight till 4 am work shift , "Ronald" will be my the one whom I'm going to work along side and the remaining 2 hours of my shift will be A.B. "Patrick" . Quiet honestly I didn't like what "Ronald" said on his comments about what happened during the mooring operation , Hell fuck he's saying that "It was for the better that third mate shouted on me, and it was my own good" he added also that its about time third shouted at me and he couldn't see any initiative on my work" , initiative !??? Well who the fuck he is to say that being shouted at was for my own good ? I don't need lectures and I'm old enough to decide what's best for me - besides what make's him think third mate's bad mouthing is right ? If third mate Corales wants' to teach me a few facts in work - then he can start by not shouting at me, otherwise I would only think that this bastard is taking advantage on his rank by pushing people around - and Its not going happened that I'd be maltreated again ,not now not ever ! and NOT ON MY WATCH ! . Aside from that I'm not even asking for his own opinion about it, problem with "Ronald" is that just because he has a lot more of an experience on work and has a position of an A.B. he thinks he's high and mighty and self righteous . What ever "Ronald" says doesn't change my mind (and the fact) that Third mate Corales has a bitchy attitude, "Ronald" can say what he wants to say - I don't give a fuck about it, As a result on my dislike in "Ronald" I gave him a nasty look and ignored him. On my remaining two hours on my shift I had a chat with "Patrick" and said told him my advice, that on his next ship he should set his mind and be mentally prepared on the rigors of working on a ship.



After my working shift I finally got a chance to get my hands on to the internet and verify a few things, I immediately went to mess man "Ferdinand's" cabin to get my hands on my PC and to log on to face book. I left a message there to anyone who would contact me via email, and at the same time check out if my entries here goes thru my blog. On what I found out my FB status updates aren't going thru on the email , but for the blog thing - I'm sure as hell happy that all my blog entries are being publish.



On 8am I was already finished in checking my online agenda's and decided to give the USB modem to BOSUN AMICAN, I went to my cabin and took a good nap until 11am. The next work duty I had on 12 noon till 6pm, As usual I was with A.B. "Ronald" , me guarding the gangway and him checking the mooring ropes and see if they are all well secured from the swell. BOSUN AMICAN informed me that A.B. "Ronald" will be extending his watch duties as O.S. Hall and A.B. "Patrick" went to the hospital. Apparently O.S. Hall had some sort of stomach trouble while "Patrick" is going to see the dentist to have a tooth extraction. Personally I'm not in the mood to talk to "Ronald" over his comments yesterday and I try to ignore him and stay away as much as possible, At around late 5pm O.S. Hall and A.B. "Patrick" went onboard from the hospital. A few minutes later a small boat came in on the port side of the side to bring provisions , Immediately almost all the crew went to the Port side accommodation area to help out and bring in the provisions needed. It was about 6pm when I came there to help out.



When I woke up on the midnight go back to work , I saw O.S. Hall with A.B. Mallorca opening a few pipes , I approached them and found out it was the marpol cargo line and they were stripping the cargo hold. O.S. Hall said to me that a few hours from now were going to depart from Morocco and head off to Holland so I better secure all the equipment which includes fire extinguishers , fire hoses , SOPEP equipment and put them all in the SOPEP storage room located in starboard side mid ship area . He also informed me also that we now have a new chief mate and 2nd engineer onboard and that Mr. Ards (2nd Engineer) and Mr. Gocha (Chief mate) has disembarked.



During the disconnection of the cargo hose, Pump man "Nilo" ordered me to grab the tiger rope and free it from the rest of the wire. I did untangle the said tiger rope but unfortunately I didn't realize that it was not tied at all and it all went down to the bottom of the sea. Pump Man's face was obviously furious about what happened.



A few minutes later during the departure part Pump Man was again furious at me and even shouted "Hey ! What captain is saying to you on the radio is that if there is still anyone left inside the ship , not the ID's !!! " , As what I said earlier I didn't like the tone of his voice and never like being shouted at but for now I don't have the time to deal with him as am pre occupied on other matters, given the situation that I could not confirm if one watchman logged out , the New Chief Mate immediately ordered to conduct a stowaway search.



To add more to my annoyance not only was Pump man "NILO" was bitchy but , so is A.B. "Ronald" saying that I should have woke up the rest of the crew members in preparation for the departure. Well if I heard from the radio correct it was "Ronald" who was ordered to wake everyone up and I'm a bit busy securing all the equipment , BASTARDS !!! I'm glad these two will be disposed soon when this ship arrives in Rotterdam , Netherlands.



Unmooring operations went along fine and without any problems, it was obvious that I'm still ignoring 3rd Mate, I don't give a fuck about him whether he shout's at me or not.

WAITING FOR SOMETHING

"WAITING FOR SOMETHING "

JUNE 23rd 2013, Sunday

Anchored at Morocco.



Never been on my previous sailing years did I experience the longest anchorage time yet, but here on this product tanker named Cape Tallin. Before several years earlier, my former vessels are always on the "berthing on arrival" status and Anchor watch is a very rare occurrence. Honestly up to now I'm not still used to the long anchorage time here.



So what has been happening on me since my last log on my journal. Well quiet a couple of things, especially on work



On work, I could tell there had been two incidence were I'm furious over the BOSUN. One incident was during lunch were they are talking about A.B. "Patrick" on his recent incursion with the third mate, I was only listening to their conversation and was minding my own business eating my own food. Then all of a sudden I was brought up on the issue and said that I forgot to relay the information, Upon hearing it I just smiled trying to brush off my mistake - then BOSUN AMICAN lashed out at the table and said that this is not matter to laughed at with, one person's mistake is the mistake of the whole group. I frowned and didn't like the words what came out on his mouth and said to myself. "Ok so its my mistake, What's your point ? Got a problem with it ? He's lecturing me on something he himself can't even follow , If I recall correct he left his own men in the airport , leaving me , Homer Mallorca and Ferdinand Penera Stranded on a couple of hours in Houston. I don't need lecture's



In the early morning of the anchor watch, went to A.B. "Patrick's" station and informed him that I'm no longer around hoisting flags as what 3rd mate Corales told me. A.B. Patrick said that It wont be a problem and said that he was of course also going to tell me the same thing. I said to "Patrick" 3rd Mate Corales approached me on the paint room and said about me hoisting Flags is not exactly my job and let A.B. "Patrick" talk care of the business in hoisting it, I replied that it wont be a problem if that would be the case, Either way whether Hoisting flags or not is on my job description doesn't really matter since I'm already used hoisting flags since I was a Deck Cadet - both in Bow Ophelia and Stolt Strength.



Aside from that, I asked A.B. Patrick about the allotment, on how it works out here in Career Shipping. From I was told allotment is not based on the total gross income but solely based on the base pay. In other words the Mom and my younger sister will be sharing the allotment of 445 USD and not the total 905 USD, I asked "Patrick" if this could be corrected , he says that the rate on the allotment could be corrected and said that I have to write a letter to career about it.



In other matters related work, Anchorage time here at morocco is already been dragging on nearly for a week. Not that I care though - but some function that I usually do clean have already been put to a halt because of it, anyway I don't really mind at all not cleaning since detergents have been in short supply lately on this ship - For the moment I stuck using Teepol and Beach, and I do hope I don't get the idea of using this in washing my clothes.



For the moment, My work now is painting all the nooks and cranny of the steam pipes , the small spaces in between those flanges - the hard to reach one's. From what I recall I was busy painting the "1 starboard side" steam pipe till , I was called by BOSUN to paint the whole steam pipe at the "3 Starboard side".



During the most recent anchorage watch I got so heavily dizzy from lack of sleep again , this time the main reason was that I had successfully transferred the movie "Resident Evil : Retribution " from CD to USB digital data and I could now watch this movie on the USB without the CD. Unfortunately this slashed my rest hours and sleep time to zero, after the Anchorage watch I immediately came to my cabin to sleep



Another thing that has been happening onboard (and not related to me at all) is the recent crew change that might be happening here at morocco, From what I heard at the crew mess, The crew change of ratings is postponed while the change of Ship Officer's (like Chief Mate and 2nd Engineer) is on the way. Most of the crew here are becoming frustrated over the said issue that they wont be going home for the moment and have to wait a bit longer, I heard from Pump Man "Nilo" that even if they contact the said DPA person (Designated Person Ashore) the answer that they will get is the part were they signed up on the contract that says Plus and Minus 9 months. In other words he says that they're stuck here until someone from CSM figures out a way to bust them out here.



Another news I heard is about the cash advance, 2nd Mate Olis announced to us on the crew mess while eating lunch that all cash advances are postponed according to him Captain Slabada hinted that the ship doesn't have enough cash to sustain the said payment for crew who will be making cash advances.



Woke up really late from all the fatigue I got from the anchor watch, actually the cause of my fatigue is not exactly the anchor watch at all and I admit I shouldn't have stayed all up late in the evening just to watch the movie "Resident Evil : Retribution" , with resulted me lacking of sleep.



Anchor watch came and went without any problems at all, I visited A.B. "Patrick" and see how he was doing at the forward part of the ship. He says he's fine and had a conversation on how I got recruited here in Career Shipping. It was about nearly 5:50 am when I had to pass to the bridge as it is the only entrance in and out to the accommodation during that time, To my surprise Chief Mate Tetrashvili Gocha gave me a look and looked on to the cell phone (probably to check the time). I just simply went ahead and ignored his look - pretending to be dumb. Anyway from now on to avoid those kind of issues id be ending my anchor watch by exactly 6 am.



It was about close to 11am when I woke up from fatigue, I obviously had no idea on what went on outside the cabin. When I went outside to eat lunch , I had found out from "Homer" that mooring ropes have already been brought out from the BOSUN'S store and soon the after our lunch the mooring ropes from the steering gear will be brought out as well. On what I learned from "Homer" is that berthing will be as soon as either Saturday or as late as Monday. At 1pm me along with "Homer" , "Ronald" and BOSUN brought out the mooring ropes , about 7 in total and we had to use the winches to pull them out since these ropes are stored below in the steering gear room (several meters below). It was tedious on some extent and had to bring along a small water bottle to drink just incase I get thirsty from the heat temperature (apparently the aft part of the ship and Steering gear room is quite a bit hot from the outside temperature).

This ships Chemical room

On the afternoon break, I was puzzled why I was requested by 4th engineer to assist him in cleaning the fresh water tank. Probably I could surmise that he saw pictures of me going inside and cleaning the fresh water tank on my hard drive (He borrowed my external hard drive several years ago). Immediately I went again to the steering gear room to assist him and my role there was simply get the bucket 4th engineer fills and flush it on the small hole just a few meters away from the Fresh water tank. The fresh water tank was filled with or badly stained with rust , everything was colored red and the rust sediments inside was so thick that I might even mistook it as "Mud" . 4th engineer had to mop the area using a chemical called "Environ Clean" ( I think this is the new name for Metal Brite A.K.A phosphoric acid) just to rid all the rust. Obviously the chemical "Environ Clean" is the rust remover around here, One thing that I find strange when 4th engineer was cleaning the said water tank is that I saw him tasted the water (with his lips) that was riddled with the environ clean residue.

ANCHORAGE WATCH

"ANCHORAGE WATCH "

JUNE 17th, 2013, Monday

Anchored at Morocco.





Anchor watch went along fine in the early morning (1am till 6 am), and as usual the whole anchorage area here on morocco is peaceful. A few small fishing boats came nearby or close to this ship, however to my dismay they don't conduct business and whenever I approach them just went away. I'm not sure why this is happening because three years earlier, fishing boats always approach ship nearby to conduct business and do barter stuff. Hmm probably it may be on the port terminal security thing why local fishermen here refuse to conduct business.



Early morning after my work shift A.B. "Patrick" came knocking on my door asking where did I put the Morocco Flag. I said to him that It was in the work shop rather than the safety locker, unsure I went down to the main deck from my cabin and check the flag on the safety locker and there it was. I told "Patrick" that I made a mistake and it was in the safety locker instead of the workshop and even showed him the location. Later I found out that the reason why "Patrick" searched for the flag was that he got into trouble with the third mate.



In the afternoon I got confused as to whether or not there was work, since it was Saturday. I did saw O.S. Hall doing work in the morning and when I got outside, I saw an indication that there was maintenance work being done at the workshop. Immediately dressed with my coveralls and saw BOSUN AMICAN near the workshop he said that I should go to the portside life boat. When I reached the life boat we (along with the Pump man) worked on a few maintenance work, me on the usual greasing of the wires. It was about 4pm when I saw A.B. "Patrick" and had a chat with him about his recent gum infection, He says he'd be alright now. At 5pm I heard from A.B. "Patrick" that dinner is already been served early. I hurriedly went to the crew mess to have a chow and didn't even bother to remove my coveralls thinking that I was still on anchor watch. To my horror when I went to the crew mess, everyone (including the engine crew) was surprised to see me still in coveralls. A.B. "Malorca" said to me he was about to tell me that I shouldn't have been off on work by 3pm but he could find me on his cabin, I saw O.S. Hall obviously displeased and said that I shouldn't have been off by now. Me embarrassed on the situation hurriedly went to the locker room to remove my coveralls. When I got back to the crew mess and ate dinner I avoided question from my co-workers on why I was still in coverall's during that time. Yeah it was a dumb situation being caught in coverall and still at work when in fact, I should have been resting at that time



On the early morning of Sunday, wasn't exactly sure whether or not there was a working shift since its Sunday. What I do know is that there is an anchor watch every night based on the safety meeting made by our chief officer, I intentionally waited and saw O.S. Hall in the morning at the hall way saying that there is still an anchor watch. I hurried to get dressed up and immediately went to my anchor watch station at the poop deck to replace O.S. Hall guarding the area.



While at anchor duties I took the time to take pictures on the Main Deck area of Cape Tallin. Haven't made a complete look on this ship ever since I joined last month , so I seized the opportunity in roaming around and taking pictures. A.B. "Ronald" even saw me taking pictures on the forward part of the ship. In late afternoon of Sunday I took the time in repairing the 2 working coveralls and inserting a zipper on it, I figured that my coveralls will be better off with a zipper than buttons. Took me at least 6 hours in putting zippers because I'm not good sewing those zippers. When I woke up ,I wasn't feeling good and had only two hours of sleep from all the modifications I made on my coveralls and yet I got off my bed. I was heading towards the ship C.O.C to check my emails when I saw O.S. Hall and greeted me good morning, Followed him on the crew mess were Oiler "Donald" and 3rd Engineer "Cranz" was also there. From the conversation I heard on the crew mess O.S. Hall tells to everyone about A.B. "Patrick's" and his relationship problems. A few minutes came by and I left them and head to the deck crew locker room to change into my coverall's and went back to the crew mess to ask any info O.S. Hall to say before I relieve him on his work.



There isn't anything significant that happened on the anchor watch, only the part were A.B. "Ronald" told me that the door entrance on the accommodation block were not properly bolted from the inside and that the 2nd mate didn't knew it was not locked at all. Of course "Ronald" and I agreed that were going to made an excuse on the radio to the second mate that I was just simply having a coffee break and was headed inside, but in reality I was going back for the doors to be locked so that the second mate wouldn't notice. (based on the ISPS security plan we have here on the ship , supposedly the only entrance going in and out of the ship should be the bridge.)



During 4am to 6am on my anchorage watch, I was severely feeling the effects of lack of sleep and was getting dizzy every now and then, even when I was doing a search patrol from the aft to the midship (done every 30 minutes on anchorage watch) I couldn't even walk straight from the dizziness. After the shift I hurriedly went to my cabin to take a nap and relieve me of my head ache and dizziness.

THE MISSING LINK

"THE MISSING LINK "

JUNE 15th, 2013, SATURDAY

Anchor at Morocco.





So far so good. From what I heard this ship will be going to Holland after Morocco and next to the dreaded pirate infested region of west Africa (Nigeria, probably) afterwards it's a rumor that this ship will be dry docking soon in either Portugal or in most likely in China since this is a Chinese built ship anyway.



For the work , could say that laundry is getting a bit of a problem and that there powder detergents just ran out. For the moment the measure I took up in washing my working coveralls is just plain old hot water, Not effective but it will do for now in washing my clothes.

Washing machine I used to wash my clothes with

Our laundry area onboard Cape Tallin

For the latest news around here.



A.B. Malorca keep's hovering around me and ask what's my connection between Captain Betts, I said to him that Captain Betts is my backer here in Career and he's the one responsible who got me into this job (and back again to becoming a sailor). Honestly I don't really mind "Homer" asking all those question, But the thing here is that I don't really talk much about people and my private life, and I hate people hovering around me and ask all sorts of questions about my background and connection to other people - I don't know maybe I guess I'm not a good talker at all and much prefer being quiet and minding my own business. Anyway my connection issue was brought up on the subject that "Homer" has an acquaintance of his who is working in the ship "DALE" (Captain Betts is current captain of it for now) and apparently he received an email on this acquaintance of his asking if he knew an O.S. (Ordinary Seaman) who goes by the name of me, "Homer" confirmed that indeed I'm the O.S. and replied via email saying what's the reason. The reply he got says that the Captain Here gives he's regards to me and says to email him, and said something about Captain Nick getting drunk and touching guys crouches, stuff like that.



Now since A.B. Homer Malorca has a good sense of imagination (and probably a wild one) and since that would be the case - all hell broke loose, and He's now hovering to me like a helicopter asking all sorts of question of what's my apparent connection with Captain Betts. I told him the truth that he's my backer - and that's the truth , its up to him if he believes it or not , after all this is a free world and he can believe on what he wants to believe.



In relation to work…



Cape Tallin has just arrived at Morocco and anchored itself nearby. During the anchoring operations, while operating the starboard winch paying out the anchor, the chains were all badly rusted up, so rusted that I had to put my goggles from my helmet to shield my eyes from all the "rust smoke" coming out, eventually my face was all covered with rust. I notice seconds later that there was a some sort of "knot" on the anchor chain then a few seconds later when the "knot" reached near the gypsy wheel the shackle slipped causing a loud "BANG" sound on the forecastle deck . BOSUN AMICAN obviously saw it and so does O.S. Hall, BOSUN AMICAN order that I should pay out the anchor very slowly as not to damage the anchor chain nor any anchoring equipment. After the anchoring operation BOSUN AMICAN said to us that the main reason why this "knot" eventually happens is because the anchor chains (and machinery) haven't been used for a long time.



Currently while writing this entry to my PC, I'm going to be on pirate watch after a few hours based on what O.S. Hall told me my watch is going to be at 1am in the morning till 6 am. Honestly I'm not exactly sure why we had to do this at all in morocco and last time I've been here the place has no problems at all, just only a few merchants who want to trade shoes and coveralls for counterfeit digital watches , few crabs and fishes. The usual greedy customs officials asking for bribes and nothing more, it was all peaceful here. Anyway it's the ship terminals rules to put the security level alert to level 2 and where just abiding on their house rules.



I better lock my cabin and hid my computer when this ship comes to berth though,

DO I EVER DREAM AT ALL

"DO I EVER DREAM AT ALL ? "

JUNE 13th, 2013, THURSDAY

Near Morocco.



Iridium actually is the brand name of our satellite phone here in Cape Tallin and based on my perception it's more like a prepaid one, this phone is more like a typical black handheld wall telephone in appearance. When using it just dial 02888 + the country code number (in my case the Philippines which is 63) then the telephone number. Haven't used a satellite phone for more than 2 years now and I only used it way back then as sending a message out of my desperation, Seriously using a satellite phone may seem cool but it isn't really that effective at all as compared to simply just email a person or sending a PM to face book, or even using a local land based phone at all. IRIDIUM is an expensive and inefficient way of communication , on top of that it slashed 34 U.S. Dollars off my onboard pay for this month.

This is what an Iridium Phone looks like

Anyway Since any broadband communication here in Cape Tallin are unavailable and literary does not have any Wi-Fi access of any kind (or method) when were at berth, the only communication available to the outside world is via email or satellite phone. Like I said on my previous entries on my blog - Cape Tallin is a way backward ship, much more regress compared to STOLT Strength or even Bow Ophelia. Going back to what I said earlier , Yes I did use "IRIDIUM" again after 2 years because I have no other choice and I need to send a message to my sister informing her of my email address and get news on what happened on my house (I'd later narrate what I heard over the phone). Its not exactly a desperation message as what happened last time - but more of like an assurance that my message was heard clearly. At first I was a bit unsure whether to call or not but I figured that its already been 20 plus days , I'm away at home and might as well contact the folks around and see how are they doing . By the way I choose to call that around 3:00 in the morning for privacy , since A.B. Homer Mallorca said that if I want privacy from my calls I should call in the early morning, He hinted that he didn't like 3rd mates German Jr. Tan Corales cocky behavoir and added that its difficult to make a call when he's around, as he keeps minding other people business



In other news.



Every time I wake up here on my cabin in Cape Tallin, I always have this eerie feeling that I'm waking up on a different place like the feeling that I'm waking up on a different dimension, a sad and desolate place. weird right ? Well compared to my previous ship BOW Ophelia , where I have a feeling of being inside a cryo hibernation tube (like the one's you see in SCI-FI films) every time I woke up. I could say that Cape Tallin is a change of pace.



For the dreams, believe it or not I don't dream of home here as to what happened on me during my work on STOLT Strength. For some reason my mind is mentally prepared for this and I feel more relax now whenever I sleep, I just simply thought to myself that



In work related news.



My task for this day was to De grease both spring line winches located on the port side of this ship (forward and aft respectively). The task wasn't really that hard , Just remember to bring a can of diesel fuel, a bucket full of rags (by the way its called "stoopa" here) , chemical gloves and that's is. The thing that I had only trouble with was that since this is a Product Crude Oil Tanker, There no shade at all to hide from the sun with and I'm bare exposed to the heat.



One tactic I learned to cool myself from the summer heat at sea was wet my coveralls with fresh water, I had just simply had to find a fresh water outlet nearby, open it and apply the water to my coveralls like lotion going to my skin. Seriously it relieved me of all discomfort of the hot weather and effectively dissipates the heat I'm receiving from the sun. Plus subliminally the BOSUN might even think I'm working hard as it may confuse it as sweat being soaked on my coveralls, and no way could I be accused of just slacking around the job. By the way the color of the fresh water outlet here on Cape Tallin is Color Blue, (Red is the fire hydrant and basically is the symbol for sea water). Here on this ship most of the fresh water outlets are located on the cargo manifold area of the ship , but I saw two outlets at the forward part and one outlet at the aft part. The main problem here is that fresh water outlets here are very few and very far apart compared to a chemical tanker that each cargo wing has its own fresh water outlet.



In the afternoon work after finishing the de greasing of the spring lines, I was put on to painting the cargo lines with gray paint (Admiral Grey color) and had to climb the cargo lines to paint them. The problem in painting cargo The line here is that, there is no other metal piping's to climb around with and had to circle around in the cat walk area before going down to the said cargo line to paint with, plus its very troublesome and that I had to watch my step every now and then since there is too few cargo lines to step on. This ship is truly bizarre and I guess id be better off on a chemical tanker (preferably 20,000 GRT and below) rather than in a product tanker. Good thing A.B. Malorca was around to accompany me on my work here.



The following day...



Since this ship is already getting near morocco, ( or its estimate that it will berth upon arrival within the next 48 hours ). The work we've done for the whole day was to wash the whole main deck area with sea water , from forward to aft, and it only means one thing - I'm going to be soaking wet with sea water for the whole day. There was a few minor problem that was encountered on this task as the hose we used was general a steam hose which by all term is not suited for the task, as a result the hose frequently burst every now and then , and BOSUN AMICAN had to frequently adjust a few screws or even cut the whole steam hose on the process.



On lunch, I saw a few boxes of Pringles Potato chips being given freely to the crew mess room. I later found out that those potato chips are already near expiration date, so in order for it not to be spoiled the management here gave it here for free, Aside from it Free orange cola was being given also and was on the same situation as the Pringles Potato chips. Well pretty generous of the management , and quite honestly I never expected it at all to happened - not at all.



After lunch I went off along with A.B. Ronald Caldona, Over some water on the Bilge Pump Room. Had no idea here that the bilge pump room was located below the BOSUN store area at the bow of the ship and was an enclosed space as far as I knew. Worst was that the oxygen detector they gave to "ronald" was not working properly and could not detect the oxygen levels, So basically me and "Ronald" entered the enclosed space blindly. We just simply keep the water tight door of the Bosun Store open and let the air come through, "Ronald" is the one who went down and removed all the water out on the Bilge pump room and me only getting a bucket and lowering it for him to put all the water, I never saw the bilge pump room on what it looks like "Down there" but based on what "Ronald" the bilge Pump room is a small tight space and he can fit himself around with. After removing all the water , "Ronald" radioed in to the bridge that all the water has been removed.



Late afternoon, I was busy helping out O.S. Hall in finishing the remaining areas to be washed off in the aft part accommodation area and later sorting out the plastic garbage in the workshop. Last part of the work for the day was securing all the equipment used during the washing and I had to coil those thick rubber hoses before storing them to the work shop room.