What to Expect

Introduction:

In reading those questions that have gotten you this far, you probably get the idea that going to sea is a terrible occupation. To be perfectly honest, it is for quite a few people, however, for some there is no other job like it in the world in which its attraction has no match. For most it is full of new and varying challenges, constantly facing the beauty and awsome power of nature and man's ingenuity.

Mother Nature:

The sea going experience for me is a full range of emotions from the enjoyment of exquisit sunsets as though it were painted on the sky of fiery yellows and oranges, to deep crimsons and purples. One also sees the heavens in their full state of glory, wile seeing stars, comets, the milky way, the magellan clouds, nebula, northern lights, and galaxies with naked eye since there is very little pollution around you.

On the flip side of the coin, experiencing raging storms can sometime be quite scary. The worst storm I've been in was with steady winds of 140 knots and gusts in excess of 180 knots (207 mph/333 kph) with 45 to 50 foot (13¾ to 15¼m) seas watching the ship twist, bend, and contort under the enormous forces that mother nature is ravaging upon the ship, crumpling one inch steel (25mm) as though it were aluminum foil. I have a friend who was in seas twice that size, and she was the only ship in a 300 nautical mile radius to survive, several vessels went down, and her ship sustained major damage and was later, after the seas abated, she was able to rescue only a handful of survivors from two ships that sank. After that incident she told me ¾ of the crew retired after narrowly escaping the waiting jaws of death.

In addition foul weather means being wet and cold, rolling excessivly making sleep all but impossible, anything not lashed down properly can become lethal projectiles as even the largest of ships are tossed about as breakables are broken, bent, and shattered from thrown from bulkhead to bulkhead. Exhaustion to most sailors during storms is no stranger. With exhaustion and treacherous conditions, the likelyhood of serious accidents is greatly amplified. Being a mariner it is one of the most dangerous professions around only slightly less dangerous than inner city police officers, fire fighters, and deep sea fishermen.

Exotic Places:

Where there is water there is water born transportation. As ¾ of the surface of the earth is covered with water the world can be considered a sailor's playground. Nearly every location of significance is located at or near a port city around the globe. Every major nation in history has had a strong merchant marine (navy).

I've seen the rugged wilderness of Alaska, the exotic polynesian islands of the Pacific, Australia (the land that time forgot with most of its exotic creatures found no where else on earth), the fjoords of Norway and its pristine towns occasionally lining the shore, the elgance of Europe. I have seen both modern specticals, and antiquities dating back several mellenia. I've been to places that have been to places that were visited by the holy men of the world's religions. The middle east and Africa are wastelands with their own unique form of beauty which most would call ugly. I've been thoughout Mediterranean seeing the ruins of the ancient Greek & Roman empires scattered thoughout all of Europe including the most famous located in Rome and Athens as well as dozens of minor sites scattered to the ends of the ancient civilizations. I have been in all of the world's major oceans (except the Artic) and half of its seas.

While most sailors don't make it much further than the closest pub, and all the see is the bottom of a glass, I on the other hand, take advantage of seeing places, doing things I have not done before. I usually sample the local food, (ask the dock workers, most of the time their recommendations are best). In my travels I have compiled a top 5 list of my most favorite places, friendliest and rudest people:

© 1997 Jan K. Genemans