Sea Life
Arrggghh! The adventures of sailing the seas, and exploring far away lands seems as carefree as the movement of the waves themselves, but this is far from true.
Every three months, I pull out my sea bag of quality boots, gloves and tattered clothes to embark upon any voyage of three months time aboard a commercial cargo vessel as a mate.
This career decision has sent me circumnavigating the globe, reaching distant shores of foreign countries which I’ve often had to pick up an Atlas to even locate. This life is a roller coaster of emotions between the pain of departing from friends and family to the doubt of your safety in ugly weather to the stresses of corrupt foreign officials. But at the end of each voyage, I look back through my photos at the stories they tell and say, “that was an experience well worth the hassle.”
On the voyage which just completed, we have visited the shores of Colombia, been detained in Venezuela, back to the US of A for repairs and finally loading, then across the turmoil of the Atlantic to West Africa with foodaid cargo. There are few moments I’d ever be able to forget—from the people to the smells to the tastes—but in case they do slip my mind, I’ll always have the hard, Hipstamatic proof to look back upon in photos.
Fair winds and following seas.
