Freighter Ship Update – Part Two (Indi)

Yep, me again. Indi’s blog version of part of the trip follows.

Day 2 – Thursday, 4/30

We received a courtesy call at 5am from the Captain, advising us
we were preparing to depart and were welcome on the bridge. Rhys rushed
up – I took a few moments to get dressed and try to look presentable and
trudged up the stairs. The door to the bridge is usually pressurized
lightly, but this morning it was tied open. An older man we hadn’t seen
before was onboard the bridge, calling out orders like “Starboard 10”
and “Heading 267 degrees.” It was singularly awesome. The unfamiliar man
was the pilot – each port has their own local pilots who are familiar
with the intricacies of their own port and will join to guide a ship in
or take it out. Once we were past the outer sandbars, a small boat
matched our speed and docked to us, allowing the pilot to deboard and
split off. Standing on one of the outer decks of the bridge, we stared
back at the myriad of neon and streetlights of Long Beach and LA. We
could barely make out the radio tower atop Signal Hill.
We chugged past a line of cargo and cruise ships, all queued up
as if on runways, and raced into the dark horizon. The sun began to
creep up from behind the shrinking cityscape, and I wondered at how vast
the next sunrises and sets would be, with nothing to block the views.
We eat well. Breakfast was eggs and bacon, yogurt, cereal,
juices, and toast. Lunch was fried pork chop, small potato, a few
brussels sprouts, salad, vegetable soup, and a scoop of vanilla ice
cream (yum!). Dinner will be beef stirfry.
Today we walked around the ship – to the bow and back. This ship
is REAL. As you walk around to the forecastle, you shimmy down narrow,
wet walkways, UNDER stacks and stacks of containers, and with only a
short, basic railing between you and the sea. It’s fun. Oh, and to the
people who said we wouldn’t be able to feel anything on such a large
ship? Lies! You can feel every. Single. Wave. I find it comforting, it
feels really natural. Some of the larger swells do make my stomach drop
a big, but I haven’t been nautious or lost my appetite. Rhys hasn’t had
quite so much luck, but he’s a trooper – he managed to down his lunch,
get back up the six flights to our room, and lay down. Hopefully our
inner ears will adjust better tonight, while we sleep.
Only haflway through Sand and Fog, this thing is dense. The
water drilled up by the ship’s propeller(s?) is the most amazing teal
blue I have ever seen. I stared at it for a long time. It makes me happy
that the color exists in nature.
Oh! How did I forget to mention? On our walk this morning we saw
about 20 dolphins jumping our wake on the port side of the ship. They
just jockeyed around each other, launching their beautiful silvery
bodies entierly out of the water to leapfrog one another. They only
stayed beside us for a few minutes before the pack split off and lagged
behind the ship. We watched their playful splashes until we couldn’t see
them anymore.
Other than updates on the food we eat and the books we read, I
am not so sure I’ll have much to journal about on this journey. Time
moves sloooooowly. If you want a hands-off, relaxing vacation and have a
lot of time, freighter travel is for you. I wish the five passengers who
got off in Ensenada were still on the boat – I would have liked to talk
to some fellow passengers. Everyone else works a lot!