Quote of 2009

“When you reach that point in your life where your dreams become your life and your life becomes your dream… You know you are the most happiest person in the world!”

Character Moulding in your environment

It’s the people around you who have an influence on your character. Your personality is set in concrete but your character is more like clay, it can be moulded and shaped as you grow up. Character shows who you are as a person.
I live and work on board a ship, I have for the past 5 years, and my character has been moulded and shaped so many times that looking back you would think I was three different people. At the end of the day it has all contributed to who I am today.
People can influence the moulding of your character in both a positive and negative way. For instance my time on the tankers was at the time a negative influence but now I see that how the tankers shaped me has been an effect on my inner strength and ability to say ‘No’ these days. So the ship which I am on now has a crew who are 99% positive most of the time an love talking, being social, smiling and saying hello. All this contributes to the shaping of you are as a person. It is a nice feeling when your true inner character comes out.
You would be amazed at how much of a stress free atmosphere creates a relaxed environment. Why stress? Why worry? Does this get you anywhere? As much as it effects your physical health it also effects your mental and emotional well-being. Fatigue, lack of sleep, high blood pressure, decrease in your level of patience and tolerance and your ability to control yourself starts to become over whelming. So how can we make a change t o create a stress free environment in our home, workplace, family and everyday life? You’ll be amazed at how much of an influence hading a positive attitude makes your surroundings comfortable to be in. Make eye contact when you are involved in conversation, greet people as you walk past them, smile to all people who walk past you and no matter what mood you may be in always do things out of love!

Life Influences

The person who has influenced me the most in life and whom I also admire is my Dad. The one and only Mr Stewart. My dad is the most amazing person I have ever known. He spent 10 years raising his beautiful daughters, 2, which have turned out to be successful happy young woman. All thanks goes to him for our upbringing. When we were growing up he was a fulltime 6 days a week worker to earn money to keep us going, a farmer, sailor, fisherman, netball referee, running and biking buddy, a taxi driver, rally car driver, chef, cleaner, medic, support person, volunteer coastguard skipper for the Kaipara and watch leader on the Spirit of New Zealand. Also a peacemaker, provider, family binder, father and a best friend to me and my sister. He still is a lot of that to us today. He runs a fulltime, full on house hold for 5, a farm which requires 90% of his time, managers his workplace and his family commitments are more than most would ever experience in one year. He never gives up and never refuses to help someone in need. Never failed us and never left us with nothing. He is my Dad and I love him!

De-railment in Life

I had a dream the other night after cargo watch that the railway wagons, which we just discharged from the rail deck, had a derailment on shore. It came a huge shock to me because all I could think of was what did I do wrong to cause this to happen and how could I help this situation? When I woke up in the morning all I could think about was what I had just dreamed about. I spent a bit of time reflecting back on what happened and replayed the situation over and over again in my head. I thought that this may have been a warning for me for next cargo watch on the rail deck, but in the end I realised that it was a reminder of how important it is to stay on track on life. It came to my attention that many unpredictable things can happen in our lives, which we don’t fully expect, or ever think could happen to us. Some things shake us up and others leave us stranded. But it is the ones that cause us to fall off track that are more of an issue to try and get us back. Think of transportation as an example. Cars and trucks have the freedom to go where ever they like, trams have a bit of flexibility to how far that they can stray from the overhead cables and trains are restricted to the direction which the tracks are going.

Just can't stay away

Here I am again. Back at sea when I'm not at sea. Making any sense? Probably not. I have just moved into a new flat in the town where I now work and it is by the beach. So what is the last thing I do before I go to sleep at night? I look out the window and see the 10pm ferry go past on its way to Picton. What do I do during my days off? I go down to the beach and sit on the sand watching the Ferries go past in the morning. The evening walk along the beach is enjoyed as the 6pm ferry sails from Wellington. Some would say that I have an addiction and obsession with ships and the sea but I say that I have a passion. Addictions and obsessions bring pain but Passions bring happiness to life.
I do what I love and I love what I do, what more could I ask for?
Reaching that point in your life where you are happy with who you are and what you are doing, it is such a nice feeling. Passion brings happiness and happiness brings life. I used to not look forward to the day where I would have to sign of a ship, but now I am not bothered by this any more because I still get the buzz of seeing them from my bedroom window on my days off.

Learning from your past

Someone once told me that “We are all products of our past.” Wow! That’s pretty deep. At first I didn’t like that, because like most people I to have things in my past that I am not proud of. People say things they don’t mean and do things in the spur of the moment which they never would dream of doing in their lifetime. People have regrets and scars and bruising from issues that they may have encountered.
So in my eyes the past is the past, it’s behind us and there is no way that we can go back and change things. They have happened and now it is history. What we can do now though is focus on the future and moving forward in life. Learn from your mistakes and make a better effort to do what you do better next time round.
“Always look forward, don’t ever look back”

What a Captain and Mate will do for their ship!

In April-June 2005 Captain Leppington and I sailed the Pacific Link to Fiji where we spent 3 months working on board the ship while it carried out its medical outreaches. We worked all round the clock from navigation, chart work, bridge (port and sea) watches and anchor watches, to chipping and painting, sanding and grinding and sign writing the ships name on the bow, both sides.

Riddle: - What runs fore to aft, port to starboard, left to right, stern to stem and there are three of them on a ship? – Guessed yet?

Captain Leppington and I spent a few months training crew in bridge watch duties, ship maintenance and ship board safety training procedures. Full time work, lots of hours on deck and little sleep gained by all on board. Grinding would start at the crack of dawn and noise s=would start to cease by sunset. There was no chance for an afternoon nap for me in Fiji.

Fiji was such an amazing place to experience 3^rd world life. The lives children live in the villages are quite fascinating. They get the most out of life by making use of what is around them. For example one day in Levuka on Ovalau Island we replaced all the mooring lines on our ship. We placed the lines on the wharf one night and in the morning they were gone. When the Captain and I went for a walk later that afternoon we came across kids swinging from big ropes hung from the trees. They had takes our mooring lines from the wharf and hung them in their trees for the children to play in. It was quite touching seeing children’s eyes light up when they see something like this which they have never come across before.

Make the most out of what you have in life, you never know when you may loose it. What is rubbish for someone may be someone else’s treasure.

2004 Spirit of Adventure Trust Cadets

You spend 18 months together living in close proximity together, every meal is eaten together, tears are shared with one another, good times and bad times they all happen in the same boat. You study in the same room, work on deck and aloft everyday and even share shore leave is spent together.
This is what it is like for cadets on the youth development ship the Spirit of New Zealand. In 2004 Suz, Luke and myself were cadets together. We lived and worked on the same boat as we voyaged around the New Zealand coast with youth from all over the country. We shared many good times with one another and also some very sad times as well. It wasn’t all fun and games we did have our moments, just like any teenagers growing up. But in our case any conflict that came up it was closely resolved within a matter of hours. You can’t hold grudges or give someone the silent treatment to anyone on a ship, it is just not possible. Everywhere you turn you see the other person. If you avoid them during the day you will see them at meal times no matter what.
So where are we all now. Well Suz went back onto the Spirit of New Zealand as 2nd Mate then moved up to 1st Mate, now she is in London in the UK working and having an OE at the same time. Luke is a Skipper for New Zealand Dive and Salvage and is currently doing some work in Samoa. Me I am a 3rd Officer on a Rail Ferry on my way up to the next rank. So there you have it. After 18 months living and growing up together, 5 years later we are still keeping in contact with one another.
Like I explained to someone one day: “Place 2 people in a boat together and after 10 days they will either be the best of friends or have killed one another!”

Reflections on the water

What do you see when you look over the side of the ship into the water? Do you recognize what you look at? Do you like what you see? Or wish you were different? That is the thing with reflections, we cant change them. They show exactly who we are at that particular point in time. Yes sure sometimes we don’t like what we see so we slap the water and the image fades away, but that is only for a moment. Once the water settles again the image comes back and it is the exact reflection of the one who is peering down into it. It is the only thing in the whole world which we can not get rid of. It follows us every where, always looking back at us and showing us what we look like.
Some people grow up their whole lives with out ever liking what they see about themselves. Most would say that this is low self-esteem but I say that people have just not realized their own inner and outer beauty yet. It make takes years even decades for this to be realized but the reality is that you beauty is in you now! All you have to do is look into the water and you will see the uniqueness of your creation. Just take a moment and look at you face. Who else has you nose of the same colour and spacing of your eyes. What about your hair? There is so much that you can do with it, why not do a style that makes you smile.
So every time you peer into the water and chuck stones at what you see looking back at you just remember that when the water settles the reflection will return no matter what.

Settling down for a year

Some would say I’m crazy some will say I shouldn’t, but anyone who knows me knows that I only do what is best for my career and for the people who I am around. Now six years later and after years of training, exams, experience, sea time and seeing amazing places, I have now settled down in a permanent job. I am working on a ship now which is the one I started on as a cadet in 2005. It is such a different perspective now being in a higher role than what I started in. All the training and experience was definitely all well worth it. I am on the Arahura working week on week off for 12 months. It is a great job with great benefits. I am now living in a flat in Wellington by a surf beach with a bedroom view of the ocean. I miss my Dad every day but this is one of the stages of growing up. Settling down for me was scary at first as I have always lived out of a pack since I started at sea. So believe me even I was surprised when this opportunity came up. What am I going to do in my weeks off the ship? Well I have taken up surfing and more hill running as recreational sports and also French as a language to learn. Maybe now is the time when I can now start to catch up with friends. My passion has grown into a lifestyle and is blossoming every day. I wouldn’t change any part of it so far.
So I’ll be working away on the Rail Ferries and enjoying every minute of pilotage, cargo, passengers and safety checks. Bring on the Easter Rush!

Pacific Link Missions 2005

Crew on the Pacific Link in 2005. Paul Leppington - Captain, Megs - 1st Mate, Ivan - Chief Engineer. Missions on the medical ship, Pacific Link, in the islands of Fiji were such an amazing introduction into 3rd World children's ministry. So many lives were changed and impacted on just by having us there with them in the schools. Some of the happiest children that I have ever see were in a village called Naibalebale on Viwa Island. These were kids aged between the ages of 4 and 14, and although they had no money and lived off the food which they grew and clothes that were delivered from supply boats every few months, they all had dreams to become something bigger than anyone could ever imagine. Two little girls want to be doctors so they can help the people in their village get better when they get sick. Some want to be pilots, air hostesses, teachers and even surgeons. These little kids all they see is the future ahead of them that is what keeps them going. They keep their eyes fixed on the goal and live every day to reach their dreams.
Passions and dreams build up inside them and the live each day to become the nurses, teachers and doctors that they have always wanted to be.

Broken Relationships

My second passion after the sea is children. Children are the future. What we put into them now can have an influence on the way they turn out. Whether it is good or bad it all has a influence.
It hurts me to see children being neglected by their parents. When parents break up it is the children who get hurt the most in all of it. Why bring such pain into a young persons life while they are still learning how to live in this broken world? Children learn from us, it is what we do that they copy and learn from. So if a child sees their parents fighting and arguing, the child will class this as normal behavior and their parents actions move down onto their children.
If parents get a divorce then it should be a clean move apart. Each parent should leave the other to live their own life and move on. None of this still fighting for money 10 years later. This only brings unnecessary stress and frustration into the child’s life. I guess what I am tying to say here is that I was raised by my Dad and grew up without a mother so I know what all this is like. I really want couples out there to really think before deciding to have children. Once you bring someone into this world you are obligated to look after them and be there by their side forever. It is a full time commitment. Put the child first in any relationship, think of their needs and their well being. If the relationship ends in a break up and there are children involved then for what its worth make the child’s upbringing conflict-free and clean.
I would just like to thank my Dad for the best upbringing that I could have ever wanted. Without him and what he has done for me I wouldn’t be where I am today!

Fire Fighting Training

If there was a fire in your workplace for you home would you know what to do? There are few people out there who know how to fight fires. Working an living on board a ship you are onboard a floating time bomb. This is mainly focused towards tankers but any ship if it is in the middle of the sea is basically left the experience of eth crew to control a fire. On a ship you are in an environment where if there is a fire on board you cant ring the fire brigade to come and help, you are it! Fire training is a huge part of shipboard trills and safety management. On my current ship we have fir drills every week. We muster, gear up and get involved in pre-planned fire scenarios. Sometimes this may include a dangerous goods spillage on deck, electrical wires involved, medical casualty and some even end in the crew having to abandon ship (just in practice sense) At all times on board we are to know where the nearest emergency exit is, the closest fire extinguisher and alarm call point and also the quickest action to be taken in that area. Whether it is to contain the fire by shutting the fire doors, attacking it by yourself if it is manageable, or evacuating the area and going to muster stations. It all depends on the situation at the time. All we can do as crew on board a ship is know that we are confident and competent in using the fire fighting equipment and know the procedures to be followed to ensure safety in an emergency.
Training done on board ships these days usually involve a smoke machine to give a drill a real life feeling. In some drills the masks of the crew wearing the BA gear get covered up so they cant see where they are going. Everything is dodne by sound, touch and senses.

Blind Pilotage

Everyday is a learning day for me. Not a single day goes by where I haven't learnt something new. 20 years could go by and I would still be learning about new stuff and new ways of doing things. The latest new experience I have had was so amazing! I was the pilot and got to con the Arahura in through Tory Channel Entrance all the way up to Picton. Solo, on my own and I wasn't allowed to use any navigational equipment. It all had to be done by sight and senses. Of course the Master was on the bridge for ticket exemption purposes and company regulations. I had to stand in front of the conning area on the bridge which is in front of the radars and navigation equipment. All piloting and navigation had to be done by sight. It was so awesome! Talk about an adrenalin rush and get your heart pumping. The Captain said to me 'Right get out the front you are doing this now, Blind Pilotage!' It would have to have been the best experience I have had on watch on this ship so far. Talk about being thrown in the deep end head first with no floaties to keep me afloat.
Well after this I am pleased to say that it went really well. The Captain and Mate were impressed with how I did it for my first time. I had only been on board for a week and hadn't done any pilotage work at all on this ship. I had memorized everything from my last ship, the Aratere, and made some fine adjustments to the helm orders. The Captain came up to me afterwards and said that I need to get a photo of myself conning the ship so that I can send it to my Dad because he would be so proud of me seeing what I do.

Motion of seasickness put into perspective

Have you ever wondered why passengers seem to get sea sick more than the Officers navigating on the bridge of the ship? Or why passengers in the back seat of a car are more prone to chunder? I took me a while to realise this but I have finally found out that most people like to have a sense of direction of knowing where they are going. From the bridge we can see what is actually going on and predict the movement of the vessel from observing the approaching sea conditions. So for a passenger who is indoors all they know is that the vessel I rolling around and their head then starts to signal to them that something isn't right. I bought a passenger up to the bridge one day who suffers from real bad sea sickness. She said that she has never been on board a boat or ship before and not been sick. This lady did the whole voyage across from one port to the other on the bridge and didn't feel the slightest urge of sea sickness. Being on the bridge of the ship she could see where we were going and what we expecting to encounter, wind gusts, sea waves and long swell waves. We sometimes get like this in life as well. If we can't see where we are heading or have no sense of direction we start to feel a bit sick. It's just a matter of opening up your eyes and looking forward to what is in front of you instead of down at the inside of a white paper bag.

Life in the Sounds

Marine life in Queen Charlotte Sound is just incredible during spring time and the summer seasons. Seeing dolphins is a regular occurrence and whales are an added bonus. Bird life is encountered all year round, the only variation being bird species.
You think that dolphins are just creatures like any other marine life t sea, but from personal experience they are must more than this. There is something about seeing a dolphin when you are on watch and at sea that brings a sense of contentment and makes you smile. The beauty of creatures gracefully enjoying life at sea, riding the bow waves of ships or trailing behind in the wake left behind. One of the only creatures that can change your mood if you are feeling down or in the dumps. They have a way of coming to the surface when we most need to be saved and cheered up. At first I thought this was just something that I encounter when I am at sea, but after sharing this with many people I have found out that over 30 other seafarers that I know experience this as well. So as you can see I don't just like working on a ship for the job and the pleasure that it brings, I do it to see the dolphins.

Gourmet Cuisine and Rest

How many people do you have to cook for in your house hold? Two or three, maybe 5 if you have children. Do you ever complain about not having enough bench space in your kitchen? Or too many mouths to feed when friends and family come around? I bet you have had one of those days where you don't feel like cooking anymore so you order takeaways. Am I right? Of course!
Living and working on a ship we aren't able to do that. All our food is provided for us. We have highly qualified chefs who live and work on board the ships with us, cooking meals four times a day non-stop. If a ship is tied up for lay-by (not sailing) then most crew get shore leave. This isn't the case for the cooks. If they go ashore we don't eat. If they stop working we stop eating, and then if we stop eating then we stop working. It goes round and round ending up with the ship not sailing.A ship funnily enough moves around quite a bit when she is at sea so sometimes this can make cooking in the galley (ship's kitchen) very difficult. There are usually 2 or 3 cooks on a ship who all have to work in the same small area and walk around cautiously when the seas get choppy. So next time you have a party at home and are complaining about having to feed so many people just take a minute to think about he cooks on ships who have to cook for 40-50 crew members four times a day. For some reason your party will seem just that much easier.

I am just not understanding, How?

Have you ever tried to understand something that just isn’t making sense? Most of us have experienced this at least once in our life. Whether it is an English exam in high school or working out how plants grow upwards and ships float on water, we all have the ‘how’ question in the back of our minds. How does this happen? How does it do that? We like to find out everything we can in life, like how things work, but to be honest we will never in our lifetime find out about everything. Some things we created not to be worked out. Like the TV commercial about the little girl that asks her father where babies come from, children don’t learn about this until they are in the high school years in health classes. There is a time and place where things are to be known. No point in trying to work it all out now. You can only absorb as much as the sponge will let you. Any excess and it will just leak back out. Don't spend nights laying on your bed looking out the window trying to work out how the stars stay up in the sky and don't fall down to earth. He created everything for a reason some of which we will never know.
So pace yourself! Keep being observant and learning as much as you can but don’t forget to take time out to let it all sink in. Your brain doesn't have the capacity space to store the entire knowledge of the world and creation. If you want to know anything just open up the book. :-)

Chasing the wind

Sometimes my life feels like I am chasing the wind. Which direction am I to go in now? Am I supposed to turn now or continue on? Strong gusts come at times when I least expect them then they are usually followed by long periods of lulls. Storms come and they are usually ok when you are in the eye of the storm as this gives you a short period of time to re-gain the strength to get through the other side. But when squalls of thunder come they usually bring with them lightning which came seem quite frightening. You get tossed about to and fro, don't know if you will make it or this may be the end, you then think will it ever stop?
There are many times in our lives where we may feel like we are chasing the wind. Everything we do and every direction we turn in is like we just keep chasing our tales, just meaningless. What ever direction you are going in if you have faith in where you are heading and trust yourself to follow you gut instinct then no matter how strong the winds get you will get through to the calm spots. If ever you are in a situation and can’t see a way out think about someone who is chasing the wind. Chasing the wind is meaningless but if you have faith in where you are heading you will get there in the end.

Imitating

Have you ever noticed how a child learns to walk or attempts to use a spoon themselves for the first time? Or maybe even just sat in the park and watched the children as they play on the playground and in the sand pit. I know this probably sounds a bit wrong but if you do this with people who have children there then it is ok. It is quite fascinating watching children as they observe how others do various things and then attempt to try them for themselves.
Just like little children growing up, adults spend their entire lives doing the same. Whether it be learning and doing or watching and imitating, we all spend our lives copying and imitating how to do things from the ones around us. You may think feel intimidated having someone watch you and then copy what you do. Don’t feel that way at all. Instead feel blessed that what you are doing is inspiring others around you. Do what you do well because you never know who might we watching and learning from you.

Loneliness is just a state of mind

Question: How do you cope being away from family?

I recently just caught up with a Mate from 4 years ago where the topic of one conversation was based on loneliness. Do seafarers get lonely? How do you keep yourself sane without becoming depressed? What helps to pass time on ship? And can you cope with being away from loved ones? So many questions and many answers would normally be given. In my case recently over the last 3 months I am able to answer these questions without thinking to myself, where am I going in life? Why am I working at sea and taking myself away from the people who I love, it just doesn’t make sense. When you have a passion about something and work hard to get there nothing else around you really matters. The whole world could sink beneath the ocean and it wouldn’t be noticed by those who have a passion for their work.
Loneliness is just a state of mind that comes when you have no hope. Hope gives you something to look forward to and focus on. It is very easy to become lonely on a ship when you start to stick to yourself and avoid any social interaction. There are three keys to avoiding loneliness on a ship. 1.) Be sure of yourself. You have to like who you are as a person before you take a job on a deep sea ship. Because there will come a time when you are the only one you have a conversation with, if you look in the mirror and don’t like what you see then you have lost your first best friend. 2.) Have hope. You need something to look forward to which give you the desire and motivation to achieve greater things. And last of all 3.) Smile and be happy. All of these sound simple but in some cases it is easier said than done.

Bucket List

You’re probably thinking to yourself ‘did she just watch the Bucket List movie?’ Well you are 100% correct. So I thought about it for a while and the decided that it actually is a good idea to have a list of things that you would like to do before you die. These aren’t goals or personal achievements but more like things that you would like to experience and give a go at some stage. Here is my bucket list of 13 things that I would like to do, (13 being my favourite number) it took me three weeks to write because I wanted to make sure that I covered every area of my life.
1.) Sky diving. I want to jump out of a plane and survive.
2.) Have a champagne breakfast in a hot air balloon one morning.
3.) Go on a holiday with my Dad, Jody and Lissy to an island resort.
4.) Visit the pyramids of Egypt with my uncle Matthew.
5.) Go diving in Fiji and see what is on the sea floor.
6.) Take a cruise on a boat with my uncle Chris and cousin Rachel.
7.) Have a picnic at Cape Rienga lighthouse and watch the sun rise from the east, set in the west and see the meeting of the two seas.
8.) Be fluent in 5 languages. English, Japanese, Fijian, French and one other.
9.) Start up a trust or organisation which supports woman who go to sea. Leave behind a legacy to be followed.
10.) Have a family photo of all my family, the Stewarts on Long Bay beach.
11.) Cuddle a white tiger cub and take a photo with them.
12.) Visit Europe. – Rome, Paris, London, the Greek Islands and many more.
13.) And last of all to experience the feeling of what it is like to fall in love.

Take a break

People weren’t designed to run continuously 24/7. Batteries do eventually go flat, light bulbs blow, kettles boil and tyres go flat. Are we different from any of those? Five years ago I would have been the last person anyone would ever talk to about taking a break I am well known to continue working on through break times because I enjoy my job so much. Back when I was younger I thought I was a machine. I thought that if I worked night shifts on the ship then I could get 1 hour sleep before breakfast then start day work on deck. This was possible for a few months, believe it or not, before the Chief Officer found out.
In any job rest, relaxation and recovery become a part of your normal daily work routine. At sea working on a ship you have to make the time each day to rest, relax and recover. If you know your shifts then this makes it a lot easier by giving you a broad idea of when you will get time to rest. The last thing that you would ever want to happen is to become fatigued. Fatigue is not a nice feeling and it takes weeks to months to overcome, you can trust me on that one.
Be more like my favourite animal the tiger. They are fully active creatures always on the go, but they to know when to sleep and lay in the sun. So the next time someone gives you a tea break or invites you out for a coffee, say Yes! You will actually be doing your body a favour.

Importance of Friendships

Some people are bought into out lives for a reason. What reason? We may not always know. It is the ones that we lose that we wish we could re-kindle and start over rather than the long lasting ones we have. Some people come into out lives to correct us and put us straight some come for guidance or just for the feeling on comfort. Whatever friendships we are involved in we are to cherish the moments that we spend together. Who knows if each of you will still be standing together tomorrow, next week or in 10 years time. The old saying that goes: “It is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all!” is totally true. Just think about a close friend you have now, how would you feel if he/she didn’t arrive home after a trip away with family? How would you feel? What would you do? How would you cope? There are so many questions that go through our heads now about what if? And what may or may not happen? We need to stop think about all the what ifs? It’s nice to be prepared but tale more time to think about the present times you have with your friends. Take every opportunity that you get to spend time with them, hang out, go to dinners and share stories with. I have recently just caught up with a friend which I haven’t seen in 4 years. In that time a lot of changes happen in each our lives. But because this friendship was strong from the start (I mean we did live and work on the Spirit of New Zealand small sailing ship together for over a year) that no matter how many things had happened in our lives since we last saw each other it actually felt like yesterday was the last time we laughed together. Sure things had changed and we both have grown up, but our friendship was still there, still as crazy as ever and full of laughter. So now is a good time to ring up you old high school friends who you may not have seen in many years, but what is there to lose, a friendship that has already grown apart or will you re-gain a friend from your past? All it takes is a pick up of the phone. It’s as easy as that!

In loving memory of high school friend James Skipper. (1986-2004)

Complacency

I was just looking through my dictionary at work and when I came across the word COMPLACENY. It was defined as the “self-satisfaction accompanied by unawareness of actual danger or deficiencies”. Wow! You say. I hope that this never happens to me.
So how are we supposed to live without becoming complacent in our work place? Situational awareness and variation are the two main keys to this. We have to be alert and aware to what is going in our surroundings. This is where the three “A’s” come into account. Being awake, alert and aware of what’s happening. A high percentage of shipping accidents and accidents in the workplace occur because of complacency. People just become too familiar with their environment and start to lose their larger awareness of the situation. The second key which also flows on from key one is variation. By adding a bit of variety to your job and duties it keeps you actively interested and allows you to enjoy your job more. When someone says they need to ‘spice up their life’ take not of this and try it in your workplace.

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions...

What am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to go about it? What if I fail? Who will be there to pick me back up? Am I to move to a new house right now or continue to stay in backpackers? Should I pursue an existing career path or explore a career change? When do I leave my job I am in now or should I wait around for a miracle to happen? When will this be? Do I fight for what I want or let it go and move on? I have an idea should I step out and pursue it or take a back seat? These are just some of the questions and decisions that most people face many times in their lives. In some situations, the decisions are made for us. In others, we have to agonise over the choices, some involving sacrifices which in turn may not seem possible. Decision-making is never easy especially if the choices we make have life-altering consequences. Choosing what to wear each day may appear to be a challenge on some days. But, it certainly can’t compare to say choosing to live a life as Christian or fit into the world’s view of a woman. Since I have had to face a few significant decisions in my life over the last few years, I have had to use more than just my own inner strength to come to a decision. I chose to follow the path of the one who is always there for me when I fall down. The one who picks me up and wipes my tears away, the one with the shoulder I lean on and the hands I hold most. I owe all my thanks to the most influential person in my life - My DAD!

“When I grow up I wanna be a Captain, I wanna be a star, I wanna grow taller…”

Lyrics of a song just edited a wee bit for me. These words “when I grow up” come up in some many conversations daily that it has got me thinking a lot about this. What does this actually stipulate? I mean little children say this all throughout primary school and then high school and college. Even adults are still saying this when they are in their late 20’s and 30’s. So many people these days want to be someone other than who they are right now. Some want to be taller and skinnier, some want to be beautiful so that they can meet Mr Right, fall in love and have children while some just want to be a different person to who they are now. Why do we all want to different? I don’t understand this. I mean we have all been uniquely created with hand crafted gifts and talents placed in each of us, none like any other in the world, our creator wasn’t sleeping when he thought of us. We all have our own inner and outer beauty that defines who we are as people. Who else has your nose or your eyes? What about your thumbs and fingerprints, are there any more like yours?

I must admit some days I look into the mirror and cry out to God for just a little bit more height and less weight. What good does that do though? I only feel let down when my height doesn’t come and my weight just sits there. It is when I learn to be happy with who I am that I am able to stop saying that “I wanna…?” I do say I wanna be a Captain one day but that is in a different context. That context is in a living your dream context. This photo is of me and my current Captain on the Arahura getting ready for a tank inspection during a lay-up time in Wellington. So now is the time step up another level and move aside from saying “when I grow up” because your whole life is about growing up, living and learning each day.

P.S. "I Love You!"

Have you ever though to yourself what would happen to you if you lost all your family one day? What about if your family lost you? How would they handle it, would they cope? So many questions have gone through my head day after day since I have started working at sea about loss of life. All the ships I have worked on have come under a convention called SOLAS. This stands for Safety Of Life At Sea. We as seafarers are trained to protect the life of people on board and the sea environment which we work on. I admit it though but you could be the world’s best seafarer and have never been in any disaster at sea and then one day run into an ice berg. It could be the Titanic disaster all over again. What would you be thinking when you are abandoning your ship into a lifeboat which is one fire? Me personally I would be letting my family know much I care for them so much and also this message. P.S. “I Love You!” Moments like these are common among seafarers today. Disasters do happen, lives do get lost and pain is real for the families who are left behind. Don’t you wish that you could say just one more time “I Love You” to your Dad or sisters? And hug your Granny or little cousin before you leave the dock? Now is the time to start doing all this because you never know when your time is going to be up. Write letters and emails to your families when you are at sea, include P.S “I Love You!” at the bottom of each letter. Ring, make phone calls and text messages as often as you like. Let your loved ones know that you are thinking of them, miss them dearly and love them more than ever. Send surprise gifts in the mail home to them and even do the ultimate surprise of all a couple of times a year. Show up on their door step unannounced early than they were expecting you. I did this on Christmas Eve on year in 2005. Be a breath of fresh air when you return home and share your love and passion for life with them.

Surrounded by Water

Everywhere I go I am surrounded by water. Whether it be at work (on a ship), at home at my dads (ponds and harbour) and now on my time off (the fountain in this picture). I just can’t escape it. It is in my blood now. Humans are made up over 90% water so I guess this is where I get my sea legs from. Water hydrates us on a hot summers day, fills us with the refreshment we need to keep our body at a constant cool temperature. We use water for our boats to float on, to wash our feet in, to water the garden and wash our cars down (that is if we’re not in Australia) There are some countries in the eastern art of the world which don’t have access to water facilities each day. Some people have to walk miles on end just to get to the creek to wash their clothes. Sometimes we take so much for granted. So every time you turn on the tap in your bathroom room to brush your teeth of turn on a half full washing machine, just take a moment to think of the people in Ghana East Africa who struggle to have enough water to live on.

“Water in our sink, is what we like to drink. Water beneath the boat, is what keeps us afloat”

Sweet Home Arahura, where the seas are so blue...

I am home at last! It is so good to be back working for InterIslander Line again after being away for so long. The Arahura Rail Ferry was the very first merchant ship that I worked on as a trainee deck officer for 3 weeks in August 2005 before I moved to the Aratere for the rest of my cadetship. I have recently just signed a 12 month fixed contract to work as a full time 3rd Officer on a week on week off roster for InterIslander Line. I will start off on the Arahura then move to the Kaitaki for familiarisation. When all the familiarisation is completed I will be available to work on all three ships where I am needed. As long as I am working for this company I am pretty flexible as to which ship I work on. The 12 month fixed contract is perfect for me. I will working regular hours, getting regular time off and pay and being able to live a close to normal lifestyle as I am able to know when I am working and when I am not. It’s pretty exciting having your whole year planned ahead of you. I am used to going from one ship to another and then back again without rest. That’s what happens when you make yourself available for three companies, they all tend to want you at the same time so time off becomes non-existent. I will now be able to plan my leave and studies around when I am working and not worry about if I am going to get called back to sea for a 6 week contract in my leave. February 2010 I head off to the NZ Maritime School to begin my studies for my Chief Mates Ticket. So this contract allows me sufficient seatime and work up till I head back to school. November 2010 I plan to sit my Chief Mates Oral exam. So for now it’s Wellington/Picton on the Ferries. Like Dorothy say's on the Wizard of Oz: “There is no place like home”

Who do you Trust on a ship?

I remember having a conversation with a Captain in his office one day about this particular question, Trust. Yes the big ‘T’ word. I have always had the approach of not trusting anyone as far as I can throw them, and even though I may have a good arm, the size of some of the crew on ships I wouldn’t have any hope in moving them. Trust was the topic of conversation on this particular day and to be totally honest my whole awareness of leadership and personal working relationships has changed to a new level. We discussed the purpose Trust and how a ship operates with and without it. But where there is Trust there is also Responsibility. You can’t have one without the other. Being a Master or Captain of ship you have to have full trust in your crew who are working for you because at the end of the day if anything happens it all falls back on you as the Master. An Officer of the Watch (OOW) is in charge of keeping a bridge navigational and safety watch on behalf of the Master to allow him/her to perform other tasks on board. No one is physically capable of carrying out all the shipboard duties on their own so that is why there are crew on board. Officers and Deck Crew all work together to maintain a safe and efficient running of the ship. There has to be some level of trust between crew members to eliminate the chances of tension developing, incidents and accidents happening and even serious ship related issues. So even if you don’t feel like you can trust anyone on board the ship think of the Master on your situation. If the Master trusts an Officer to perform his duties then this is evidence that you could possibly Trust them as well. Some people may have the knowledge but are they competent? Bottom line is don’t not trust anyone so far that you end up taking on more work load and responsibility than you can really manage. Teamwork and Trust is the framework to building a working relationship with your crew on board.
This photo above is of the Captain, Chief Officer and 1st Officer on the Volendam, working together to deploy a weather buoy for the met. service in New Zealand. Location of deployment was in the middle of the Tasman Ocean between the South Island of New Zealand and Tasmanian of Australia.

"Your reputation precedes you"

It is such a nice feeling joining a ship and being greeted by a Captain who says:
“Oh it’s so good to see you back, your reputation precedes you…” I had no idea what he meant until I asked him later on that day.
New Zealand is such a small country and the shipping industry is even smaller. I have worked on just about all the ships operating on the New Zealand coast. Inter Islander Line – Aratere, Arahura, Kaitaki. Silver Fern Shipping – Torea, Kakariki. Golden Bay Cement. Pacifica Line – Spirit of Resolution. Holland America Line – Volendam. Marine Reach – Pacific Link. Spirit of Adventure Trust – Spirit of New Zealand. And I have been on board the following ships for a day. Pacifica – Spirit of Competition. Holcim Cement Ships – Melbourne Carrier 2, Westport and quite a few offshore vessels. Some would say to me don’t you get board with working only in New Zealand and to be totally honest why would you want to work anywhere else when there is a beautiful country like New Zealand here to work in. The coastal scenery is just amazing, the wildlife and sea life in the south island and the weather. I mean this is like a job in Heaven. The best part about it is that everyone knows me. If they don’t know me face to face they know of me. So that is a bonus for being a kiwi that ‘Your reputation proceeds you’ wherever you go. Every worker in the ports around the coast either know you or of you, all the pilots in the NZ shipping industry have heard of you, the Maritime School speaks highly of you and so on. So why would you want to leave all this behind to go and work on a ship deep sea where you don’t see anyone for days on end and then show up in a foreign port with workers and pilots with English as their 3rd language?
What you say and what you do will always pave a pathway forward in your life. It is proven that sound travels faster than man that is why the word gets around faster than you think. So what you do now effects what happens in the future. To end this, it is a nice feeling when you walk onto a ship for the first time and your reputation has already gone before you and paved a smooth way for your entry.

Risking your life

As an officer on board a ship you are trained in the operation s of all the fire fighting equipment and life saving appliances on board. In an emergency situation it is you who is responsible to use the equipment to best aid the situation. On a passenger ferry in a real emergency it is the officers who are in charge of the LSA operation. For an Abandon ship emergency an officer is to do all that they can to ensure all passengers are accounted for and evacuated into lifeboats. This may mean that the fire party have to conduct search and rescue patterns in passenger areas and cabins to account for anyone who may be missing. Working on a passenger ferry, passengers are put first. You may lose your life saving people in a fire on board your ship but at least you will be know as the one who risked their life to save others. Passengers place their faith in ships crew before they board. They have to be sure that they are going to step on board a ship where there is crew who know what to do in an emergency and will save them if need be. People still have the picture and memory of the Titanic disaster in the back of their minds. That is always going to be an issue and something that we don’t have control over. What we do have control over is the present. We are able to reassure passengers that they are in good hands with fully qualified competent crew.

She Captains - By Joan Druett

Joan Druett wrote an amazing book called "She Captains."

A piece of her writing is pasted below: If a "Hen Frigate" is any ship carrying a captain's wife, then a "she captain" is a bold woman distinguished for courageous enterprise in the history of the sea. There were women who cross-dressed to get into the forecastle and take part in battle, and women who pretended to be men so they could make lots of money (so they naively thought) in the whaling business. And then there were the female admirals, the lady shipbuilders, and the women explorers. And, of course, there were pirates. This book which Joan wrote she immensely enjoyed researching and writing it, it is a lighthearted buzz through female participation in the seafaring world over the past few decades.

Importance of Family

Being old and working at sea is a lot different to if you were young. For me I am young. My heart and passion are all about working at sea but at the end of the day I still need my family around me for love and support. You really find out the true meaning of family when you go to sea. Think about this for a minute: "You are on ship in a far off ocean with no land around to be seen in 100's of miles. The only human life you encounter is the other 17 people on board your ship. Writing in a journal and letters home to family and friends is a great way to express yourself, taking photos and collating them holds together memorable moments and experiences and counting down the days till you get home to be with your loved ones. Time away makes time at home have much more meaning. You tend to learn to cherish every little moment more, those little precious moments with family will be the basis of your pleasant memories to recall back on when you are at sea.

So my words of encouragement to all young people either considering working at sea or who are currently on board a ship is: "Reflection is good for keeping you at peace while at sea, but be sure to make the most of every opportunity when on land to spend time with your family." Take lots of photos, give lots of hugs, share heaps of meals together, plan lots of family and friends reunions and cherish every moment as if it were your last!

Where have i been?

I have created a one page blog for the journal of my life at sea over the last 8 years. It was to long to write as one post for my blog page so i have created a link to this, it is:
http://megs-at-sea-journal.blogspot.com/

My dream for young woman

I have a dream and this dream is different from the one which I am living. I am living my dream of becoming a Captain of a ship, each day on board I am learning and experiencing new things which is all adding to a new stage in my career. I live my dream rather than living to reach it.My dream which I have is to see other young woman reach their dreams and to their full potential. I aim to encourage young woman by leading by example in a challenging world today. To show young woman that they can achieve anything when they apply themselves to it. One thing is to believe in yourself and the other is to do something about it.

Like these children in the photo above, some of them have dreams to become doctors and dentists. Some also want to be teachers so that they can teach the other children in the islands of Fiji as well as helping them when they are in trouble. So even children in countries where education and resources are limited and future careers don’t seen possible from people outside their environment, these little children dream big and live their dreams out even from a young age. The teachers of the schools there at present are all ex-students who have been through the same challenges and hurdles to get where they are today.
So like these little children in the Fijian islands young girls and guys from any age, any race and country are able to take this step of faith, the step of faith in believing in themselves and reaching high in life.

There is so much discrimination out there in the world today against woman and especially young woman. My words of encouragement to you all is that if you want something go get it. There is nothing that can stop you from doing something that you want to do (within reason). Go for your dreams, put all your energy and time into it, its all worth it once you take that first step.

Set goals and step out to achieve them. That is how I have got to where I am today. I am now a Deck Officer on rail Ferries and Cargo ships overseas. If I didn’t believe in myself and believe that I could do what I do I wouldn’t be where I am today. You are your own worst enemy if you let yourself be, otherwise you can be your own best friend. Think positive, look straight and smile when you can. Trust me it will make a difference.

TRANSITION from school into the real world

Do you remember back when you were in your last year at high school? How you felt about change and transition out into the real world? What thoughts were going into your head, fears of making the big step, decisions having to be made as to what career path you should take? There is so much pressure put on young people now days to find a job that they want to do when they leave school and then they spend the first few years paying off a student loan while studying for a degree in something which they may never use in the future.It would be so much easier if everything we supposed to do was written up in an easy step by step manual. But the true is that life isn’t like that, what we do and how we are to do something can’t be found in a book. Could you imagine how boring life would be if we all followed the steps of a book that showed us how to live. The bible shows us the way to live a holy life in light of God but what book shows us what we are to do once we leave school? Nothing explains that.When I left school I walked straight into a cadetship on the sailing ship the Spirit of New Zealand. Just like my cadetship an apprenticeship in your chosen profession will set you up for life if you choose to follow it. The idea of these training schemes it to equip young adults and teenagers for life in the real world. All training is paid for while the individual is being paid a set wage. This is what I did when I left school and now I am living my dream out while being paid to do it at the same time. So my advice to young people out there today who are thinking about what they are going to do when they leave school is to have dreams and live to live them out. If you want to be an air traffic controller but your gender is holding you back – you go for it girl, if you are determined to achieve your dreams and reach happiness in your work do something that you love and that brings you satisfaction.Leave school with big dreams and plans and pursue a life of living them into being.

Advantages of working on cargo ships

What are the advantages of working as a Deck Officer on cargo ships rather than on cruise ships?Both types of ships have their advantages, for me personally I prefer cargo ships. You have a limited number of crew and depending on what company you work for and crew you live with on board it can actually be quite a nice environment to work in. A lot of people work and do a job because they have to, most people who work on a ship really like what they do, its a choice that each of us make, to leave our families at home and step on board a ship to sail away from at least 4 weeks to 6 months at a time. I mean why would you do that if you didn’t want to?So a ship a less than 20 crew that all get on and speak English is my choice of ship and chosen job. I found that on my last ship the Tasmanian Achiever, I can’t think of any other cargo ship that I have worked on where I have felt such a well knit family environment on board a ship. I mean there is no brick wall between departments like on the tankers and everyone enjoys interacting with each other, especially on a Sunday night when we all get given a well deserved day off.

On a cargo ship as well you are on set watches (12-4, 4-8, or 8-12) so you know exactly when you are working and what time you have off watch to rest. You are able to get your body into a routine of working and proper sleeping patterns and also able to set aside time to go ashore and have a good coffee. With less crew on board a ship there are more chances to get to know each other and grow up together in your job. The crew become like close friends on a family sort of level. My last ship has really shown that cargo ships and crew can be the best environment to work in at sea; compared to the tankers I’ve worked on in the past.Cruise ships – well they are another story. Personally they aren’t for me, over 2,500 people on board, not many English speaking first language crews, limited shore leave, not regular set watches and so many different uniforms to wear.
So thanks go to the crew on the Tasmanian Achiever for making my time on board really enjoyable :-)

Day in the life of a Deck Officer on a RoRo Cargo Ship

It may seem like a fairly busy and long drawn out day but to be honest its all up to how you manage it. Good time management planning and record keeping is the key to preventing fatigue. The following is a typical work schedule for a 3rd Officer on board the Tasmanian Achiever on Bass Strait.
0550- ½ hour wake up call for mooring stations,
0615- Deck Officer on the fo’c’sle for the forward mooring station,
0730- Breakfast,
0800-Cargo Watch down in the cargo control room and on deck, discharge,
1000- Cargo Watch normally commencing loading cargo,
1200- End of watch, lunch time now with the engineers,
1230- Go ashore for a good coffee with the engineers,
1300- Rest time on board or safety checks,
1530- Bridge equipment gear pre-departure tests,
1630- Deck Officer on the fo’c’sle for the forward mooring station,
1700- Rest time,
1800- Meal relief for the Chief Officer on the Bridge,
1830- Dinner with engineers,
1900- Rest time,
2000- Bridge navigation watch for 4 hours,
2400- End of watch, bed time.
The best part about this daily schedule is that you are always busy doing something. There is really no time to get bored or lonely on this ship. You do get time to relax and watch movies every now and then and when you do you cherish those quite times a lot more.
Does any of this inspire or encourage you to take that step for a change in career?

Communication

BRM - Bridge Resource Management, CLC - Close Loop Communication

“Full Ahead on both!” “Aye Aye Captain”“Rudder hard to Port, lets make our way out of here now the war is over” Communication is a huge factor when it comes to bridge resource management. One of the high causes of accidents and incidents at sea is by poor communication if any between bridge crew members and other ships in the area. You would think that something so easy as talking would actually be a weak point for the most people. If you don’t communicate with others then no one is really going to know what is going on and how to prepare for an emergency if something goes wrong. Captain gives an order, helmsman repeats it back to the Captain and then the captain acknowledges that the repeat was correct by saying ‘Yes.’Now days CLC is in a format of order, repeat, acknowledge "Steer 320", "320", "Yes"Each day and prior to departure from the wharf it should start off with a briefing of the passage plan for what’s happening. After any occurrence, incident and training session a debrief should also be carried out touching on the point of what was done and how things could be improved on for next time. Communication is the key of any good management!

Now an Australian :-)

Gidday Mate! You would think that I would now be classed as an Australian; I mean I have an Australian ticket, and Australian Medical certificate, radio licence, an Australian Bank account, and work for an Australia company (temp.) and spend parts of each yeah in working in different ports in Australia. I mean I have also started to talk a bit like an Aussie. I call jandals - thongs now, twink - white out, vacuum cleaners - hoovers, and sausages – snags. Started to learn the rules of Aussie rules - and by that I don’t mean at there maritime rules and regulations I mean the football sport. I started to watch tennis like the Aussies and play cricket while on board. Geez even celebrated Australia Day last Monday with the crew on the ship. And I guess you could say that I must not be a true kiwi chick because I have not seen once were warriors, King Kong and The Lord of the rings series even since they were all made in New Zealand.

Taking the Helm

Just one look at this picture and some would say "She's not right to go to sea!" yeah I still do actually get that from some people in person. They take one look at me and compare me to an image of a seafarer which the world has created. In the worlds eyes you have to be a guy, be big and strong and masculine to work on a ship. Even on a cruise ship you are expected to look physically able to fight fires, launch life boats and work on the ship. That's ridiculous if you ask me. I may not look that big or that string but by the way which I work and the strength which I have compared to my size I have out done a lot of the guys who work in the deck side. Some people call an ant because I can lift things twice my body weight, which is basically the size of one of the guys on board.

Some may say that I am too girly to work on a ship - why because I am not afraid to admit that I am a woman and it is who I am. Where as others would say that I am going to lose my feminine side working on a ship full of guys. Either way both sides are wrong. I am happy with who I am and what I do. I am a woman working in a man's world - so to speak, and I have my feminine side. I am not afraid to get dirty and drag chain lashings on deck, neither am I afraid to go down and do tank inspection in 40 degree temperatures. It's my job and my passion and I live it. There is a right time and place for everything in this world. I am not exactly going to paint my nails while working on a cargo ship the right time to do that is when I am at home on land. And then when it comes to dress codes there is a dress code for every ship and I also have to abide by that. I am not going to prance around on deck or in the mess room in small string tops and a skirt no tat would just be asking to the guys to look at me. I mean there is nothing that I can do on board to stop the guys from looking when I walk by. It’s in their nature. But I am not going to flaunt myself in front of them. If it gets to the stage where I have to approach them and put them in their place then I will and i do, that always makes them feel nervous anytime they look at me after that. Which in a way is funny but I wouldn’t want people to feel uneasy around me. So what I am trying to say is that no one in this world doesn’t look good for a job which they are passionate about. Everyone deserves the right to step forward and be who they want to be and live in a way which makes them happy.

Woman v's Modern day technology

Days go by with endless stories of fellow crew members memories of when they were at sea. Their loved ones and lost ones, the ones that got away and the grumpy old Captains who they have sailed with. I could write a book on merchant seafarers from as far back as 1900 from all the stories I have been told. When the guys share their stories about “when I was at sea we didn’t have all these modern day technologies that we have these days, men were men and woman were the topic of all conversation!” That’s when I say “Sorry Mate since I’ve been at sea men are still just only men and woman happen to be so much more now!” Sure things have changed, we now have access to high class modern technologies and technical systems, but the biggest difference from back then to now is that it’s all in the past and there is nothing that you can do to go back there. Now days we have the opportunity to take that next step in technology, placing faith in electronics and technical equipment is something you have to learn to do on a ship, even though there is still the slightest chance that it may fail on you. If you are confident in your competence and use wisdom to guide you in decision making then technical equipment is used as a back up to your actions. Some would disagree with me on this. But think of it this way; if you have a blackout on a ship, most times you will lose a lot of equipment and some will be powered by a back-up system. Whereas what are the likely chances of you yourself having a black out while on watch? Pretty slim aye. So that’s why it is an advantage having at least one woman on board every ship. It invites a new way of thinking, fresh ideas, logically workings, and a new atmosphere where is something isn't going right they are not afraid to speak up and say something.

Working Down Under - Just a leap across the ditch

Tasmanian Achiever. In January 2007 I first joined this ship as a trainee Deck Officer the purpose was to gain experience working on a RoRo cargo ship in different waters other than New Zealand. Two years down the track in January 2009 I received a phone call from Toll Shipping in Australia. The next thing I know I am on a plane to Melbourne the next day to work one roster for another officer who was on medical leave. I joined the Tasmanian Achiever this time as a 3rd Officer and to be honest not much had changed on board over the last two years, I mean even most of the crew were still the same. The only real big difference was the bridge gear but I had used that on my last two ships. I sat my AMSA oral exam for my certificate of recognition to work on an Australian registered ship in Australian waters.
The ship runs was between Melbourne and Burnie in Tasmania. We load the ship during the day and sail in the late afternoon to reach the next port in the early hours of the morning. The ship transports containers, trucks and trailer units, cars, tanks and up to 12 passengers. She also carried livestock trucks carrying cattle and sheep. I liked loading them on the weather deck because I had to go and check the condition of the livestock before we let it be loaded onto the ship. I grew up on a farm which had quite a lot of sheep and cows so it kind of felt like I was back home for a while.

Sunday nights the ship lays up in Burnie for the night so this was our favourite day on board, our day of rest after discharging the Melbourne cargo. Some crew would go ashore to church in the morning and the rest would go for shore leave. After lunch a group of crew would go ashore for a good decent coffee from Bango’s cafe. This was followed up by fishing with the deck guys in the afternoons off the end of the wharf in the hot sun. The evening was a time to relax and socialise with the crew over a nice cooked BBQ by an engineer on the back deck in the sunset. The finale of the evening was the movie night in the Chief engineer’s cabin which included fresh plunger coffee.