WELCOME ABOARD!

Welcome Aboard!
Sunday, 19 August 2007
We can’t believe this day has finally arrived. After traveling since leaving San Diego in January, we’re driving from San Antonio to Houston to board the freighter, Rickmers-Jakarta and begin our cruise around the world.
A quick stop at a drugstore for last minute items and we arrive at the Port of Houston but don’t see anything that looks like our ship. We stop at a building with a sign over the entrance "Seafarer’s Club" and I go in to ask directions. The chaplain and two volunteers approach me, eager to be of help. Turns out we’re at the wrong "port of Houston" (this one is where the cruise ships dock, and we need to be at the downtown city dock). After assuring them that we will visit the Seafarer’s Club at "our" dock, we make our way downtown and over the high I-610 bridge which looks down on the working docks, find the entrance gate, pass through security and find Dock 29 and the huge green hull of the "Rickmer’s Jakarta." There are huge cranes and trucks everywhere and people with hard hats scurrying here and there in the process of loading equipment and containers of all shapes and sizes aboard "our ship." I feel quite out of place and very vulnerable in my capri pants and sandals making my way across this mine field of workers, trying to stay out of their way. As we approach the ship, four deck hands jump to the task of carrying our luggage. We follow them up the gangway, around bulkheads, through large steel doors, up a flight of stairs, down a hallway, up four more flights (no elevator) and finally come out in a hallway and see our cabin door (marked "Owners"). We can forget about our intended exercise program - just going up and down those stairs several times a day, will be quite a workout. Our Philippino steward, Gani, greets us with a huge smile and informs us that lunch is served from 11:30-12:30, so we make our way off the ship to return our rental car and take a cab back in time for our first meal aboard. I feel as though we’ve now cut our ties to land. Our main mode of transportation and our home for the next four months is now the ship.
It’s a small dining room - just two round tables for six, one for the officers and one for the passengers. At this point we think there are eight or ten officers but they don’t all eat at the same time. We learn that there will be six passengers but we are the first two to arrive. Gani is there to serve us and shows us the posted lunch menu - roast turkey with gravy and mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables. A lazy susan in the center of the table holds a bowl of tossed salad, dressings, large bowl of fruit, bread basket, water, juice and condiments. We’re also introduced to Chef Johni who along with the rest of the crew is from the Philippines. The Captain is Polish and the other officers or either Polish or Croatian.
After lunch, Gani gives us a tour of the bridge and areas of the ship that will mainly be used by the passengers. Later we may have a tour of the engine room. There is a party room (with Karoke machine), a lounge (with shelves of books and DVDs) and hot water for coffee and tea, plus a tin of cookies), and on the upper deck, a room with a long bar, some game tables and an exercise machine (this will be a good room for our yoga and fitness classes). There’s also a basketball court (really), swimming pool, laundry and open aft deck with lounge chairs for sunbathing. What more could anyone want? I’m already checking out areas suitable to set up my art studio.

We spend the afternoon getting unpacked, stowing everything, setting up the computer and printer. It’s a great feeling to know we won’t be packing or unpacking for four whole months. Our bedroom is quite spacious with lots of drawers and closet space and a vanity as well (larger than any cruise ship we’ve been on) and the bathroom and shower are very nice. The sitting room is even larger with a long desk and counter top which holds a stereo, dvd player and tv; a long couch, coffee table, three chairs and a small refrigerator enclosed in a wood cabinet. There’s a double portlight which looks forward over the bow of the ship. We’ll be quite comfortable in our new little home.
At lunch, the second day aboard, fellow passenger Jack appears. He has made the six-day drive from Alberta, Canada and left his car at a nearby campground for the duration of the trip. We quickly establish an easy, amicable relationship and the conversation flows as we learn bits and pieces about our respective lives. He’s a retired teacher, married with three grown children and is as excited as we are to be embarking on this adventure. We learn that two of the passengers will be joining us when we reach Hamburg - one is German and the other Swiss - and Gani thinks they are a couple but don’t have the same last name.
We didn’t realize just how hot and humid Houston can be until we walked to the "nearby" Seafarer’s Club this afternoon. It was a dusty, dirty walk through the shipping yard and about a mile walk in 90 degree heat to reach this small building that thankful was air conditioned. There’s a small store for supplies, a café and bar, an internet room (but the computer was down), a chapel and chaplain’s office, and a wonderful library full of free books. I came back with six books, all by my favorite authors. After that, it was siesta time and a shower before dinner. We’re really enjoying the meals and especially homemade deserts (this will not be good for my weight-loss program).
We chose a dvd from the lounge but were quite frustrated when it stopped just before the ending and wouldn’t play any further. Most of the dvds are Chinese copies and are not of very good quality.
We learned from the Captain that we won’t exactly have internet access aboard the ship. The information we were given before boarding said that we would have access to email while aboard. Well, the way it works is that we can receive email through the ship’s email address, and if we write a message on a slip of paper, it can be sent by the computer on the bridge. So, it looks like we’ll be using internet café computers as we visit each port. I may not be posting blogs very often but will keep writing and post them when I can.
Martha arrived Tuesday evening around 10 pm and was happy that she made all of her connecting flights (Juneau to Seattle to Dallas to Houston) and her luggage didn’t get lost. We had asked Gani to prepare a plate of cheese and bread and a desert which she ate in our cabin, accompanied by champagne to celebrate her arrival.
Wednesday at lunch, the Captain asked us to join him for a drink that evening at 6pm to celebrate our arrival. He put two bottles of champagne on our table and presented Martha and me each with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. He was quite chatty this evening and regaled us with lots of sea stories. Unfortunately, some of them were true stories of his experiences with disasters at sea, which I wasn’t sure I really wanted to hear, but he assured us that the "Jakarta" is a very safe ship and we had nothing to worry about. For desert tonight Chef Johni prepared Baked Alaska in Martha’s honor. After dinner, the four of us played a rousing game of Scrabble.
Thursday: I’ve set up my art studio in the large party room on the upper deck and it’s perfect. It’s a nice height for painting, there’s lots of light, and there’s a sink for cleanup; so I tried it out and completed two scarves.
One of the crew members gave us a safety and abandon-ship drill. We were shown where the fire extinguishers are located, instructed how to use our life vests and emersion suits, the location of the life rafts and also the life boat. The life boat is mounted on a slide and sits at an angle, ready to be deployed. If the ship is sinking we would be instructed to get in the life boat (which is enclosed) and has rows of seats (my seat number is 10). We would strap ourselves in and it would be released into the sea. It does have propulsion but I imagine it would only be used to maneuver away from the sinking ship as it wouldn’t carry enough fuel to get very far. We were assured that a call for help would have been broadcast and we would be rescued in a short while. We didn’t try it out.
We watched a movie (one that Martha brought, so it played the whole way through) in our cabin and at 11:45 heard, and felt, the engine start up. From the upper deck, we watched as the lines were thrown off and we got underway! What a great feeling to be moving out the channel and headed for New Orleans. The tug that was maneuvering us turned away and the tug Captain waved good bye. We’re finally starting the voyage and the ship already feels like home.