One Week to Go

This time next Saturday we will all be home. It'll only been 6 weeks for
me, but some on board have been away for 3 months. The crossing home so
far has been spectacular. Warm weather, light seas, you couldn't ask for
better conditions. The clouds broke last night and millions of stars were
visible in the sky above the dark ocean. The Milky Way stretched across
the sky. Today is equally as beautiful. You can't get too complacent at
sea though, it will kill you. The ocean can turn into a roaring nightmare
at the drop of a hat.

By the end of this cruise, I will have spent 6 months of my life at sea.
That seems like a lot to me, but nothing to some of the "old timers" on
board who have spent years on water. Even Vinnie, the guy who runs the
Ship's Store and hardly a professional mariner, has done 30 of these
cruises. That's almost 5years at sea. It's a hard life that these cadets
are choosing. Being away from home and loved ones takes its toll. Some
will never go to sea again, some will do a few cruises and drop out for
shore jobs, but some will do this their whole lives sacrificing a "normal"
life to do what they love.

I want to wish a Happy Birthday to my brother Bob in Florida. Speak to
you soon.

Two Treats

I had two treats this morning. The first, when I headed down to breakfast
was the sight of LAND! Capt. Smith had taken us on a track between the
two westernmost islands of the Azores, Flores and Corvo. I thought the
sight of the cliffs of Brest would be the last land I would see until
Montauk Point. It was nice to see the peaks of these volcanoes sticking
up through the blue ocean. There is something reassuring about seeing
terra firma while at sea, even if you don't land there.

The next treat was, when I opened the library, it was downright COOL. The
temperature had dropped 10° from closing last night to a chilly 68°. It
hasn't been this comfortable here since July 1 when we fueled up. I guess
they finally stopped pumping from the fuel tank below me because the floor
was no longer warm. I expect to have to wear long sleeve shirts the rest
of trip and possibly even a sweater. Anything is better than roasting.

Eight days and counting. See you soon.

Just Sailing Along

Everyone on the ship has settled back into their routine. The classes are
in review mode getting prepared for finals. The work crews are busy as
beavers grinding out every last bit of rust on the ship as a dentist works
on a cavity. The last painting will start soon with a fresh new coat of
green on the decks. The ship will look mighty spiffy when we arrive back
at the fort.

People are burnt out. There are no more ports to look forward to. It is
time to go home. Days are getting shorter as we head southwest. We gain
an hour that was lost on the eastward crossing back every other day.

The seas have been calm. No storms ahead in the foreseeable forecast.
The weather is warm and cloudy most days, much to the chagrin of those
cadets that still have to "shoot some stars" for their celestial
navigation assignments. The library has FINALLY reached a steady,
comfortable 78°. I don't have to work in shorts anymore. People are
still checking out books even though they only have a week to read them.
I myself have gone through 6 books including the 1,000 page tome
"Dreadnaught" that I have been putting off reading. It's nice not to have
the distractions of TV and the internet for a while.

Heading Home

The coast of France is behind us and only the open sea is ahead. We left
Brest at 10:30 Monday morning. The weather was cool and drizzly.
Everyone made it back to the ship from their French adventures except
those few, like Admiral Craine, heading home early by air.

I was not personally impressed with Brest. I know I was not alone. There
were few attractions there. The city was closed down most of the mid-day
hours and pretty much all of Sunday. The street construction for their
new tram system made it annoyingly difficult to get around. The
neighborhood that we had to walk through to get back to the ship was not
very attractive or safe at night. Although we met some nice folks, the
locals did not go out of their way to be friendly. Most of the people who
got out of town, some as far away as Paris, seemed to have a better time
than those who stayed local. My trip to Quimper and the tour of Normandy
made the port worthwhile for me.

Now we're back on the Atlantic heading home. As soon as we got to the
open ocean we hit a thick fog that lasted most of the day. Thank God the
radar's working. The drone of the ship's fog horn cut eerily through the
"soup" for hours. By evening it began to clear, but the afternoon's
planned lifeboat drill was cancelled. I knew that they'd probably have it
in the morning, so I prepared for such. I was right. At 08:30 the alarm
rang. I pulled on my pants, but left my pajama shirt on. I just threw
on a jacket, my life vest and my gear and I was off to stand on the deck
for 45 min. A real treat.

One nice thing was that we crossed into another time zone last night.
That means we gained an extra hour's sleep. I'm getting back all of the
hours Joe lost sailing over here. We're only 5 hours ahead now and will
probably gain and hour every other night.

The cadets are scrambling to finish their work. Teachers are preparing
their finals for next week. I started packing some of my gear today,
especially all of my port clothes and accessories since we have no more
ports. Might as well get them ready. 11 days to go and counting.

“The Longest Day” or “Saving Private Delbango”

On Sunday I took the long awaited trip to Normandy and the D-Day
battlegrounds. When I first looked at the map of Brest, I saw that
Normandy didn't look so far away, a lot closer than any other attraction
that I wanted to see in France like Paris. A lot of other people on the
ship felt the same way. The Captain's aide, Anderson Smith, who arranges
the tours for us, tried to get a Normandy tour from the ship's agent in
Brest. Apparently no one else who goes to Brest goes to Normandy. There
were no "canned" tours to Normandy available. Not to be daunted, he was
able to rent busses for us to take us up there where we would meet a local
guide to take us around.

Two days were set up, Saturday and Sunday, for 80 persons each. They sold
out quickly. As it turns out Normandy wasn't that close, the tours were
scheduled to be 18 hours long! Most of that was traveling time to and from
the region. Originally, I planned to go Saturday because I knew such a
long day would wear me out and I'd be exhausted Monday when we departed..
I reconsidered and booked for Sunday when I realized that almost
everything in Brest would probably be closed that day.

The tours were scheduled to leave at 04:00, way before dawn. We left an
hour late in a Breton rain with about 3 hours of the driving in the dark.
What a lot of driving it was. It took us 5 hours total to arrive in the
town of Bayeux, home of William the Conqueror. Unfortunately, we were
running late and didn't get time to walk around the town. We met our
guide and headed on our tour of the D-Day battle sites.

We passed some sites, such as the British and German cemeteries, without
stopping, while our guide regaled us with facts and stories about the
invasion. Our first stop was the town of St. Mère Église. This was the
town where the U.S 82nd Airborne paratroopers landed the night before the
invasion to act as pathfinders for the invasion force. Located here is
the Musée Airborne devoted totally to the airborne aspect of the invasion.
Moving on, we went to Utah Beach, the westernmost beast of the invasion
and the one with least casualties. Little remains of the gun emplacements
or any other traces of the war. Only a few monuments dot the site.

Next we went to Pointe du Hoc, a 150' high, jagged cliff that 225 Army
Rangers climbed to successfully capture a Nazi gun emplacement, only 90
survived. The landscape is still littered, like the surface of the moon,
with bomb and shell craters 20' deep. A very surreal spot.

We finally drove to Omaha Beach which was the bloodiest of all sites in
the area. It's easy to see why it was such a killing field. It is a
wide beach at the low tide that the invasion took place. There is no
place to hide. The Nazis had an unobstructed view of the entire beach
from their machine gun nests on the bluff above the beach. We hiked
along the beach and up the bluff where there are now stairs. At the top
is the largest of the American war cemeteries in France. It is a
magnificently beautiful spot, perfectly manicured bushes, trees and grass
with row upon row of stone crosses and Stars of David. Over 9,000
Americans were left here. Many more of the dead were sent home at their
families' wishes. All of the stones face home to the west. There is a
beautiful chapel and a memorial with the names of those missing or never
identified. It is an incredibly moving spot that really makes you
appreciate the sacrifices made by those men and women (there are 4 here).

After the cemetery it was time to bid adieu to our guide and head back to
the ship. We arrived back at 23:00, exhausted, but inspired by the sites
of the day.

Quimper

After being underwhelmed with Brest, I decided to go south on Saturday.
The seaside tours that the Ship had arranged had fallen through due to
lack of interest and I had already decided to switch to my Normandy trip
to Sunday. I had read about the Festival de Cornouaille in a town called
Quimper in the Fodor's guidebook and it looked interesting. It was touted
as a 9 day street celebration of Celtic heritage held in a quaint Breton
town. I confirmed on Friday at the Brest tourist office that the festival
was still going on for the weekend.

Leaving the ship early on Saturday morning, I encountered a Sandy from the
Chartwell's food service crew who expressed an interest in going along.
So about 09:00 the two of us set off to Quimper, some 70 miles to the
south. Luckily, we were able to catch the first Ship's bus of the day
into downtown Brest which deposited us off right in front of the Gare SNCF
(train station). We got a noon train with a 19:00 return for only 20€,
giving us a good 6 hours to roam Quimper. The 70 minute ride was very
pleasant, traveling on the super-modern SNCF train through the Breton
countryside, making 4 stops in some of the smaller towns on the way. We
spotted about a half dozen Maritime cadets on board also getting out of
Brest for the day.

When we arrived in Quimper, there didn't seem to be much activity around
the station. It was already their 4 hour lunch break and most shops in
the vicinity were closed. Asking for directions to the fair, we hiked
toward the center of the town. After about a 6 block walk along the
lovely, florally decorated river quay, we spotted the first stalls of the
festival vendors. Luckily, it was early and the festival wasn't too
crowded yet and we were able to move through the stalls without having to
fight our way through crowds.

There was an interesting variety of locally produced goods at the stalls
along the quay: jewelry, artworks, Quimperware (locally produce pottery)
and food. We snacked at a crepe stand, bought some edible seaweed spread
and some souvenirs. Unlike the rest of the town, the shops along here
stayed open instead of closing for their mid-day siesta which was a nice
treat.

The fair led off the quay into the winding streets of the old town. There
was a central food market in the town with excellent fresh foods; fruits,
cheeses, breads, fish, pastries, etc. We got a variety of stuff there and
had lunch on the street French peasant style.

Wandering on further we came to the town square where they had a Celtic
orchestra accompanying 2 groups of native dancers having a sort of ancient
"dance off'. It was amazing to watch.

Heading back, we went to Quimper's cathedral of St Corentin, the 2nd
largest cathedral in France. It was magnificent. The festival continued
in the courtyard where they were having an "American Idol" style
competition of Celtic music. By evening, the clouds that had kept us cool
all day began to drizzle on us and it was time to return to Brest.

Brest

We docked this morning at 09:00 at Brest France. After anchoring last night off the coast, we met the pilot, entered the harbor and pulled in at at the French Navy base. It took an extraordinary amount of time before we could get off due to the fact we couldn't use our own gangway The tides are too high here so the Navy had to move their gangway in with a crane.

We finally got off the ship at 12:30 and headed to town. It was a long walk to get off the base and almostthe same distance to town. It wasn't too bad because the weather was cool and cloudy. Certainly a change from Malta.

The town is pleasant enough. I expected worse. A nice complex of medieval buildings at the town entrance and the new constrution not as bad as I was led to expect. The only problem was they are ripping up the entire main street of the city to make a new boulevard with a light rail running down the center.

Captain Stephens and I had a great dinner at a French restaurant with the cooperation of a very patient waiter who spoke some English. After dinner we hit some of the local shops before they closed. Everything in Europe closes so darn early.

The tour to the coastal towns, that I was supposed to take today, was cancelled due to lack of interest. Too bad, it looked good. The Normandy trips for Saturday and Sunday are both still on. They were very popular. Both are full. I decided to go Sunday. Since it won't be back until late, I probably won't be able to post any pics until I get home 2 weeks from tomorrow. I don't know what I'm going to do tomorrow. I may head 60 miles south to Quimper where there is a Celtic festival going on. It looks cool. We will see. Au Revoir for now.

Sailing Through the Bay of Biscay

We lost sight of the northeast coast of Spain last night and are taking a
diagonal track across the Bay of Biscay directly toward Brest. As I write
this, we are some 16 hours away from docking. The ocean is rougher and
much cooler here. The ship has chilled down to where I have to wear a
light jacket in my cabin and the rest of the ship, except for the library
which is a comfortable 78°.

Since the library is below the waterline and the interior of the hull is
exposed down here, the constant crashing of the waves is a constant
reminder we are at sea. The ship is doing its usual side to side roll,
but not bad enough that the furniture is moving about. The books are
staying on the shelves. I know it is rough when a shelf full crashes to
the floor.

The cadets have been extra busy making noise these last two days. I have
had to wear earplugs during most of the day hours to preserve what is left
of my hearing. The banging and grinding has been intolerable. It is
everywhere on the ship. There is no escape. Thank God most of it stops by
dinner time.

The tours of France have been announced and I am going to register for
two. I hope to get on Saturday's 18 hour tour to Normandy. It looks
great. We'll be going to the battlegrounds, cemeteries and museums in the
historic region. They are repeating it on Sunday, but I think I'd be too
exhausted come Monday morning if I took that one. There will be a shorter
(4 hour) tour to some of the coastal towns on Friday and Saturday. I'm
going to try for that one for Friday. There is another 5 hour hiking tour
that looks good, but I think I'll either try to get to the Celtic festival
in Quimper (60 mi. south of Brest) or just see what there is to do in
Brest.

We're already almost to our last port. After that it is 12 days for the
crossing and we're home.

Brest and the Brittany Region

We will arrive in Brest, France on Friday morning. We will be docked at
the French Naval base there. For those of you who know little about our
next port, here is a condensation of the fact sheet that I have written
for the cadets and crew.

France's Brittany region is a distinct area on the country's northwest
coast. It is a vast plateau of rocky, sandy soil and scrub trees. It has
a rugged coastline with many bays, inlets, estuaries, capes and offshore
islands dotted by numerous lighthouses. The area is populated by the
Bretons, a Celtic people related more to the Irish and Welsh than the
Gallic people of rest of France. While French is the official language,
Breton, similar to Gaelic, is also spoken. Most names in the region are
in Breton. Brittany was contested for centuries by the French and
English and as such, there are many medieval castles and cathedrals
located throughout the district. There are several cities in the region
most notable being Rennes and Nantes, and many small, picturesque towns.
Brittany is mainly agricultural, known especially for its apples used to
make alcoholic cider. Fishing is also an important industry in a region
that has such a long coastline along the Atlantic in the southwest and the
English Channel in the north.

Brest is best known as the port of the French Navy's Atlantic fleet.
Sited in a natural harbor on the Atlantic at the mouth of the Penfeld
River, the city has a rich military history. Seized by the Germans in
WWII and made the base of their submarine activities, Brest suffered
severe damage by Allied bombing during the war. As such, most of the
pre-war historic buildings were destroyed. Brest was re-built with
modern, rather sterile, architecture giving it the reputation of "one of
France's ugliest cities."

It is not without some charm. Its waterfront does have a few remaining
old buildings and museums as well as beautiful views across the bay of
the Plougastel Peninsula. One of the City's oldest monuments is the Tour
Tanguy, a 14th century lookout tower. Crossing the Penfeld River by the
bridge next to the tower (the longest lift-bridge in Europe) takes one to
Brest's medieval castle which houses the Musèe de la Marine, the naval
museum. Nearby is the Musèe Municipal, an art museum displaying French,
Flemish and Italian treasures from the 17th to the 20th centuries.
Europe's largest aquarium is located in Brest at the futuristic
Ocèanopolis center.

About 65 miles south of the city is the medieval village of Quimper. The
village hosts the 9 day Celtic extravaganza, the Festival de Cornouaille,
in mid-July. The town is also home to the beautiful, gothic Cathedrale
St-Corentin, the 2nd largest cathedral in France. Next to the cathedral
is the Musee des Beaux-Arts housing more than 400 works of art from
artists such as Rubens, Corot and Picasso. Quimber is known for its
distinctive earthenware pottery.

Further south in what is considered to be the prettiest area of Brittany
is the town of Pont-Aven. It was made famous by the artist Paul Gauguin
who established an artist's colony there. Still further south lays the
village of Carnac, known for its beaches and the ancient stone monuments.
The 6,500 year old monuments are contemporary to Stonehenge in England and
are equally impressive.

The city of Nantes is at the southernmost corner of Brittany. It is the
cultural center of the region. There are many historic building, museums
and a cathedral here.

Northern Brittany, on the Channel coast, is full of many quaint fishing
villages. To the east is the Channel port of St. Malo. Here ferries
embark for England on a regular basis. Just east of St. Malo, in the south
west corner of Normandy is the famed Mt. St. Michel. This impressive
fortress/monastery sits on a mount that is attached to the mainland at low
tide and becomes an island at high tide. The tides here are among the
most extreme in the world, rising some 45' with the tide rushing in with a
tidal bore.

Dinan, south of St. Malo is one of the best preserved medieval towns in
France. There is a medieval festival held there the 3rd week of July that
includes jousting, a market, parades and music.

In the easternmost section of Brittany is Rennes, the capital of the
region. It is a mixture of medieval and 18th century architecture due
to a fire which destroyed half the City in 1720. Sites here are the
Parlement de Bretagne, the Musèe de Bretagne and the Musèe de Beaux Arts.

It looks as if we will have a tour of Normandy, arranged by the College,
on Saturday. This will be a very long tour, about 18 hours, and will take
us to all of the historic landmarks in the neighboring region. Everyone
is looking foreword to this. Several other shorter tours of Brittany are
also being offered.

Rolling Along on the Atlantic

I could tell we were definitely out of the Mediterranean this morning
because, while lying in bed, I felt the old familiar rolling of the ship.
It wasn't too bad, but after a three week absence of any kind of rolling,
it was noticeable. It takes some time to get one's sea-legs back and
re-learn how to do the mundane things of life with your world constantly
moving below you. The shower is interesting as you bang off the cold
steel walls while trying to wash. Even more fun is putting on your
pants. I try to do this near my bunk so I can fall into it if I have to.
Hopefully this is as bad as it is going to get. I know the Atlantic is
capable of much worse.

An advantage of being back in the Ocean is that the ship is already
starting to cool down. The Empire State VI is 48 years old and the air
conditioning system doesn't work well in tropical waters. I could tell we
were out of the tropical waters when I woke up shivering, I was unprepared
for this. I went to sleep comfortable under a single, light blanket. By
the morning, that was not enough. I scrambled in the dark to find another
to pull over me. By the time I got to work, the library had cooled to a
tolerable 80° and was dropping. The library AC still has to fight the
heat rising up from the fuel tanks, but now it has a better chance.

Through the Straits, Again

As I write this we are passing through the Straits of Gibraltar out of the
Mediterranean and out into the Atlantic. Africa is a couple miles off on
our port, Europe off our starboard. These are the legendary Pillars of
Hercules; Morocco's Atlas Mountains and the Rock of Gibraltar.

We were shrouded in fog for the early part of the day then it slowly
lifted into a haze so that both of the Pillars were barely visible as we
passed. As we enter the ocean there is a noticeable change. The waves
are higher, the air and sea are cooler. The fog was caused by this cooler
ocean water hitting the warm Mediterranean.

This is the fourth time that the Ship has gone through the Straits this
year and twice last year. These have become very familiar waters for our
cadets and crew. This area is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the
world.

As we turn north toward France, we've been warned to secure all of our
belongings. We've gotten complacent with the Mediterranean's calm waters.
It was like we were sailing on a lake for the last few weeks. The
Atlantic and especially the Bay of Biscay can be extremely unpredictable.
We will see. On to Brest.

..
..

Last Sunday at Sea in the Med

We had our last Sunday at Sea in the Mediterranean today and the day was
fantastic. It was sunny and warm all day. With no work until the
evening, I was able to sleep late with no disturbance. Since the cadets
were off all day (except for those with watch), there was no noise.

By the time I got up and out the barbecue had started on the sun deck.
Burgers and hotdogs for breakfast again. After breakfast (lunch?) it was
a day for reading and relaxing in the warm Mediterranean sun. Almost
everyone had a very restful day. Most of the cadets worked on their sun
tans instead of their studies today. After dinner of steak, potatoes and
corn-on-the-cob, I finally reported for work at 18:00, mostly to show the
evening's movies. A few dedicated cadets showed up to do work, but the
attendance in the library was light.

Next Sunday we'll be in Brest and the next, and last, Sunday at Sea we
will be in the mid-Atlantic on the way home.

Adieu to the Mediterranean, it was beautiful.

Man Overboard!

We've been spending the last few days steaming around Majorca doing
various drills and maintenance during the days. There is lots of
activity and its accompanying noise all day around the ship. At night
we've been anchoring in Majorca harbor. What a magnificent view of the
bright city we have at night.

The ship has been a beehive of activity. Yesterday was the man overboard
drill in which an unwitting cadet was thrown overboard and had to be
rescued. Just kidding. We use a dummy made out of old clothes and a
life vest. The ship can't just stop. We have to do a figure 8 turn to
come back and get the victim.

Also on deck, some cadets were practicing the valuable art of plugging
leaks. They do this on a special jig made of a steel plate with various
size holes in it through which is forced sea water from a high pressure
fire hose. They shove various objects in until they get the leaks under
control. In the process they also get soaked which may be enjoyable in
the hot, Mediterranean sun, but probably not so much if we were sailing in
the Arctic.

This morning I was awoken from my sleep by a God awful noise and shaking
of my cabin. Jumping up and looking out my window I discovered they were
lowering the lifeboat right outside. At first I thought again that they
were abandoning ship without me when I realized that I had heard no
lifeboat alarm. It was only cadets practicing lowering and launching the
boat. They took it a little away from the ship, then returned and raised
it back up.

We're going to steam some more around Majorca this afternoon, then head
southwest and west to the Straits of Gibraltar and the open ocean. We
should be there by Monday morning ready for the voyage north up the
Atlantic coast of Europe to Brest. I'm hoping that the cool Atlantic
waters bring some relief to the sweltering heat in the library.

Tomorrow is Sunday at Sea, our last in the Med. We're all praying for
good weather for the barbecue and day of rest. So far, the weather has
been spectacular. Let's hope it holds for one more day.

Sailing off Majorca

The Captain has taken us on a pleasant detour through the Balearic Islands
off the coast of Spain. We lost sight of land after we left the Straits
of Messina the other night and were on the open sea for 2 days. Seeing
the lovely hills of Majorca was a pleasant diversion this morning.
Everyone has settled back into their routines. Classes are going on, work
details are as noisy as ever and I'm back in my HOT library some 10 hours
a day.

Captain Smith has promised me that things are going to cool down as soon
as we draw the fuel from the tank below me and we enter the cooler
Atlantic waters. He also said that they hope to do some modifications
this year to alleviate the overheating in the library, game room, computer
room and cardio gym. These rooms all are in the same area and suffer from
the radiant heat from the tanks as well as lack of adequate ventilation.
It has been quite uncomfortable. Thankfully I have a reliable cadet
working for me who allows me to take breaks to cool down.

Soon, we'll head southwest toward the Straits of Gibraltar and the open
sea. I hope the ocean will be calm. We've been spoiled by the gentle
Mediterranean. This is the latest the Ship has been out on these cruises
and the hurricane season is further along than we are used to sailing in.
The tropical depressions that forming the eastern Atlantic can make things
uncomfortable even if they never develop into full-blown storms. We can
only hope.

A Rude Awakening

I did so much on Malta that I'm still pooped. I decided to skip breakfast
and sleep in this morning. Since the latest I can get a cooked breakfast
is 08:00 (cereal & bagels are available all day) and I don't have to be at
work until 10:30, there is a long gap. Today I thought that sleeping in
would be a better use of my time. No such luck.

There was supposed to be a boat drill yesterday after lunch. I was told
that they wanted me to report to the library for the next drill to show
videos. Yesterday afternoon came and went with no drill. Instead, they
decided to have the drill instead this morning, right in the middle of my
sound sleep. The lifeboat alarm is loud, as it should be, enough to wake
the dead. I hate when the alarm buzzer on my clock goes off. I really
hated to hear this.

Dutifully, I got dressed with yesterday's clothes, grabbed my life vest,
jacket and hat and headed for the library. Since the library is the
reverse direction from the lifeboats, I had to fight traffic to get down
to it. I got down to the sweatbox that is my library, set up the video and
waited. And waited. And waited. They never came. Apparently someone
changed the plan and forgot to notify me. I had a few fleeting
nightmarish moments that maybe this was for real and they were evacuating
the ship without me. I have no means of communication down here, I would
never know. I love libraries, but I don't want to die in one sinking in
500' feet of water.

After about 45 minutes, the all-clear signal sounded to end the drill. I
returned to my cabin and tried to resume my sleep to no avail. The
grinding and pounding of the work crews started up immediately. I gave up
.. I went down to the mess, grabbed some Mini Wheats for breakfast and
started my day.

On the Sea Again

We left Malta about 09:30 this morning, saying goodbye to a fantastic
port. The history, the culture, the swimming, the food; all in close
proximity to the ship. What more could you want in a port? We had three
days of excellent weather. The Maltese people were warm and welcoming.
With a very low crime rate, I felt safe walking the darkest streets at
night.

I spent the last night on shore at the dock area doing my internet stuff,
buying magazines for the library and enjoying a cold soda. The pier was
crowded for a Sunday night because they were showing the final of the
World Cup on dozens of TVs all along the wharf. The Europeans love their
soccer.

A few of the cadets overindulged in port, got caught and unfortunately
have to pay the price. No bad incidents. No arrests or fights. They're
mostly good kids, working hard and letting off steam when they're set
free.

Since we're back to sea, I'm back to work. I had expected the library to
be cooler after being closed for 3 days. No such luck. My thermometer
says 86, up a degree from last Thursday. I hope it cools down soon. Until
it cools, I'm not working in my uniform. It's tee shirt and shorts for me
while in this hot box. I'll dress for meals. I was ready to collapse by
dinner time after wearing my khakis all day. I must have drunk a gallon
of water to keep from dehydrating.

When we left Malta, we headed northeast, then north to go around Sicily
and east through the Straits of Messina. It's night now and I just took
an evening break and saw the coast of Italy on the starboard and Sicily
off the port side. It is a beautiful sight to behold. Tomorrow we'll be
in the open Mediterranean heading west toward the Atlantic. We'll reach
Brest, France in about 11 days and gain an hour on the way.

Malta day 3

On Sunday I took the shortest of the excursions arranged by the Ship. We started out at the Malta Quarry Museum. Every building on Malta is built from the yellow, natively quarried limestone. This museum, set in a depleted quarry, told the history of the process. We headed south to the southern cliffs of Malta and the Blue Grotto. This was as beautiful as the grotto in Gozo was. Absolutely gorgeous! We finished with a trip to a local fishing village and its colorful and fragrant fish market. I went back to the ship torest up for the last night in Malta. Monday it’s back to sea.

Malta day 2

Saturday was more restful for me. I took a trip, also arranged by the College to the Blue Lagoon on the tiny island of Comino. We travelled by an excursion boat filled mostly with young Europeans in Malta for an English immersion summer program. We arrived at the Blue Lagoon and were greeted by a spectacular sight of the clearest, bluest water that I have ever seen. Surrounding it was a rugged, rocky hillside with no sandy beach, just rocks all the way to the water. Perched on these rocks were thousands of daytrippers that you had to practically climb over to get to the water. After finding my own little perch, I cautiously climbed down the rocks to the water. It was spectacular, clean and cool. I stayed in for hours. I swam away from the crowds into several hidden caves. One of these caves opened out into the open sea. It was amazing. I didn’t want to get out.

After a restful return journey home, I finally ventured into the City of Valleta on Saturday night. On the way I met the Ship’s Doctor and his son. We had heard about a hidden elevator that would take us up to the City and luckily we found it. We got to the City center just in time to find out that most of the City closes at 19:00, but we were able to find some tourist shops open and a comfortable café. I left them after a few hours and went to the dock are to make some calls and use the Wi-Fi available on the dock to upload some pictures. I also had some excellent calamari and prawns for dinner.

Malta day 1

We docked in the magnificent harbor of the capital, Valleta, about 08:00 on Friday July 9. The entrance into the harbor is breathtaking as you sail past the ancient fortresses at the mouth of the harbor. We docked at the Pinto dock which was a prime location, right at the foot of the city wall, easy to get to the City. The only problem is the City is at the top of the wall and the wall is 100’ – 150’ high!

I wasn’t going to tackle the City on the first day. . I was scheduled to go on a tour of Gozo, the western island. The vans left at 09:30 for the 40 minute trip across the island of Malta to the ferry. The ferry to the island took another 20 minutes. The scenery on both legs of the journey was spectacular. We drove through rolling hills of gold dotted by small towns all built of their yellow sandstone.

We were met by a bus on Gozo to continue our journey. The first stop was the ancient ruin of the Ggantija temples. These are among the ancient structures of the prehistoric residents of Gozo that are 1000 years older than the pyramids in Egypt. They are the oldest standing, human structures in the world. They are believed to be temples to the Mother goddess (Mother Nature) because the outline of the temple has the shape of the small Mother deity idols found in many primitive cultures; head, large breast and hips.

We moved on to see the capital of Gozo Victoria Rabat. This is a small, crowded city topped off by The Citadel, a castle at the top of the highest point in the city. After a laborious climb up to the Citadel, we had a more laborious one inside of it up to the tops of its walls. After the climb down and some time for shopping in the City it was off to a great lunch at one of Gozo’s finest hotels.

After lunch we heads southwest to the sea and the amazingly beautiful cliffs at a spot called the Azure Lagoon. Here we were taken by boatmen in small, colorfully painted boats through grottos gut naturally through the cliffs by the sea. Out in the open sea, we entered several other caves and saw the Azure window, a rock formation framing a fantastic view of the sea.

We headed back to the ship, arriving back exhausted from our nine hour journey. I wasn’t too tired not to want to go out and sample some of Valleta’s nightlife. Luckily, I didn’t have too far to go. Right on the pier, in the old warehouses of the docks, they have created an entertainment center with shops, restaurants and clubs. I saw many cadets and crew here who did not want to journey west to the wilder St. Julian and Placeville areas to the west of the city center of Valleta.

Pics from Malta

Here.'s some pictures of Malta. I've been very busy taking tours since Igot to here that I haven't written anything. I'll do a post before I leave. I promise.

Malta – an Overview

For those of you who don't know a thing about Malta, here's some excerpts
from the fact sheet I prepared for the ship.

Malta is an independent, island country located south of Sicily and
northeast of Tunisia in the Mediterranean. The small country has a long
and important history due to its location in the narrow strait between
Europe and Africa. The nation is made up of 3 islands; Gozo, Comino and
Malta. These islands were settled around 4000 B.C. by Sicilians,
Carthaginians and Phoenicians who are the antecedents of the present day
Maltese. Besides these settlers, Malta has been ruled over the millennia
by the Romans, the Byzantines, the Normans, the Aragonese, the Arabs, the
Knights of St. John, the French and finally the British before becoming an
independent nation in 1964. It is a land that has absorbed many cultures
into one of its own.

It is a member of the European Union. English and Malti are the two
official languages of the country.

Malta is a VERY Catholic country, claiming to be one of the oldest
Christian societies in the world. They were converted by the Apostle Paul
who was shipwrecked on the island of Malta in 60 AD on his way to Rome to
face trial before Caesar. For a small country Malta has a lot of churches,
313 on Malta and 46 on Gozo. These churches, ranging from small country
churches to large, ornate cathedrals, are among the main tourist
attractions here. .

The Knights of St. John (also known as the Knights Hospitaliers) were very
influential to Malta's history. Many of the sights around the island
concern them. They were the world's first multi-national organization and
it still exists today. Originally an order of monks who tended to the sick
and wounded on pilgrimages from Europe to the Holy Land, they became a
rich and powerful military organization. The Holy Roman Emperor gave
Malta to the Knights in the 16th century and they owned it until Napoleon
expelled them in 1798.

When Napoleon was defeated, the British took over and ruled until 1964.
Malta was the long time the headquarters of the British Mediterranean
fleet and is rich in British naval history.

Valleta is the capital of the country. It was founded in 1565 by the
Knights who had successfully defended Malta, and subsequently southern
Europe, from the invading Turks. After the siege, using monies given to
them by grateful European monarchs, the Knights moved their capital from
the fortress of Mdina in the center of the island, to the new city
constructed on the north.

There are other small cities located close to Valleta. To the southeast
are the Three Cities of Vitoriosa, Senglea and Cospicua. In Senglea you
can find the 5000 year old Tarxien Temple, which along with the other
temples in the southeast, are the oldest standing buildings in the world.

The walled fortress of Mdina and the surrounding town of Rabat are the
most interesting sites of the central and southwest part of the Island.
The southwest coast is beautiful and rugged with high cliffs and grottoes..
Here you will also find the magnificent old ruins of prehistoric temples,
built 1,000 years before the pyramids of Egypt. There are also many
quaint fishing villages that seem to have been passed-by by the 21st
century.

The outer islands of Gozo and Comino are reachable by ferry or excursion
boat. They are much quieter than Malta, with fewer amenities. On Comino
is the Blue Lagoon (not to be mistaken with the one in Iceland). It is
considered to be the most beautiful swimming and diving area in Malta.
Gozo is quiet and picturesque with small villages and scenic farmlands.

Anchored off Malta

We've been anchored since last night about 13 miles off the coast of
Malta, right near two oil platforms. We're pulling into Valleta harbor
tomorrow morning about 08:00. I heard there are some webcams of the
harbor. Look for us. We should be docked very close to the city because
it appears that the harbor is the center of the city.

We got here yesterday evening because we had no radar and they wanted to
get in ASAP and not go sailing around. We're at, what I'm told, is one of
the deepest anchorages in the world. We are surrounded by ships, mostly
empty tankers, that are parked here awaiting orders.

I've got some tours lined up for next 3 days if they all run. The
Regiment Office arranged a nice selection. It looks as if you could
spend a couple weeks here to see all the sights Malta has to offer. It
seems like a very interesting place. There are pre-historic ruins, Roman
ruins, fortresses, huge cliffs, quaint fishing villages, Medieval and
Renaissance palaces, and churches. LOTS of churches. I think they have
one for every 1,000 inhabitants of this country. From the travel video I
ran last night, Valetta looks a lot like Venice without the canals.

I will take lots of pictures and post some as soon as I can get internet
access beyond the Ship's quirky (we were down again 19 hours), text-only
e-mail that I've been using for these postings.

Craving to get on Land

On the other two cruises I did it was usually about a week between ports.
This stretch of 13 days seems almost too much to bear, especially with the
constant noise on board. It seems worse than usual this year. Maybe I'm
getting less tolerant as I get older. They start hammering and scraping
on the steel right outside my cabin every morning about 08:30. They're
removing years of paint, right down to the bare steel. Imagine having
metal garbage can over your head and someone is banging on it incessantly..
That's sort of what it's like. So much for skipping breakfast and trying
to sleep in.

The Mediterranean is beautiful. Calm and peaceful. It's been sunny for
the last four days and getting hot. It's going to be scorching in Malta.
Meanwhile we're just sailing along.

We do have one problem. The radar is out due to a blown bearing. It's OK
because it so nice and clear. Visibility from the bridge is excellent.
Because of this problem, we're going to take a more direct route to Malta
than originally planned. We're going to skip going through the Straits of
Messina and get to Malta early to anchor and start repairing the system.
Docking and leave is still planned for Friday.

The Regiment Office is arranging some tours for us. They should be good..
There is plenty to do and see on these islands. We usually get a better
deal through the Ship than going it alone onshore. It will be good to
get off the ship. I'm ready for it now.

4th of July, Empire State

Happy Independence Day everyone. What a difference this year's 4th is
from last. Last year we were heading home at this time. This year we
still have over a month to go. Last year it poured on our celebration.
This year the weather has been gorgeous. The best thing is that this year
it luckily corresponded with our Sunday at Sea and that means relaxation
for most of us and barbecue for all.

There were no classes today. The only cadets working were those on watch
or with extra duty jobs. The hardest working people on board today were
the Chartwell's Food Service people who toiled all day getting the
barbecue set up and cooking for over 500 hungry sailors. Thanks to Henry
and his crew who did such a great job as usual. Burgers, franks and
chicken for lunch; steaks and shrimp for dinner. Between meals, we had
some fireworks as cadets shot off some expired flares and smoke marker
grenades. Not the Macy's fireworks, but it would have to do.

Since it's Sunday, I have half the day off. I don't open until 18:00
(6pm) on Sundays. Mostly it is to show the evening movies. Only the most
motivated cadets come down to do work. That means I've got the morning
and afternoon off to sleep late, relax and enjoy the BBQ. Between
feasting, I sat on the deck soaking up the Mediterranean sun and reading.

When I got to the library in the evening I was greeted by a blast of warm
air. The library is ungodly hot again as the result of the fuel tank heat
since our re-fill in Gibraltar. It's already up to 85 degrees. The deck
feels like it is 100. I hope the heat dissipates fast or the next four
days are going to be hell.

We are somewhere in the mid-Mediterranean Sea, heading east. We will
probably sail between Corsica and Sardinia to do maneuvers before heading
to Malta. Everyone is getting anxious to get to land, especially to swim..
Nothing is more frustrating to me than being surrounded by water on a hot
summer day and not being able to jump in. Maybe I'll volunteer to replace
the dummy we use in for the man-overboard drill.

Fueling Up

I love the smell of ship's fuel in the morning. That's exactly what I
woke up to today. We anchored last night, after I went to bed, only yards
from the town of Gibraltar. So close and yet so far to the town because
we're not docking. We're only here to bunker up. I'd love to get off and
take a walk on dry land. I won't get to visit my little monkey friends
from last year on "the Rock".

After dropping anchor about 02:00, the bunker barge (really a small tanker
ship) arrived. They tied up alongside, hooked up their giant fuel hose to
us and began pumping over 1,000 tons of low sulphur ships oil into our
tanks. I don't know what the gallon count is, but it is a heck of a lot.

I dread the fueling process because the tank that holds much of the ship's
fuel is directly below my library. Ship's oil is not like gasoline. It
is thick and viscous. In order for it to flow properly it has to be
heated up to about 150 degrees. When in our tanks, the heat has to go
somewhere and that is directly into the library. It gets to the point
sometimes where the library's air conditioning cannot overcome it. If it
gets unbearably hot, I have no choice but to close the library for health
reasons.

The pumping process lasted about six hours, concluding around 10:00.
During that time smoking was forbidden on the ship. The smokers on board
must have been having nicotine fits by then.

We're out to sea again heading east. The weather is warm and hazy, with
some light intermittent drizzle. The Mediterranean is calm. Since we
have a week to get to Malta, it is going to be a slow, meandering journey..

Meanwhile, the cadets are keeping busy drilling and painting the ship.
Last night they were practicing lowering the lifeboats right outside the
Officer's Mess at dinner time. The winches were extremely noisy as is the
constant din of scraping for paint prep. They sure keep them busy. I
guess that's good because it keeps them out of trouble.