Hester's Head

I took this picture yesterday morning, 16 Nov 06. It was taken just east of Africa and right at the equator.

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It's been over a week since we left Goa, India so I'm finally getting around to getting the blog up to date. India fit all the stereotypes - it was hot, dusty, busy, crowded, cattle everywhere. We went to anchor outside the harbour the evening before and then decided to stay there. That meant we had a forty-minute water-taxi ride just to get to shore. Don't forget to put sunscreen on before you leave. The water-taxis were in less than optimal condition though they were made of mahogany. I think their crew lived on them as one of them ran for 24 hours a day and the other stopped from 1 AM to 5 AM, which meant they did not get much sleep. The taxis dropped us off at a busy little jetty swarming with dhows just past the loading terminals. Coal was the #1 commodity here - it might be the only commodity. There were piles of it. We were greeted on the jetty by 20 guys offering "TAXI?" We did have some buses that were to take us to downtown Panaji but I wanted to walk around first. It was difficult to do with the taxi guys following you and ever more intercepting you as you walked along.
"Taxi?"
"No thanks."
"Taxi?"
"No thanks."
"Taxi?"
"No thanks."
"Go home."
I found it's easiest not to respond at all. It seems that "No" is interpreted as "I don't know," they would try even harder to sell you on whatever they were pushing. There were three of us walking and we said that we just wanted to go to Vasco de Gama, which is where we were. We were told that the downtown area was too far so we finally agreed to a 200 Rupee cab ride. One Canadian dollar was about 40 Rupees. Less than four minutes later we were there. I walked around for a few minutes and then started walking back to the shipyard area. The guy walking 6 inches to my left and 6 inches behind me without saying anything disturbed me so I kept turning around and checking on both him and my backpack....

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I should be keeping notes of what we see and do that I think might be interesting. Then scratch most of them off because they are either inappropriate or maybe not that interesting after all.
Remembered motion is one of the stranger things about being at sea. Or back alongside. I suppose it's the reverse of motion sickness. The very first time I went to sea, a three-day trip on HMCS Yukon (now a reef near San Diego), we encountered some rather rough weather. When we came back alongside I had difficulty walking down hallways. It must be the same as being dizzy, being spun around in circles, except I had bounced left and then right for three days. I had to walk with both arms out to keep from banging into the walls in my house. My body was also anticipating a motion that wasn't coming. I had to go to bed, I was sicker than when I was at sea. I wasn't throwing up but I did have a mind-mashing headache. I haven't suffered like that since, but I still get remembered motion. The ship can be alongside and not moving at all and I will still stumble or have to reach out to brace myself. My body moves, anticipating a roll, and the ship stays still. That usually only happens inside the ship and isn't too bad, often it's only when I first get out of my rack and am getting dressed. I guess I expect bad things to happen when I'm standing on one leg.
One of the things I have to tell you about is the stars. You have no idea how many stars are out there, at least I don't. I can't even count them. There is no light pollution when we are out at sea so we can see damn near every star. You can read a book at the full moon. There are clouds of stars and it can be hard to pick out constellations with all the background clutter of star clusters. Those who live in more rural areas should have an idea of what I'm talking about. It's most unfortunate that I can't take a picture of it. The continuous motion of the ship precludes any shot of the night sky or a long exposure....

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The ship's company knew that we would be having our line crossing ceremony on the 20th. After leaving Singapore we would have a daily informative pipe from King Neptune's herald keeping us up-to-date and attempting to throw some fear into the unclean tadpoles. Davy Jones came onboard the evening before the ceremony in order to inspect the Subbie guard of all the Sub-Lieutenants (I think they are called Lieutenants in the Army and Air Force) with a Lieutenant (Army/AF Captain) in charge of them. They were mustered and fallen in on the focsle dressed in toga/whatever unsuitable dress they could find. All unclean tadpole officers had to come forward for inspection as well. Davy Jones inspected the ranks assisted by his herald. After addressing the Commanding Officer, who welcomed him onboard, he carried on with his inspection. It was nearing sunset so things were getting dark fast. All tadpoles were piped to muster on the focsle as well to witness the events while the trusted Shellbacks mustered on the bridge and bridge top to maintain a safe distance. You can see some pictures at the HMCS Ottawa website: http://www.navy.forces.gc.ca/ottawa/gal ... lery_e.asp There is even a couple pictures that I took. The tadpole officers who tried to get out of the inspection were lathered with some... unidentified goop. There is plenty of goop to go around that night and the next day as well. Some of his mermaids and some of his bears and police also accompanied Davy Jones. You can't be too safe in the midst of all those tadpoles. After the inspection and some parley with the CO, Davy Jones departed, leaving a watery surprise for the tadpoles. Decks 2 and 3 were out of bounds to tadpoles that night so they took matters into their own hands if they ventured out. But with the tadpoles outnumbering the shellbacks four to one, things were often turned and shellbacks...

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