Seattle at last

Goodbye to the turquoise waters, warm breezes, and sunny skies of Baja and welcome to the misty gray pall of Seattle. We docked at 6:00 this morning, the bowthrusts jolting me out of sleep with loud cranking and clanking noises. It was probably the busiest, most hectic day yet as we scrambled to put the ship back in working order from our 11-day journey up from Baja. The trip wasn’t as bad as I feared it would be. The first five days from La Paz to San Diego were rough and seasickness set in, but after San Diego it was a pretty smooth and uneventful ride. We cleaned the ship from bow to fantail, took toothbrushes to the heads (bathrooms), scrubbed the galley til it shined and polished the wood until it glowed. We still had plenty of time to lay around in cuddle puddles and watch movies too, though…

After taking on massive stores of cleaning supplies, provisions, food and laundry (which filled our dining room, galley, and crew lounge to the max) and after putting everything in its place (or throwing it in the crew lounge) and after breaking down and disposing of every cardboard box and trash bag, we got two hours to hit the town. It doesn’t seem like a lot, but after 13 days on a ship, it was a like a jailbreak. As far as cities go, Seattle is a pretty cool place.

We had to be dressed and ready at 4 to meet the guests and show them their rooms and serve dinner. It’s another photo tour (and Michael Melford is the National Geographic photographer!), so hopefully I’ll get some good tips again. I can’t wait to see wait Alaska has to bring!

So you want to be a bartender?

Hey, for anyone enjoying reading my travels and wishing they were a part of them, there’s a bartending position open and they’re desperately looking for someone to fill it. It’s a great job and there’s quite a bit of time off. So… if that sounds like something you’d like to do, go to the Lindblad page (www.expeditions.com), fill out the application and mention my name as a reference. Maybe I’ll see you in Alaska!

To Alaska By Boat

It’s been six beautiful, amazing, and wonderful (if somewhat tiring) weeks since I first stepped onboard the National Geographic Sea Lion. We’ve sailed from our main port of La Paz on the southeastern tip of the Baja Penisula, around the southern tip and up to Magdalena Bay where we were entertained by friendly gray whales swimming right up to the zodiacs and practically begging to be petted. The more playful ones even swam under the boats and gave us a little bump while they passed beneath. Along the way, we swam with sea lions, snorkeled with tropical fishes (in very untropical Pacific waters), followed blue whales as the rose and sank off the bow of the ship and scattered thousands of terns, pelicans, and gulls and other birds on Rasa island with the quiet hum of our motor. We hiked around the barren and arid islands of Baja, woke up at 4:30 to capture a sunrise on shore, seared sesame ahi tuna on the beach while the sun sank below the horizon and kayaked through stunningly clear waters through archways formed by years and years of slow erosion. Don’t forget, this is my job and I do get paid.

Today, however, we say farewell to Baja and ready our ship for the journey up north to Alaska. After dropping off the last group of guests in La Paz and making a quick run into town for necessities, we set our course south down to the tip of the peninsula and then north, north, north. We’re expecting to round the cape at around 2am, then it’s rough seas and from there on out. To prepare, we’ve been securing everything on board that can, or has the potential of, shifting around during our journey. That means taping doors and drawers shut, stacking chairs and tables and securing them with ropes, boarding up windows, stuffing towels between anything breakable, etc… It will take us about 4 days to reach San Diego where we’ll go through customs and take on stores. Then it’s another 5 days up to Seattle. If we’re lucky we’ll arrive the night of the 28th (which, according to captain, is unlikely) or else we’ll enter port on the 29th – the same day that we pick up the first round of guests and continue north into the San Jose Islands. Talk about quick turnaround.

I’m hoping that we’ll have Internet the whole way up so I can post updates on sea conditions and ship life, but there’s no guarantee. I’m also hoping that my evasion from seasickness will also persevere, but again, there’s no guarantee.

A New Article

Just got another article published on the MatadorStudy (thanks to Tim). Check it out here

An internet cafe with highspeed wifi!