Another crazy week

I sincerely apologize for the lack of entries these past two weeks. It’s been a little crazy here on the ship, though. Let me point out a few of the episodes that have occurred since my last entry.

1) We lost the internet for about a week – something went wrong with the satellite, but now it is back up and running
2) Our coffee machine broke down during the same week, so we had to keep a big pot of water on the stove and make coffee by hand… at 5:30 in the morning and periodically throughout the day. Ironically we had one of the biggest coffee-drinking crowd on board that week. Go figure.
3) Our espresso machine decided to take a few days rest as well.
4) Caressa, a deck hand, was on gangway watch while we were docked in Bartlet’s Cove and she allowed/didn’t notice a drunk man board the ship. He didn’t do any damage, but Captain asked her to resign because of it (or else she would have been fired)
5) Erin, a steward, woke up last Saturday (the same day Caressa left) and courteously told us that she would be getting off the ship. She felt like it was time for her to leave. She didn’t give us a weeks notice, a days notice, and barely a mornings notice. The only reason we found out is because someone went down to get her up for breakfast and they found her packing her bags. Later, though, we found out that maybe she wasn’t quite right mentally. Apparently she confided in one of the other stewards about being abducted by the government when she was younger and forced to go to a government-run school. She also claimed to have dated a Peruvian assassin and she believed one of the guests onboard that week was sent by a rich woman to spy on her. Maybe it was for the best that she left.
6) To top it all off, later that night a group of us went out to a bar in Juneau and Ashley (a steward) ended up getting ridiculously drunk (despite the strict ship policy of two drinks a night). Needless to say, she got caught when she stumbled back on board and Captain had to ask her to resign as well. She had two weeks to go to finish her six-month contract. So, in one day we lost two stewards and a deckhand. Luckily we had a bartender in training who was willing to fill in a steward position.

Everything seems to be back in working order and we’re slowly getting our crew back up to full capacity. We have one fill in right now and another coming in a couple days. It’s Rebecca’s last week of her six month contract, so we’ll get a replacement for her as well. Other than that, the weather has been great and we’ve been seeing lots of whales and bears. We had a 6am wake-up call this morning for orcas off the bow. Only three more weeks left!

A day later…

I didn’t have a chance to post that last entry, but yesterday was the first time we saw bubble-net feeders! It’s when a group of humpback whales work together to corral a bunch of fish. They all dive down together, one fluke after another, then the lead whale comes up first with its whole head out of the water. The other whales follow, all with their mouths open to catch the fish. It’s so amazing, but unfortunately I didn’t capture it on camera. Click here to see a picture on wikipedia (scroll down to the feeding section)

What a week!

Things just seemed to get better and better this week. Great weather and the guests were really nice, much better than the last group who wouldn’t even leave the lounge during cocktail hour to watch the whales. The first night of the trip our dinner service was interrupted by a big pod of orcas just off the side of the ship. They stayed with us for about 45 minutes (the galley was freaking out because all the food was getting cold). Baby orcas were breaching and the big males swam right up to the fantail. It was so amazing that I didn’t want to leave, even to grab my camera!

A few days later we were at anchor and some guests were out hiking and others were kayaking. Fortunately no one was at the site where everyone left their life jackets because a big grizzly bear decided to sniff around the pile and rifle through some of the packs. A few of the crew (myself included) jumped in a zodiac and motored up pretty close to the shore to get a better look. He was having a grand old time tossing the life vests in the air. It must have wore him out though, because he decided to lie down and take a nap. All the while the guests are sitting in their kayaks watching him and conversations are flying over the radios between the ship and the naturalists leading the hikes. It was pretty hilarious. He finally decided to get up and wander back into the woods and we quickly gathered up the life vests and got everyone back on board.

Finally, for my birthday (yesterday), they let me sleep in a few hours and then surprised me with a gift certificate for an hour massage! I’m so excited, I was thinking about treating myself to one anyway, but now I don’t have to. And to top it all off, during our steward meeting after dinner Judy (the hotel manager) brought out 3 pints of soy ice cream to celebrate!

On a side note, I started a new blog called myveganlife. I’ve been reading a lot about the growing food “crisis” and raising food prices and I decided to start a blog where I can post some facts and articles about the economic, environmental, and health benefits of being a vegetarian/vegan. You can check it out here. Let me know what you think!

Endicott bay

Life as a Senior Stew

Yesterday marked the completion of my first week as senior stew. So far it’s been great, although a lot more work and stress than I anticipated. I don’t get a break before lunch (whereas I usually had about two hours when I was a regular stew) and I have to make sure that everything gets done on time and correctly. The stews I’m working with are awesome though, so I don’t have to tell them to do too much. We have two new stewards (one worked as a steward and deckhand a few years ago) and they’re both really nice. I have eight more weeks on the ship, then I’m spending a much needed week of relaxation at Kripalu in Lenox Mass. I signed up for a week-long yoga and massage retreat with Shiva Rae. I’m thinking about getting my yoga teacher’s training and massage certificate, so this will allow me to see if that’s what I really want to do. I would still love to be a photographer, but from talking to the National Geographic photographers and staff onboard, it’s a really tough occupation and there’s no real guarantee of success. I think I’d be happier doing it as a hobby than a profession. Other than that, life’s good. We’re seeing more and more whales and the weather is staying nice – lots of blue sky days and even 70º days!