Freighter Trip Overview

Freighter Travel

Voyage from Busan, Korea, to Oakland, California, USA: 14-28 April 2011

Hanjin Miami

A fantastic experience. I loved every minute of it. Is it cheaper than flying? No. Is it faster than flying? No. Why do it? For the adventure and pleasure.

Three meals per day plus two snack times and fruit in the cabin. Large, comfortable cabin, gym, lounge areas, onboard Duty Free shop. No phone, no Internet, no TV. There is a TV set in the cabin you can watch movies on.

I was the only passenger on my voyage. Twenty-four crew members. The ship was run by a German company. Most of the officers were German while the ordinary seamen were Filipino. Trips across the Atlantic between the US and Europe usually have several passengers. There were about six cabins available for passengers and that’s all they can book.

Cost: 85 Euros per day

I used the agency Freighter Travel (NZ). Hamish guided me through the process. There was only one uncomfortable aspect: Between booking the trip and making contact with the port agent, I had no one to hold my hand and explain the details of the procedure. Why? Both the agency agent and the port agent were busy with many things and didn’t have time for hand-holding. I had to trust that there were reliable procedures in place and that the professionals knew what they were doing and would come through. They did.

A couple of weeks before sailing the port agent contacted me with basic instructions and gave me his email address and phone number. After that he worked with me and was very helpful in getting me to the port. Everything went smoothly. A port agent is very busy but he does his job. I witnessed this in the ports of Busan, Long Beach, and Oakland.

Freighter Travel Agent: Hamish Jamieson

Web site: http://www.tourism.net.nz/listings/nztg/travel/23817?from=http://www.tourismonline.net.nz/media/456

Email: hamish@freightertravel.co.nz

A friend asked me if his family could ship his belongings by freighter and accompany his container. Answer: No. It’s not possible because one company handles shipping and another company runs the ship. However, you can take one square meter of baggage on the ship with you. No one measured my baggage though it came close to one square meter.

For more information on the details of the voyage, see my blog entries Freighter Trip April 2011 Day 1 through Day 16 at kuljul.blogspot.com. The first couple of days entries contain the most details of the cabin and ship amenities.

Juli Scherer

julonriverave@yahoo.com

kuljul.blogspot.com

Day 16, Freighter Trip, April 2011

Freighter Trip - Hanjin Miami

Busan to Oakland: l4-28 April 2011

Travel Journal

Day 16, April 28, Thursday

Hello, San Francisco!

Fabulous weather: morning fog on the Bay, then sunny, warm, and calm.

Awake at 5:30, I lay in bed sleepily and dreamily until I realized it was the last day of my voyage and I should be on the Bridge to see us sail under the Golden Gate Bridge and into the Port of Oakland. Peering out the cabin’s window, I saw land and lights and guessed that would be the South Bay. Arriving on the Bridge at 6:00, I met the captain and a Filipino mate-in-training. I watched and watched everything, trying to savor and remember it all. From the Bridge’s port wing I watched the pilot’s boat approach and come alongside a hanging rope ladder. I watched the pilot grab the ladder and heave himself up. How long would it have taken me to get up the courage to do that? It took the pilot no time at all; he didn’t even pause. Once the pilot came up to the Bridge, I stayed well out of the way but within sight and hearing of the action. It was somewhat foggy and the sea was flat and gray.

As we approached the Golden Gate, I went outside on the port wing and prepared to sing my arrival. Realizing the men inside the Bridge might hear me, I decided not to belt out the songs, but I would at least sing them aloud - with my head slightly turned away from the Bridge door.

And I sang from my memory of Al Jolson

California here I come, right back where I started from

Where bowers of flowers bloom in the spring

Each morning at dawning

Birdies sing and everything

And sun-kissed miss says don’t be late

That’s why I can hardly wait

Open up your Golden Gate

California here I come

and then of Jeanette MacDonald

San Francisco, open your Golden Gate

You’ll let nobody wait outside your door

San Francisco, here is your wanderin’ one

Saying I’ll wander no more.

Other places only make me love you best

Tell me you’re the heart of all the golden west

San Francisco, I’m coming home to you

Roaming no more.

Having completed my homecoming ritual, I slipped inside the Bridge and sat on the ledge of the rear left wall where I could observe everything. All the players - the pilot, the captain, the first mate, and the mate-in-training - acted professionally, confidently, calmly, and politely. It was like a well-rehearsed, choreographed routine they were all performing. I held my breath waiting for some drama: What if the pilot called for a slight turn that the ship didn’t take? What if the wind or current forced a smaller vessel too close to us? My attention was focused - on the men and equipment on the Bridge, on the bay around us, on other vessels, the water, the looming port quay. Such tension, such drama, but without a mishap. It was thrilling. How that pilot must have known that harbor. How long does it take to gain such knowledge and confidence? No one discussed anything or questioned the pilot’s instructions. Each of the pilots commands were repeated twice by the mate. The captain just watched, not saying anything.

And we coasted smoothly right on up to the quay without a hitch. Really a great show!

I’d watched us come into port in Long Beach, but it wasn’t the same. But then Long Beach Harbor isn’t San Francisco Bay.

When we’d docked, I went down to shower and dress and go to breakfast, which Johnson had saved for me. Then began the goodbyes. I tried to catch as many of the guys as I could, especially Johnson, Elron, Ramon, the captain, and Kai.

Ordinarily I’d have been fretting about how my baggage would get off the ship and to Winnie’s car, but by this time I knew that the crew would take care of everything smoothly and efficiently. All I had to do was take my backpack and walk (bouncingly) down the gang plank while keeping steady footing and avoiding the grease on the handrail. Kai gave orders to two seaman, whom I didn’t really recognize as they weren’t men I’d had any interactions with. At the bottom of the gang plank, I found my luggage on the quay still wrapped in giant netting. Kai asked me my plan to get out of the port, and on hearing that a friend would meet me at the gate, he instructed the seaman to stay with me on the shuttle and load my bags into the friend’s car. WOW! Was I impressed! The seaman loaded everything into the shuttle bus and then out again at the gate.

In the meantime, I was on the phone with Winnie. Directions had been conflicting: She was lost. The shuttle bus driver got on the phone with her and started to talk her through. At the gate, after the men had unloaded the baggage, the bus driver called to a worker on the other side of the gate to take over with directions. It was quite a show. A rugged, gruff, oldish black man was trying hard to be patient while clearly wondering, "How did I get into this?" Nevertheless, he was patient and very clear and brought her in. The men loaded Winnie’s SUV and off we went. This certainly wasn’t home terrain to her and she seemed stressed, but as I was happy and relaxed and feeling the confidence the seamen had given me, I encouraged her out through the port area maze, through Oakland, and up to Santa Rosa chattering all the way.

And that’s how I came home to San Francisco - well, Santa Rosa, but there’s no song for that - and my superb freighter voyage ended. How strongly I wanted to stay on that ship and just keep sailing around the world....

Day 15, Freighter Trip, April 2011

Freighter Trip - Hanjin Miami

Busan to Oakland: l4-28 April 2011

Travel Journal

Day 15, April 27, Wednesday

Fabulous weather: a gift from the gods to me: sunny, warm, and windy in the morning; sunny, very strong winds and huge waves in the afternoon.

We sailed early in the morning. On this the last day of being on the sea, the sea was perfect. I spent the entire day looking at it: from atop my trunk in the cabin, from the Bridge, from every vantage point on the decks, and from the bow. In the morning it was windy but warm and the waves weren’t very big. While sitting on the bow enjoying the sun and sea, I spotted a whale in the distance off the starboard side of the bow. Three times it made a water spout and two times it dove and showed its tail fins. That was a treat. In the afternoon the wind became very strong and the waves very big. I tried three times to climb up the ladder to the bow, but the wind was too strong and I wasn’t sure I could hold myself as I climbed onto the top step and into a doorway-like structure before descending into the bow area. The waves were huge and our giant ship rocked up and down. Though I couldn’t reach the bow, I stayed on deck for hours looking and looking, always from the port side because the starboard side of the upper deck was too windy. I also spent time on the Bridge where the vantage was different. In my cabin I sat on the trunk eating fruit we’d gotten in Long Beach: two kinds of grapes, pears, mandarins, and apples. Johnson had given me a big bowl at breakfast and I felt I had to honor his compliment by eating them all. I failed but tried. In the breaks from looking at the sea I packed my bags.

I chatted with Kai, Elron, and Ramon. We’d become so much more familiar and it was so easy to talk about anything. It was a wonderful day. I drank some wine and went to bed early. Fabulous day.

Day 13, Freighter Trip, April 2011

Freighter Trip - Hanjin Miami

Busan to Oakland: l4-28 April 2011

Travel Journal

Day 13, April 25, Monday

Long Beach, California. Fabulous weather: sunny, warm, and slightly windy.

Oh what a day of adventure! I slept in. Why could I sleep in during an adventure? Don’t know. I arrived at lunch between 12:30 and 1:00 and requested coffee first. I ate lunch, chatted with Johnson, and met a technician from Globe Wireless who was there for the day to work on our communications.

The technician was an Indian who’d been in the States ten years. Ten years ago in India he wanted to retire to his familial country region and have a farm. His wife thought they’d both go crazy in a short time on that plan, and somehow they immigrated to the States. He worked for a cruise ship company in the corporate office in a good position but got laid off just before Christmas, so he not only got laid off, he didn’t get his Christmas bonus. Now he works as a technician but wants it to be temporary. He says it pays the bills but he expects to get another managerial position before he retires. He lives in Beverly Hills (yeah, I guess he has a few bills) and travels all over the world for Globe Wireless.

Up on the Bridge after lunch I met the technician again and asked him some questions about wireless communication, information I wanted for my decision on which phone and service to get. He asked if I wanted a ride into town. Oh, yes. Then he realized he had to write a report because he hadn’t been able to repair the problem and needed a new part, which he couldn’t get before we departed. I waited for him until about 2:30 and off we went. He recommended Best Buy and said he’d take me there. We got on the 710 freeway, which went to Pasadena, and then the 405 north. Then we drove and drove while he explained to me the history of the Sikhs. Finally I asked where he was taking me as we’d passed Redondo Beach and were heading for the airport. He said it was just up the road. He dropped me off in front of Best Buy with the comment, “You can get back, can’t you.” I said that I guessed so. When I asked a Best Buy clerk where we were, he said we were in Hawthorne. Where’s Hawthorne? No LA map and I’m racking my brain trying to picture how all the various suburbs in search of a city were located.

Best Buy was busy and I had to wait quite a while to get a sales person. Then it took quite a while for him to explain the phone and the services and fees to me. I chose the iPhone 4, 3G, 32 Gb for $300, AT&T for $75 a month with a two-year contract. Because I had no prior or recent service, I had to get a credit check, but after waiting a long time, the credit department’s computers were down. They told me I could try coming back in two hours. Would I be sure they’d be up by then? No. OK, I’d try again tomorrow, but asked them to check where the Long Beach Best Buy was. He wrote the address.

The next problem was where was I and how would I get to Long Beach. The clerk checked bus directions and printed them out for me. I set out for the first bus, which was only a five-minute walk. When I arrived, I had 35 minutes to wait, so I entered Von’s supermarket, which had a Starbucks. I ordered a decaf with soy mild. Oh, how exciting. Another instance of realization: I’m in America. The Starbucks clerk said they didn’t have wireless Internet, so I asked two men who were speaking in Spanish and one of them was using a computer. They said yes, of course they had Internet. I got on the Internet and called Winnie. No answer so I left her a detailed message about dealing with the agent in Oakland.

I went to the bus stop and studied my bus directions while I waited. It would take about three hours to get to Long Beach. Ah ha! I waited over half an hour and then went back to Von’s and asked the man with the computer to call me a taxi. He said, “What’s the number?” I said, “I don’t know. What town are we in?” We were in Redondo Beach, which is apparently next to Hawthorne since I’d walked five minutes from Hawthorne. The man, and now another had joined us, told me why didn’t I take the Metro; it was just nearby. Yes, I’d been waiting for the Metro bus. No, the Metro train. Train? There’s a train? Oh yes, it’s part of the subway system I remember was installed. Apparently, it’s not just a subway but a train.

I followed the directions and walked to the Metro Green line and bought a ticket. However, both tracks said Norwalk. But I didn’t want to go to Norwalk. The train came and I asked the only passenger I saw why the train went in only one direction. He explained that this was Redondo Beach, the end of the line. But I wanted to go to Long Beach. He further explained that I’d have to take the train to where I could change to the Blue line, which went to Long Beach. Another odyssey. The Green line headed along the way of the 405 north past the airport and then headed across LA past all the old familiar street names, but again, I couldn’t place them in relation to each other. At Imperial and Willow, I found the Blue line and transferred. About seventy percent of the passengers (and the car was never full) were black, twenty-eight percent hispanic, and two percent white and Asian. That was interesting and I enjoyed watching the passengers. We traveled through Watts and Compton, neither of which seemed to have changed much. What has changed, I think, is the atmosphere. I didn’t feel the anger or fear that pervaded the area in the past. It seems that everyone is getting along OK, minding their own business. I suppose there’s still anger there, under the surface, but people are just getting on with their lives and not bothering about other people: My impression from one train ride through the predominantly African-American part of LA.

I arrived in Long Beach downtown two blocks from the Seamen’s Club. I saw a Greek restaurant with an attractive patio dining area and lots of people enjoying their eating and drinking and talking. I entered and was seated at an outdoor table, but it was getting too chilly for me, and I asked for an indoor table. No one else was inside. Am I such a wimp? Gradually the inside tables filled. The Monday special was a bottle of wine for half price. What could I do? I ordered a Zin, a large Greek salad, and a plate of five dips with pita bread: Way too much but very enjoyable. I left the uneaten food but took the rest of the bottle of wine with me in my backpack, my very heavy backpack with my laptop.

Back at the Seamen’s Club I found two of our Germans, the First Mate, Kai, and the electrician Mr. Fix, an older guy with not very good English. We had 35 minutes to wait for the 10:30 shuttle, so we three adjourned to a pub a couple of doors away and had beer and chatting. Very pleasant.

Finally I was home on the ship and tired enough from my day’s adventures. It was hard to believe my day began only after 12:30 when I went to lunch. First day in America: not bad.

Day 14, Freighter Trip, April 2011

Freighter Trip - Hanjin Miami

Busan to Oakland: l4-28 April 2011

Travel Journal

Day 14, April 26, Tuesday

Long Beach, California. Good weather: sunny, warm, and slightly windy.

More adventures. I took the Seamen’s Club shuttle. The guys had told me the driver would probably drop me at Long Beach Best Buy. I asked him and he said yes and the other three in the shuttle also wanted to go there. The other three, two Russians and an Indian, were from a ship that made a run from Italy and some other stops in the Mediterranean, across the Atlantic, through the Panama Canal with two Panama stops, one on each side of the country, and then north to Long Beach, Oakland, and Seattle, and then back again. The driver took us to the Seaman’s Club and said he’d take us to Best Buy and a huge mall and pick us up again for $15 each. We agreed but I wondered why we couldn’t just go to the Long Beach Best Buy. He replied that it was a very small Best Buy and there were no other shops around it. The place he was taking us, the Lawndale Shopping Center, had many shops. As the seamen go ashore to shop (I always thought it was to drink and meet prostitutes), every outing is geared towards shopping. We left downtown Long Beach at 10:00 and arrived at 10:30. The driver dropped us off in front of Penny’s and said he’d return at 2:00 at the same place. I asked where was Best Buy. They pointed over there. I began walking and I walked and walked. Some of the time it was through one mall or shopping center after another and some of the time it was across endless parking lots of Costco and Target and I don’t know what else. I found it quite far away and was hot and sweaty and aching from the computer on my back, but I was happy to have arrived. There were only two sales people, both very busy. I waited a long time but finally got a pleasant and helpful clerk. We could be efficient because I had the form the clerk from the other shop the day before had completed. He’d told me to just show it to the next person. BUT, they didn’t have the phone I wanted: the 32 Gb. The woman just before me took the last one. The helpful clerk offered to go to a warehouse to pick one up and let the other clerk finish my paper work after he finished the woman before me. That was 11:00. She was back a little after 12:00 and the clerk was still working on my paperwork and credit check and whatever else in god’s name they had to do. It was after 12:30 and I didn’t dare ask for him to show me how to use it. I just got out of there. Ah yes, about 20 minutes before I finished, my three fellow seamen came in but my clerk was serving me. I told him that it was OK to serve them because they were with me. He was puzzled by that and I told him I was from a container ship. He was surprised but only mildly curious. That’s the reaction of most people. Traveling by container ship is too far beyond their ken to take a curious interest.

By that time I needed drink, food, and my own shopping fix. I’d noted a Nordstrom Rack near Penny’s. I trekked the miles and miles across the parking lots but by a more direct route this time and went first to Nordstrom Rack. I was looking for jeans like I have, “Not My Daughter’s Jeans,” but didn’t see any and didn’t have the time or patience to search or inquire. I luckily found a bra that seemed just right and bought two of them for $18 each, more than half off. Then I went to Target to buy wet wipes and there I got a hotdog and large lemonade low calorie. Oh yes, America!

With my new phone I called Winnie and went over our plan, which is to rely on the port agent for everything as he has total control.

I slowly strolled through Penny’s and then went outside to meet the guys. We chatted about our purchases until the van came. The three seamen asked to be taken directly to their terminal because their ship was due to depart imminently. The driver agreed but for an extra dollar each. They agreed but it seemed odd to me. What was the difference? My back was aching from my computer so I asked to go to the terminal too. I rested an hour and a half and then went out again with the cook, Roger. I didn’t want to go alone because I don’t have the right to use the Seamen’s Club shuttle. Roger told me we’d return at 8:30. I didn’t know why but thought maybe he wanted to avoid the crowded 9:30 shuttle. We were all due back at 10:00 because of our departure scheduled for early next morning. I agreed and we went our separate ways.

I inquired if the Queen Mary was still open (it was after 5:00 by then) and which bus to take. It was and I went. The free bus went slowly around the promenade and aquarium area. It went past a place called The Pike. The Pike: Yes, that was the name of the amusement park I remembered, but that sure was not the old Pike. I remember riding the roller coaster at the Pike in 1966 when I was pregnant. Lauren loves roller coasters as I do. Maybe she learned to love it from the womb.

Just before entering the bus, I realized I was shaky hungry. I should have stopped to eat something but I didn’t know how long the Queen Mary would be open so I went. I also realized I had only $5.00 cash with me. The Queen Mary I then learned is now a hotel and multiple eateries and shops. Unfortunately, most of them closed at 6:00, which is when I arrived. I was so hungry that I ate at the Winston Churchill Restaurant on the Queen Mary. It puts on terribly posh airs, but I think it’s just for the show. I ordered stupidly and expensively and in the end I wasn’t satisfied: onion apple soup, caesar salad, mashed potatoes, and a nice Zin. The caesar salad consisted of five whole Romaine lettuce leaves with cheese and dressing. The side bread and butter was good, as were the mashed potatoes. And the Zin. The view of the bay, harbor, and distant mountains (San Gabriel?) was marvelous.

I rushed to the bus worrying that I’d be late for the 8:30 shuttle but the driver was on break. We started chatting and learned we were both born in Long Beach. He was old but not as old as me. He remembered the Pike but I guess that he was a kid and didn’t remember it as I did. He told me the history: the Pike and all the surrounding area was torn down in the late 60s or early 70s and left as a huge empty lot for a long time. Then they build the convention center and a huge parking structure and then developed the entire area. There’s a fake ferris wheel and a fake roller coaster just about where the real ones used to be. And yes, as I remembered it, the Pike roller coaster was the one that went out over the water and then made a sharp turn so that the passengers felt they were going out over the water. The driver explained that all the newly developed tourist area used to be the ocean and that they filled it in. I wonder why they didn’t just leave the ocean and develop the land next to it. Hmmm.

I arrived back at the Seamen’s Club at 8:40 and Roger grabbed me and rushed me to the shuttle, which was waiting. So eager? Back early on the ship, I drank the last glass of wine from the bottle of the previous night and went to bed early. The day had been entirely satisfying though much of it didn’t seem so at the time. It’s all an adventure. How not to be satisfying?

Day 12, Freighter Trip, April 2011

Freighter Trip - Hanjin Miami

Busan to Oakland: l4-28 April 2011

Travel Journal

Day 12, April 24, Sunday

Fabulous weather: sunny, slight wind, smaller waves and white caps.

Ah Jul! Do you not know better than to get drunk as a skunk in a trunk? No, I guess you don’t. The fact is I very much like to drink and talk and talk endlessly - always talking piffle. It really is such a pleasure for me.

Need I say I was hungover all day. Not badly but enough not to be on top of my game. I was fit enough to enjoy to the extreme the thrill of waking to the Santa Barbara Channel Islands: San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, and Anacapa. I recognized Anacapa. Instinct? Then off Santa Barbara I saw Santa Barbara Island. Finally Catalina though no San Clemente.

This was a day of looking and looking. The weather was warm and sunny - Southern California for sure. It was prefect. I returned from time to time to my cabin to rest. Off Long Beach we stopped the engines and drifted until 4:00 PM when the pilot came aboard to guide us in. I stood on the Bridge during the entire process. On the Bridge were the pilot, the captain, the first mate, and the second mate, and the third mate. It was very slow going when we got inside the harbor and backed the ship to the dock. All smooth and skillful.

About 5:30 the captain called me to go to A deck. There the Immigration officers were seated at a table and the crew members were lined up to go in one at a time. Sergei, the Latvian was to be the last of the crew and I was last of all. I stood there waiting all the time. The Immigration officer approved shore leave for everyone, even the one member whose first trip this was. The officer was easy on me, wondered what was in my baggage but didn’t much care. They asked about alcohol and I prevaricated a little but saw they didn’t care if I had two bottles or four bottles. I never did try my smuggling caper as no one cared. In the end, I brought three bottles into the country.

Johnson and I planned to leave the ship at 6:00 but he had to wait until the captain had eaten and the captain was delayed by the landing formalities. We got into Long Beach at the Seaman’s Club at 7:30 and returned with the 8:30 shuttle. The Internet wasn’t working at Starbucks though I sat there half an hour waiting for it. We’re not in Korea any more Toto. I bought a phone card at 7-11 but couldn’t find a public phone. I entered a diner near the Seamen’s Club: no public phone but the waitress offered her phone. Ooops! I didn’t have the phone number handy. Then she offered her computer to check my email but Yahoo didn’t accept my password and ID. Finally, I searched for AT&T’s address, which the waitress said was quite far. I’ll take a bus tomorrow.

Back to the ship feeling tired and ready for a good sleep. Wrote my journal and to bed.

Welcome to California, Jul.

Day 11, Freighter Trip, April 2011

Freighter Trip - Hanjin Miami

Busan to Oakland: l4-28 April 2011

Travel Journal

Day 11, April 23, Saturday

Good weather: sunny, brisk, strong wind head on, waves and white caps.

The wind was strong when I went to sleep last night and there was a hatch or something loose and it kept slamming and kept waking me. I had strange dreams of freak sea waves like Kai had told me about - rogue waves. Woke at 4-something, then again at 8-something when the engine stopped. I wondered if I should go to the Bridge but decided I was too sleepy to leave my bed. Did get up at about 9:30 and found Johnson in the hall with my wine. Back to bed. Up for coffee. Back to bed. Stretched. Read some Spinoza and went down to lunch where I was the only one. I’d looked forward to the German eintopf (sp?) (stew) but it wasn’t as good as last week. I ate two bowls anyway as well as two or three pieces of garlic bread. I was too full and felt sick.

Up on the Bridge I found Ramon and we had a long talk. I think the Filipinos are much more social than the northern Europeans. The weather was fairly sunny but no good visibility. I couldn’t see the ship that was shadowing us last night. Kai had said she’d be there all the way into Long Beach, but Ramon said he’d left her behind during the night and we wouldn’t be seeing her again. It’s funny that everyone I talk to tells me something different about the same thing. I think these folks don’t communicate with one another much, that is the Europeans with the Europeans and the Europeans with the Filipinos. I think the Filipinos gossip about everything, at least everything I tell to one comes back to me from another.

By then it was about 1:30 PM and time for my walk. The port side wasn’t too windy and was clear for a change. I paced it about 35 minutes and then found the starboard side cleared of seamen. It was more windy but still OK so I started pacing both sides. I was crossing the stern when I noticed the engine had stopped. Oh, it was cool. Then I remembered to go down to the deck below the upper deck. It’s only open at the stern and has a basketball court - sort of - a bit obstructed by equipment. Kai had suggested I view the waves from there to get a better angle of them. They still looked small because even that deck is high above the water. I hung around watching where the rudder is, waiting for the engine to start up. Gave up and walked a while and happened to be crossing the stern again when the engine started up. What a thrill! I was really lucky to see that. The sea and the ship were so different - so calm - without the engine. The sun was still shining; the wind wasn’t strong. I’d stopped walking to watch several times so I just kept going after my hour was over.

Then I discovered it. When I got to the bow where I always turned around, I continued to what looked like a wall and the end of the ship. But it wasn’t. There was a ladder and I climbed it and found the bow. EUREKA! Oh happiness! I’d found the bow. And no one was there and it was big and clean with massive rolls of line. It was so peaceful there and the sea seemed so much calmer. I was so happy and sat or stood there a long time. That’s where I would have been every day if I’d found it earlier. If I’d had the courage to explore, to risk being scolded by the crew. Oh happiness!

Back in my cabin for a while and then went to the barbecue. Both Filipinos and Europeans were there. I didn’t eat much but drank much. First I ate with the captain. There was a bottle of wine on the table; the captain wasn’t drinking but I enjoyed it liberally. After the captain went out to look at the sea, I joined the Filipino table and and chatted a while. I overheard the young Pole say, “We’ll throw a Filipino overboard.” The captain was walking out and I intercepted him and said, “They heard that.” He replied, “It’s all right.” But it isn’t. The Filipinos know the Europeans are bigoted but they have to work with them and be pleasant with them any way.

Then I joined the Europeans sitting and standing around the bar. And there I stayed until I don’t know what hour. I was pleased to talk with the Europeans as none of them had spoken much to me before. I still don’t know if it’s from deference to my privacy or their lack of interest. Pavel, the temperamental Pole, and I closed the place, not literally but we were the last. After I had finished the bottle of wine, I started on beer. Oh Jul! Don’t you know any better? Pavel, though a ragamuffin, was adorable. And so Polish. Just as Adi taught me to see them. The captain is also clearly a Pole but less so, more a Slav and certainly of a different type than Pavel. I don’t know what time I got to bed, but I did brush my teeth so I couldn’t have been THAT drunk. Really?

An altogether extraordinary day!

No time advance. We’re now on California time for the duration.

Day 10, Freighter Trip, April 2011

Freighter Trip - Hanjin Miami

Busan to Oakland: l4-28 April 2011

Travel Journal

Day 10, April 22, Friday

Good weather: sunny, brisk, strong head wind, white caps that are really waves over 10 feet high.

This evening after dinner I got a little lesson in weather: What I’ve been calling white caps or a little choppy turn out to be 10-foot waves. How is it possible? The sea looks so calm and we’re just mildly rolling a little. Well, it seems that I’m standing far above the sea in a ship weighing lots of tons; those little waves and gentle swells are more than that. Today the wind was so strong I couldn’t stand outside without holding on and that was standing behind a structure. When I stuck part of myself out, I began to move, even though I was holding on. I couldn’t have stood outside alone and the waves are over 10 feet tall.

This raises a point I’ve often glimpsed but not thought about deeply enough. Whenever my senses contradict what I know, I think the senses are wrong. I fear this is the trait of a weak intelligence. How could I be looking out at the little white caps, which I should clearly have seen were breaking waves, and think the sea was a little choppy? I did wonder how such little bouncing bits of water could be breaking, but I wondered no further. Weak mind. Weak intelligence. I wonder if I can break that trait.

Anyway, now I feel more excited about my voyage. I haven’t been crossing a calm North Pacific Ocean at all. I’ve been venturing out in the wild sea. It’s only because we’re so big and heavy that I haven’t noticed. Good grief! If I were in Gra’s boat - any of Gra’s boats - I’d be bouncing and heaving and maybe tipping over. Ten feet? More than ten feet.

Last night I slept 12 hours again and with only 5 mg of valium at bedtime. Is it the sea air or the rolling ship that makes me so sleepy? I rushed down to dinner only to be sickened when I opened the mess door: The smell of grease assaulted me. Menu: fried shrimp and fries. I was relieved to remember that my one bottle of soy milk and plenty of spelt cereal and seeds were waiting in my cabin. I took a pitcher of coffee to my cabin and had cereal with seeds and apple - a Chinese apple that was soft and not tasty. Still an apple, which I have too many of. When Johnson gave me the second bowl of fruit, he mentioned that we were low on fruit, so I began hoarding it. Today he brought me more and I’ll have to eat two apples a day, plus mandarines, which are much easier to eat than apples.

After an aborted attempt to walk on deck, I came in and changed into my gym costume, not bothering (for the first time) to put my sweatpants over my bike shorts. I did my weight workout and 50 minutes on the bike, all the while enjoying the lovely “little” choppy waves outside the porthole. Back in my cabin, Johnson came to empty the trash and I asked him for two more small towels. I have a scheme to smuggle a couple of bottles of wine into the U.S. I’m guessing that I can only have two bottles when we land in Long Beach and I’m guessing the Duty Free Shop will have to be closed the whole time we’re in port, maybe until the ship leaves Seattle and gets into international water. Then, what will I drink the four nights in Long Beach? I want to take two ashore in Oakland, although if I’m smuggling, why not smuggle more? Hmm. I’m not a criminal - just a bender of the law. I considered all the possible places in my cabin and luggage where I could hide a couple of bottles. But how embarrassing to get caught! Then I thought of my disorganized gym That wretched box where are stored the mismatched dumbbells, extra weights, broken pieces from the big weight machine, and other strange objects. Yes, wrap the bottles in towels and tuck them under objects and throw in a couple of other towels holding nothing. Good idea? I think so. I’d make such a good criminal. I really missed my calling.

After showering and dressing, I read for a while before going down to dinner. Dinner was salami pizza and tuna pizza. Thanks goodness for the salad. The crust of the pizza was so hard I had to ask for a steak knife and even with it, I had to hold the fork with a fist. Johnson explained that they used to make the dough themselves but to save time decided to use store-bought dough.

Back to my routine of going up on the Bridge after dinner, I trekked up. I spotted a ship far off our starboard side and somewhat behind. I asked Kai if we could spot it on the radar. He showed it to me and explained about radar when I asked why couldn’t ships detect pirate boats approaching. That’s when he mentioned the waves were 10 feet high and the pirate boats were maybe 15 feet and maybe colored similarly to the sea. No, the radar can’t be guaranteed to spot pirate boats. Even with binoculars, it’s uncertain. However, depending on the conditions of the sea, small objects can be spotted with radar. When he was quite a green seaman, Kai spotted a large bird on radar and didn’t recognize what it was. Ten-foot tall waves! Well, I’m sure Steve has seen them from an albacore boat and he’ll tell me the stories when I ask him. Larry certainly also experienced them. Gra? Maybe when he was on albacore or marlin trips in commercial boats. I sure wish I could ask him about his experiences at sea. At least Steve has a good memory for the past, and I’m eagerly expecting to hear some stories from him when I visit him in Roseville or Citrus Heights or whatever strange place in he lives in. Well, tonight’s visit to the Bridge was the most informative of the trip so far.

The rest of the evening I spent writing in my journal and sipping wine. Bad girl, bad girl, what cha gonna do? Well, of ten nights at sea, this is the fourth with wine. Not such a bad girl. And tomorrow night the barbecue. The Filipinos are all so excited about barbecue nights. Why? We’ll do the same thing we do every night but we’ll do it outside. Probably it will be cold and windy. I contributed a case of beer to the festivities and would like to bring a bottle of wine, but I’ll ask Johnson’s advice or better the master or the chief or at least one of the two Filipino Bridge officers. That’s something I haven’t made out yet. Apparently, all the officers are European, but then what are Elron and Ramon, who are listed as first officer and second officer after Kai, who is Chief Officer. The chief engineer is equal to the chief officer, but the second and third engineers are Europeans. Then, the question is: Are the two Filipino officers or not? And if they are officers, why don’t they eat in the officers mess? I mean to have that explained before I end this voyage. I can’t imagine how that barbecue will be. As far as I’ve seen so far, the Filipinos get together to eat and socialize and sing and drink, but the officers don’t eat together, don’t drink together, and don’t much socialize. I usually hear a couple of officers talking in the officers rec room before dinner. I think one of them is Pavel, the third engineer but I don’t know who the other is. I don’t even know what language they’re speaking because I don’t pause on the stairway to eavesdrop. If it’s Russian, the interlocutor could be Sergei, the second engineer. If it’s German it could be that older German whose position I haven’t identified. He’s an officer, certainly. He’s European and he eats in the officers mess. But I often see him on the upper deck climbing up and down the stairs to the containers’ shelves. Another question I must answer before long.

Then some reading and listening to music and to bed - not to sleep 12 hours.

Set the clock ahead one hour. Hour 8.

Now we’re on California time. The mention of California makes me feel nostalgic but the thought of living there for two years makes me anxious. I don’t like the thought of having to stay put.

Day 9, Freighter Trip, April 2011

Freighter Trip - Hanjin Miami

Busan to Oakland: 14-28 April 2011

Travel Journal

Day 9, April 21, Thursday

Good weather: sunny, brisk, strong wind from starboard side, white caps.

Last night I took one of those Korean over-the-counter histamine sleeping pills and slept 12 hours. Rushed down to lunch and found the captain and chief engineer there. The captain was talkative and stayed on quite a while talking after he’d finished his lunch. Johnson gave me my pitcher of coffee that he had put away when I didn’t show up for the morning coffee break. He also saved the muffins he’d baked; he kept them for my afternoon break. We had ice cream for dessert and that may have caused the bowel problem I experienced immediately after lunch.

After lunch I lazied a little before going down to A deck to meet the chief engineer for my tour of the engine room. It was amazing. I never saw such big tools. I took photos of them and expect to astound some people when I show them. That engine was soooo big. That is one big engine with two humongous propellers. Of course, I didn’t see the propellers but I saw the two tubes that held the bars that connected to the props. I sure wish I knew more about such things so I could explain it. Even without understanding much, I could appreciate how awesome that operation is. The control room consisted of two long rows of dials and knobs. Everything is automated, but in case of complete failure, they can operate it manually and I saw that apparatus and took photos, but will I know what each thing is when I see the photos later. The engine area is as deep as the structure is tall. The chief showed me a diagram of the ship, pointing out the fuel tanks and told me that the vessel carries as much fuel as a tanker because it guzzles so much fuel. But isn’t that absurd? This gas-greedy monster eats as much fuel as a tanker can transport. Then how much does the tanker consume? Beyond my comprehension. All through the tour I thought about Gra and Larry and Steve. How they would have enjoyed such a tour. They’d have had plenty of questions, but I was too ignorant to have any questions. Still, I enjoyed hearing the amazing facts.

After the tour I got out on the upper deck to walk. The men were washing down the area from the door to the stern and asked me not to go there. The wind on the starboard side was too strong so I had to walk back and forth on the port side forward of the structure: a bit boring. Nevertheless, the sea was superb and it wasn’t as cold as usual. Back in the cabin Johnson came and moved my trunk to the shelf/bench so I could get into it. Good grief, that thing is too heavy. I took some things out - like the DVDs and a couple of bags of toiletries, but it is still heavy. Possessions, possessions. When will I ever learn to lighten up?

After showering and reading a little, I went down to dinner quite late and was surprised to see the chief officer and the captain at the table. I told them about my tour and they were enthusiastic about the magnificence of the ship. The captain asked me what was my overall impression of my experience on the ship - was it what I expected, was it worthwhile? I replied that it was great and that I wish I had done it sooner because I wanted to keep doing it forever. I mentioned that I’d read that the maximum age for freighter travel was 65, and they both replied that they’d seen much older passengers and perhaps 80 was the limit. That makes me happy. Now I can plan future travels. I’ve been resenting my commitment to Beth Ami because I’ll be giving up my chance of traveling across the Atlantic by freighter and then across Europe by train. Now I can plan to my heart’s content. Whether I carry out my plans is another matter.

After dinner, instead of going up to the Bridge as usual, I stayed in my cabin and looked at the setting sun from my windows. I thought I’d see the sun set on the sea, but what I took for sky was cloud so I could just see the sun set behind the clouds.

Johnson brought me the beer and wine I’d bought from the Duty Free Shop (aka, slopchest). I asked him to keep the beer for the barbecue Saturday. I took the wine I’d planned to take ashore in Oakland, but at least one of those two bottles won’t make it that far. Johnson also brought me more fruit. Previously I’d asked for fruit and he mentioned that they were running short. I felt guilty so I was conserving the fruit. Now we have less than three days and have too much fruit. He brought me more because we have to consume it all before we land in Long Beach. Fruit-eating will now be a duty rather than a pleasure.

I stayed in for the night reading, watching Out of Africa, eating fruit, sipping wine, and loving being at sea.

Set the clock ahead one hour. Hour 7.

Day 8, Freighter Trip, April 2011

Freighter Trip - Hanjin Miami

Busan to Oakland: 14-28 April 2011

Travel Journal

Day 8, April 20, Wednesday

Miserable weather: raining, strong head wind, white caps, cold.

Though I much prefer sunshine, the rain and wind make an interesting sea too. Unfortunately, I can’t be out in such weather. Oh! Come to think of it, I brought a rain cape that made me feel ridiculous when I packed it. I should go out tomorrow just to use it, but it’s not just rain; it’s windy and cold. Maybe I’ll try. This is an adventure, after all.

I took a valium when I went to bed at about 12:40 last night and woke up at 9:40. Good girl. A good sleep for you. Stretched and went down for coffee. Instead of the wicked butter cookies, I ate two rye crackers, which the captain is so fond of, but I put butter on them. The captain is also fond of butter.

Up on the Bridge for Elron’s watch, we had a good chat. He showed me his iPhone and we talked about radio communication. Apparently, they communicate by radio and they get their email through radio, which is converted to text by a device from Iridium, which is perhaps a company that provides the service. It seems rather primitive depending on radio. He explained something about ships taking advantage of the amateur short wave radio network and also the commercial radio network. I didn’t catch everything he said; the Filipino accent is still difficult for me. Again, I suppose Leo could explain that. While we were talking, the captain came in. I got the impression Elron felt he might be in trouble. He said some officers don’t like the Filipino crew members entertaining the passengers. Gosh, if it weren’t for the Filipinos, I’d be having a pretty lonely voyage. I’m alone most of the time any way, but I do have brief chats with Johnson, Elron, and Ramon. The captain talks when we meet at meals, which isn’t often and Kai talks when I prompt him. None of the other European crew give me any attention.

I went at noon to lunch and found the other German officer, the Chief Engineer, Patzwahl, who has never spoken to me. I asked him about his work and he told me he spent his time in the engine room. I asked if I might see it and he invited me to meet him on A deck at the Cargo Office at 2:30. How German of him to set a specific appointment, but then that may be necessary because of the nature of the work. The lunch was the first meal I haven’t much liked. It was advertised as pork loin (well, really pork lion but I believe the cook meant loin) but it was a piece of pork that seemed to have been too long frozen. The second of the fish we’ve had also seemed to have been too long frozen. How would I know such a thing I don’t know. Chopped spinach with sausage went with the pork lion. My god, is there no end to the ways they can introduce meat and fat into our meals. At least we don’t get much sugar. We had ice cream after the steak on Sunday and the cake Kai made for his birthday. No other desert but fruit. That I approve of. I guess they think the men work off the fat but the officers certainly don’t. After eating I chatted a long time with Johnson. I told him about Lauren being in the Israeli Army and about me working on a kibbutz. He hadn’t heard of a kibbutz and was interested to learn something new. He complained about lack of sleep because of the time change. He said everyone has a hard time going in this direction, but going back is not a problem. He’ll finish his six-month tour when they get back to Asia and will go home for a vacation. Seven years at sea. He used to be a waiter before becoming a seaman. His older brother is a seaman and warned him against going to sea. It’s odd that all the seamen complain about working as seamen but none of them give it up. Ramon said he quit for two and a half years but came back. They don’t like some of the conditions of the profession but once they’re hooked, they can’t give it up. It’s a little like the life of expats. I wonder how long I’ll last in Santa Rosa before I have the urge to be off again. I’m already regretting promising to be on the Beth Ami Board. Being tied down for two years? Hmm....

After lunch I read from the book of humorous short stories for a while. Then I went to the gym to do my workout with weights. Ah-ha! There is another jock on board. The weights had been changed and the bicycle adjusted. I’m relieved to know someone on this ship is taking care of his body. Today I saw the captain getting out of the elevator - shame on him; everyone should take the stairs - anyway, they’re faster. After the weights workout, I did 50 minutes on the bike, watching the same episode I watched yesterday. I hadn’t noticed it was the last episode on that disk.

I had my camera and took photos of the gym and dining room where I went for two crackers with butter and coffee and another chat with Johnson. I asked him to put my trunk on the shelf next to the TV and he suggested I get permission from the Chief Officer, Kai.

Showered, dressed, read, and to dinner. Kai was there but soon finished and left. Johnson asked if I’d brought my camera. He insisted I have a photo taken of me at the dining table. Good idea. Johnson is usually in his kitchen or the cook’s kitchen next to it, and when he hears the door to the dining room, he checks who it is and what is needed. Tonight we had the second worst meal - a hot dog with melted cheese and an odd relish with perhaps mayonnaise. The salad was good.

Up on the Bridge, I asked Kai for permission to put the trunk on the bench; he said yes but to have Johnson put an “elephant skin” on the shelf first to prevent it from moving. If there isn’t enough elephant skin left, I’ll just have him put it on the floor. I think the elephant skin is not elephant skin but a synthetic fiber, open mesh, and effective in preventing slippage. My computer is content with the piece Johnson made for me at the captain’s bidding. I sat on the Bridge looking out at the gray sea and rain spattered windows. The captain came in and just said hello. He sure isn’t a chatterer. I wonder if the officers just aren’t interested or they think I’m not interested. From what I hear, Captain Aurbach would be interested in socializing, even with an old broad like me. Johnson says Aurbach is older than Jaworski, which surprised me. Imagine being about 60 and still going at it partying. I’m glad he wasn’t on this trip and sorry he wasn’t on this trip. There’s no way I’d have said no to partying. As it is, I felt guilty having that one bottle of wine. What will Captain Jaworski think? Actually, I think Jaworski drinks but just not on the ship. He mentioned drinking wine with his wife. My back got cold sitting against the outside wall and window, so I went back to the cabin about 7:00, which I moved forward to 8:00. Journal update. Movie How to Steal a Million with Audrey Hepburn and Peter O’Toole on the big screen through my iPod.

Set the clock one hour ahead tonight. Hour 6.

Day 7, Freighter Trip, April 2011

Freighter Trip - Hanjin Miami

Busan to Oakland: 14-28 April 2011

Travel Journal

Day 7, April 19, Tuesday (2)

Beautiful weather: choppy and dancing surface, strong wind from the starboard side, colder, sunny in the morning but cloudy later.

It’s Tuesday again as we passed the International Date Line. Woke at 6:00 and took another dose of muscle relaxant and analgesic. Slept again about 8:00 and woke at 10:30. I felt a little nauseous, probably from the analgesic. Didn’t stretch but rushed down to coffee and cookies (butter cookies). Went up to the Bridge with my computer. Elron allowed me to pull up a stool in front of the window where I started to copy phone numbers from my Korean phone into the address book of my computer. It was slow cumbersome work with the sun shining too brightly in my eyes and my eyes having trouble seeing the numbers in the ever-shutting-off phone. I took a few photos of the Bridge and sea and one of Elron. Then I took the equipment back to my cabin and I decided to copy the Korean phone numbers onto paper and then onto the computer.

Lunch was duck with potato and broccoli. Back in my cabin, I took another dose of muscle relaxant. Johnson came to bring me fresh towels and we chatted. I finished the job of phone numbers and went out for my walk. The wind on the starboard side was too strong and cold so I paced up and down on the port side. I felt so tired and listless I had to drag myself back and forth. After 20 minutes I returned to my cabin and lay down to doze until coffee time. Coffee and too many butter cookies again. Still sleepy and nauseous from the pills. I showered and dressed and began inputting the telephone numbers into the computer address book. I felt like reading but was not ready to return to Spinoza so I began reading humorous short stories from the early 18th century. Went to dinner at 18:00 and found everyone from my table had eaten and gone. The young Pole came in while I was there. Good salad that Johnson made, very tasty macaroni salad, and tuna spring rolls, tasty but so, so greasy. After dinner I came straight to my cabin and messing around with my tech equipment found that my iPod’s battery was dead, which always happens when I unplug it though it’s off. Put it to charge, deleted a couple of movies from my computer and copied a couple onto it, so that if I can watch movies on the TV from the iPod I’ll be all set tomorrow. Then I read until about 9:00 and then watched Gung Ho on the big TV screen. Such a treat that screen though it’s nothing for most folks nowadays with their giant flat screens.

Dragged myself through the whole day sleepy and sluggish. At least the drugs did the job of relaxing my painful neck. Tomorrow is another day and I’ll do both walking and weight lifting. Hoping the fine weather will hold.

Set the clock one hour ahead tonight. Hour 5.

Day 6, Freighter Trip, April 2011

Freighter Trip - Hanjin Miami

Busan to Oakland: 14-28 April 2011

Travel Journal

Day 6, April 19, Tuesday (1)

Beautiful weather: wide rolling swells, some wind from the port side, warmer, mostly sunny.

Crossing south of the Aleutian Islands, just about in the middle of them. We’re heading pretty much due east but tomorrow I’m guessing we should begin to go more southeast as we head for the Oregon coast.

Woke at 6:30. Lay in bed considering going down to breakfast and did at 8:00 but was disappointed at the breakfast menu: salami toast, which consisted of a slice of white bread, probably butter, a slice of lunch meat (presumed salami), a slice of melted cheese, and a fried egg atop. All fat, though I admit it was tasty. Every fatty food is. Went straight back up to bed, and though I’d drunk three cups of coffee, I fell into a doze and finally a sound sleep full of dreams, one about returning to a kibbutz where I’d done an ulpan and seeing some kerchiefs I’d left there and meeting the current inhabitant who was a black South African. Woke at 11:40 and rushed down to lunch: fish smothered in a tomato and green pepper sauce and a boiled potato smothered in butter. The captain was there and we chatted briefly, again about movies. I pointed out that the movie I’d lent him was about the coronation of England’s King George V while the movie he’d lent me began with the death of King George V.

The sun was shining and I needed to wake up from my long sleep, so out I went after lunch for my walk. The sea looked lovely with its swells and glistening water. Unfortunately, the deck was crowded with fire hoses and squirting water here and there. The men were checking all the fire hoses, but that didn’t stop me from completing my hour’s walk. What did slow me down from time to time was the beauty of the sea.

I was starving from not eating much of the fish lunch so I had a snack of nuts and fruit in my cabin, followed by my leg workout video. Then down to the gym at 3:20 to find that the weights I’d set the day before had been changed back to heavy. I changed them back. At first thought that I should change them back to how I found them but then realized that I’d be doing all the changing as if the other guy had a right to the weights and I didn’t, so I decided that I’d change the weights to suit me and the other guy could do the same. Back in my cabin, I did my stretching routine, which I hadn’t done in the morning.

After showering I decided to treat my feet: cut the toenails and completed the “sanding” routine, which I didn’t do as well as the women at the salon, but then I didn’t pay for it either. It was quite awkward sitting on the bathroom floor on my shower mat (a towel) and getting up and back down at different stages, but I managed.

At 5:35 I went up to the Bridge and chatted with Ramon. I asked if he knew about the Israeli shipping company ZIMM. He did and had sailed with it at one time. He said ZIMM sails with mounted guns on each side of the Bridge and soldiers and more guns below. I asked if the pirates ever messed with ZIMM and he replied that they didn’t. I wonder why all the ships don’t carry armed guards. I’ll ask someone. While we chatted he suddenly called out to see the dolphins. I couldn’t at first but saw only three white caps, but as they repeated and repeated in the same pattern, I realized they were dolphins but we were so high above the sea it was hard to recognize them.

Dinner was a delicious German cabbage and ground beef goulash with rice. WOW, it was good. The salad was exceptionally good too. After dinner I went back to the Bridge where I stayed a long time looking at the sea in the slowly fading light. Kai was there but was working and ignored me. That was OK because I was immensely enjoying the view of the sea. Sure wish the Bridge was my cabin.

Back to my room to journal and watch the movie the captain had borrowed from me, “The Prince and the Showgirl” with Marilyn Monroe and Lawrence Olivier.

Hungry. I had nuts and two pieces of fruit left, a kiwi and tangerine. I didn’t see any fruit on the mess side board and hope that isn’t the end of the fruit. The fruit is the only thing keeping me from going after more of that fat food we have so much of.

No clock change tonight - just a day change. Tomorrow we cross the International Date Line and repeat Tuesday. Isn’t it funny? Today is Tuesday and tomorrow is Tuesday. Two Tuesdays this week.