For years working aboard deep sea going supertankers, especially when in my role as the Chief Mate, there were certain times where there were periods of no or little sleep and high stress. For those who may not be aware a supertanker typically carries over 2 million barrels of crude oil. A single US Barrel of oil is equivalent to 42 gallons. So if you buy a gallon of milk in the store, it’s two million of those without the plastic container! As the Chief Mate, I was in charge of the loading … [Read more...]
Where Are You Right Now?
The majority of us depend on an app, on our handheld device, for directions these days. You may have a personal favorite app for directions and driving, walking and even for hiking. Feel free to share the name of your favorite and why it’s your favorite in the comments section. Odds are good that if you’re under thirty years old you never saw, no less utilized, a paper map. The kind of fold out map that no one can quite get folded back up correctly once opened up. You may have seen these in … [Read more...]
Are You Ready To Explore? Three Ways To Start Now…
The journey Ferdinand Magellan ventured out on over 500 years ago was thought to be utter madness by most people. They had heard stories of sea monsters, human flesh eating frogs and worse – would they fall off the end of the world? Not all of the ships that left on this journey returned to their home port. In fact, not many of the total crew returned home. By the end of the trip there was no food aboard and the crew was chewing leather aboard to obtain some potential nutrients. What was … [Read more...]
Do You Have A Crow’s Nest?
If you have been aboard any of the popular ocean-going cruise ships, one of the popular night spots aboard is the club located on the top deck of the ship. The name is usually something like Roxy’s and then followed by the words ‘crow’s nest’. Why crow’s nest you might ask? The crow’s nest was critical to whaling vessels in spotting whales at sea as early as possible to direct the vessel to the whales and to have the crew prepare for the kill. This early sighting was made possible by having … [Read more...]
Are You Surrounded By Noise?
Silence. Stop the noise. How is it possible after eighteen months or so of lockdowns and being shut in some people are craving – silence? In late March, April and May of 2020 our world was quiet. Really quiet. The people who scan the earth for noise and vibration found a quiet planet. The wild animal kingdom without a doubt noticed the quiet. Pollution from factories, cars and other human made items was at recently measured lows in reference to the previous ten years. Now there are some … [Read more...]
Are You Aware Of Your Hidden Treasures?
Have you ever found a hidden treasure? For now let’s discuss a ‘sunken treasure’. It is estimated there is over $50 billion worth of treasure under the sea and yet to be found or claimed by anyone. Some are barges which sunk thousands of years ago near Egypt. Others are ships in a variety of areas, many off of the coast of Florida and the Bermuda – Bahamas Triangle. Every once in a while there is a story about a new treasure discovery. Then we hear nothing. These are treasures sitting on … [Read more...]
