Two weeks hard time aboard the Phoenicia

Article

I’m trying to think of a way to describe the last two weeks aboard the Phoenicia. Honestly, “imprisonment” is the only word that comes to mind. I’m trying not to consider it all a big mistake. Perhaps I am just reeling from the whole experience and making a hasty analysis. I have never actually served time in prison, but this experience is the closest I have ever come to incarceration. I don’t want to sideline the privilege to crew the Phoenicia during it’s journey around Africa. But I have never felt so powerless and confined to a place in my life. Not only that, it robbed me of the chance to see Oman as well as Juba and Darfur in Sudan.

Initially the plan was to depart Aden, Yemen August 25 and arrive in Salalah, Oman September 4. But there were numerous issues with the boat which delayed our departure. Setting out on August 30, we anticipated a six day journey. In the end, it took almost two weeks! Little or no wind attributed most to the delay, but human error also played a factor. When we finally arrived in Salalah, we had lost power to run the electronics and the motor.

Seasickness

Three of us became seasick almost immediately after leaving Aden. Even one of the older, seasoned Indonesian sailors threw up twice. However, my sickness was the worst. In the first 24 hours I had thrown up five times, the last time actually vomiting solid food. (quite frightening) It was miserable, but I was determined to kick it. Immediately after throwing up, I would drink and eat again to regain the lost nutrients. At one point, I laid down exhausted with my head resting on the deck, covered in watery grime trying to escape the heat. In those conditions, it can be hard to keep a positive outlook. Fortunately my nausea improved on the third day, though it would return again throughout the trip. It was only the last night on the boat that I was barely able to sleep below deck, due to the noxious fumes and smell of the diesel motor. Instead, I spent my nights on the upper decks, waking each day to drenched clothes from the moist air.

Dirt, Grime and Sludge

Before meeting the crew in Aden, the captain told me, “Bring clothes that you don’t mind throwing away.” I had no idea how serious he was. The entire time I worked on the boat was a losing battle to stay clean. In the end, I simply gave up. Every surface of the boat is treated with a tar-like waterproofing sealant. Engine oil, diesel fuel and noxious fumes pervaded everything. I decided early on that any clothes I wore would be destroyed at the end of the trip, so I chose only a few clothes to contaminate, the rest I sealed up in my pack. But still, my entire pack and it’s contents now reek of the smell.

I have been dirty plenty of times before, camping and hiking in various back-country environments. But normally I am a neat freak. I like to have everything clean, especially my hands. I’m the guy that takes a knife and carefully scoops out honey from a jar in just the right way so that none of it goes over the edge. Imagine someone like me in an environment like this…as I watched others take the honey jar and just dump it, wipe the sticky edge with their finger, and lick up the residue. I watched as other crew members would take a dirty plate of food and swish it around in a bucket of stale, soapy water, then put it on the “clean” rack. At meal times, my dishes always required some kind of wiping. But what does one use to wipe? We quickly ran out of paper towels or tissues, and every surface of the boat was slimy. I was fighting a losing battle and knew it. I realize manly men like to be grimy and sharing grit is a fun way to share in communal male bonding. In this case, I ain’t a manly man.

To wash, we bathed from sea water in a bucket. Just this morning I took my first real shower in about three weeks. I couldn’t believe how filthy I was. I had never been this dirty in my life. It was as if I had an extra thick layer of crusty flesh all over my body. Sorry to be graphic, but wow, that’s sick.

Daily life

I should move on to lighter things. I don’t mean this article to be a rant!

You might be curious to know what one does for days and days at sea. It is actually more tiring than one expects, so during the times when you are not working, all you feel like doing is sleeping.

The crew was split into two watches:

Watch A

• Philip (ship captain)
• Dirman
• Me

Watch B

• Doug (watch leader)
• Sulhan
• Aziz
• Warren

We divided each day into setup five watch cycles, and each team would alternate. The nighttime watches were given 6 hours each to give the crew more time to sleep. So the schedule went as follows:

• 8:00am—12:00pm (4 hrs)
• 12:00pm—4:00pm (4 hrs)
• 4:00pm—8:00pm (4 hrs)
• 8:00pm—2:00am (6 hrs)
• 2:00am—8:00am (6 hrs)

The times at the helm were quite enjoyable because it gave me many opportunities to talk with Philip a lot and learn from him. The long night shifts were the most difficult to stay awake. Often Dirman and I would often sing to keep ourselves awake. But in my exhaustion, I often really enjoyed those early mornings as dawn appeared and I could just sing away.

Paradoxical views

While at the helm with Philip one night after a few days of little or no wind, and our arrival looming further, I confessed to him that I had never felt more imprisoned in my life. We discussed how funny it is that people hold paradoxical views toward sailing. Some feel set free, while others feel imprisoned. As I pondered my feelings further, I realized that normally I am one who feels set free when sailing! But take away the wind (the actual sailing part!), throw in a lot of grime and nausea, keep extending your arrival date, and the feeling can suddenly reverse itself. Take any activity that you enjoy and when forced to continue doing it, the thing is no longer enjoyable.

While on the ship, I updated the Phoenicia website blog. You can read it here.

One really awesome part of the trip was the wildlife. You can see some pictures of the birds that hitched a ride in the gallery. Also, I have a video of the whale we saw below. Unfortunately I couldn't capture the sea boiling with what seemed like a hundred dolphins one morning. What an amazing sight!

The Phoenicia finally arrived in Salalah late Friday night. Saturday morning after clearing immigration and customs, I was whisked off to the airport to try to catch my flight that had been graciously delayed by the airline. (While on the boat I was able to send a message via satellite phone to the ship team in the UK, who kindly contacted the airline and rebooked my flight.) In less than 24 hours, I was in Khartoum.

But it was too late.

The organization I am visiting here, ADRA, could not change my travel permit with the Sudanese government, and therefore could not book a flight for me to visit Juba in southern Sudan. Not only that, my original plans to visit Darfur were dashed for the same reason. Now, it looks like I am confined to only visiting projects in the Khartoum area. I am still going to try to work something out to visit Darfur, but it is not likely an option anymore.

Still, I’m so happy to be in Sudan. I am already meeting people and hearing interesting stories about their culture.

I’m still updating the Google calendar when my itinerary changes, so you can continue to follow the rest of my trip there.

The following are some videos taken aboard the ship. I honestly didn’t really have the enthusiasm to record much while we sailed. I didn’t write hardly anything in my journal either. Bleh.

Phoenicia Leaving Slipway in Aden from Paul Reid on Vimeo.

After days of delays, the Phoenicia finally leaves the slipway (dry dock) for Salalah, Oman. You can't really tell here, but they yanked us out so fast it felt like an amusement park ride.

Phoenicia leaving Slipway - Pt 2 from Paul Reid on Vimeo.

This was after we cleared the slipway. Shortly after taking this video, we had some very tense moments as the Yemeni coast guard kept yanking the boat around like cowboys. We came dangerously close to the rocks and they almost rammed the boat with theirs. They had no respect for the type of boat it was, treating it like a steel hull.

Motoring while leaving Aden from Paul Reid on Vimeo.

Here we are motoring as we leave Aden.

More motoring from Paul Reid on Vimeo.

More motoring before sailing.

Testing the LRAD from Paul Reid on Vimeo.

Here Philip is demonstrating the LRAD (Long Range Acoustic Device) to the Phoenicia crew. The LRAD is designed to incapacitate pirates/attackers by the use of high volume directed sound waves. Fortunately we didn't have to use the device on anyone.

Dirman catches a fish from Paul Reid on Vimeo.

Dirman caught a beautiful Dorado fish for the crew. The fish actually changed colors like a chameleon!

Break from Paul Reid on Vimeo.

Somewhat boring video. I wanted to capture the rocking of the boat, but you really can't tell how strong it really was.

Morning Sail from Paul Reid on Vimeo.

My favorite time aboard the Phoenicia was during the sunrise. There is no way to describe the feeling of watching the sky change from black to hues of pink and blue.

This is the only video I have that somewhat simulates the motion of the boat while sailing.

Here we don't even have the main sail up...unfortunately this became the norm toward the end of the journey.

Aziz making lunch from Paul Reid on Vimeo.

This is a somewhat humorous video. It takes some practice to learn how to cook on a swiveling stove! You should have seen it was the boat was REALLY rocking violently.

A Whale from Paul Reid on Vimeo.

A whale was one of the highlights of the marine animals we saw. Before this video was shot, you could even see his tail fin. Beautiful surprise.

Submitted by paul on Sun, 09/13/2009 - 3:51pm.