Above is the Matson ship “Lihue” inbound to Oakland inner harbor with an autumn sun framing the forward house. Below is the beautiful and distinctive San Francisco skyline taken from a tugboat on the bay.
I have a lot of writing and many photos from this last summer on the job (and on the beach) but it will take a while to sort through it all – I’m terrible at keeping this blog up to date. Eventually I’ll share all my stories. I’d love to keep up but it’s harder for me to write when I’m ashore, and especially when I’m in shcool… there just aren’t enough hours in the day (classes and beer-drinking take precedence over journaling I’m afraid). I catch up on all my writing when I’m working a 4 and 8 watch on a long haul and there is nothing else to do but sleep and eat.
Since the summer ended, we’ve been in Seattle finishing classes at PMI – and since leaving Seattle and driving to California a week ago, it doesn’t seem that I’ve stopped moving even for a minute. Every day there has been a boat ride, a party of some sort; I even ran my first marathon on the 16th! I’m catching up on much-needed time with friends and family. In a week I will be joining a boat in Ketchikan, AK, northbound on a run from Prince Rupert, Canada to Whittier, Alaska, hauling a railcar barge. I desperately need the work and I hope to be on the boat for at least 100 days (I’ve done it before, but the thought of a winter in Alaska never fails to send a shiver through my bones) so here I am, soaking up the last rays of California sun before I go north for my last hitch as a cadet.
