Tomakint at sea!

Posted by at 11:31 AM, July 6, 2004

Shortly after the ship disengaged from the harbour of Reykjavik, it was a different story entirely. A new life is about to be unfolded, and I am anxious to see it.

Life aboard the Esperanza is a day full of so many activities; you settle down and get paired up as a new foreman to the ship, as for me keeping watch on the bridge from 12 midnight till 4.00pm is my job and truly I find it quite challenging, that I could stay awake throughout this period. Initially at the commencement of the journey I had my own share of the popular sea-sickness, this lasted for few hours, I felt my brain spinning around in its case. My tummy couldn’t take in anything called food, the apple I took prior to my sickness I vomited during this period of upsurge in my body, thanks to Doctor Demet who advised on what to eat to suppress it. My co-watchers Mike from South Africa, a 2nd mate Captain on the Esperanza and Demet from Turkey a doctor on the Esperanza seem to be the best pair fate could afford me, especially when I remembered that I did not have to lobby before I got paired to them. Settling down during this period, and rubbing minds together on some highly educative discussions about politics, economies, cultures, environmental challenges, climates, tourism prospects of so many countries, is a moment I find thrilling. You pick up books like; "Greenpeace: Changing the world" and "The Greenpeace Story," and its like you asking yourself that, am I really making efforts to champion the course of our environment to the whole world? Especially when you come across stunning, hair-raising action packed pictures of the trauma, intrigues, risks of pioneers and ordinary members of Greenpeace. Starting from the campaign against nuclear testing in Amchitka aboard the Phyllis Cormack Ship in 1971 down to the present "No to Commercial Whaling" in Iceland, Norway, Japan and any other whaling nations, Greenpeace has successfully demonstrated leadership in balancing protest actions with democratic means. Every Greenpeace protest action is a blend of resoluteness to a practical statement of commitment to non-violence. As you read on, these books present different levels of emotions to you as you see people like you and I who can breathe, walk, eat, sleep, run, cry, and of course capable of dying, fighting with unalloyed courage just to save a planet we both share. Not even the physical resistance put up by governments through their agents; police and secret service agents, seem to deter these determined resolute fighters. Greenpeace of course faces these challenges but not without some doses of bitter and painful experiences, one of them that would never fail the memory of an average Greenpeacer was the tragedy that struck the Rainbow Warrior Ship on 10th July, 1985 when two bombs were planted in it by French Secret Service Agents which exploded and sank the ship in the process while it was docked at the quayside in Auckland, New Zealand. Photographer Fernando Pereira, a crew onboard did not survive this attack.

Moving along the North Atlantic Ocean could be awesome at times; taking a look at the mighty ocean is a simple definition and a perfect measurement of the roundness of this planet. You look around you and what you see is the ocean giving the clouds a perpetual and passionate kiss. Another thing that caught my attention is the life of the restless, inquisitive sea gull, a sea bird that doesn’t feel like taking a rest, but enjoys flapping its wings for several hours, not even during the dead hours of the nights. We sailed past Aberdeen, Scotland on Thursday under the cover of darkness I could see lights of the city shinning brightly afar off. Later on we got to Margate, a pilot station. Riding on the rough terrain of the ocean is awesome, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday was tough, especially for a first timer like me. I was not too comfortable, as the ship keeps going up and down and swinging or is it swerving hard from left to right sides. Of course these are the gateways to sea-sickness, I seem to be saying to myself, "oh no! Not again, I don’t want to get sick again." I tried to beat it, and I was successful with my strategy. Although a little weakness and dizziness as a result of not having enough sleep due to my "dancing" while in bed.

The Captain, Jan, a Dutch is a man with a very good sense of humour, a man you can chat up with anytime you run into him; up the bridge, in his cabin, down at the mess he is ready to exchange banters with the least of the crew, a down to earth personality. You meet him in the morning, afternoon, evening even at night and you see a very neat, smartly dressed man, you look at his face, no sign of drowsiness, I mean looking at his face in the dead of the nights one may expect to see signs of weakness on the eyelids as a result of sleep, not so for him, I called him Mr. Wonderful for that. He cannot utter a sentence without making you open your teeth in laughter or if you are the hard-faced type, a smile at least. With his mug of tea, he seldom visits us up the bridge to see things for himself and also keeps us company, a man of many parts. On Friday, my good friend, Demet, gave me a good sketch on her drawing sheet I am to maintain a particular posture for the portrait, a crew was also involved in the sketching, Mark by name, a gifted artist, he finished his sketching under 15 minutes I was thrilled that an artist could be that exact in his work. We anchored at Margate Road, (road according to seamen is a place at sea where you have a stop-over); there we waited for the Pilot from England to direct the course of the ship. By 2.50am a ferry came along with the "Pilot" aboard and thereafter we continued with the journey after waiting for about three and half hours. I must confess that this journey gave me an insight into human achievements over the years. Man remains the "most inquisitive animal" ever created by God. As we were sailing on, I remembered seeing structures looking like giants tripods right in the ocean, Demet referred to them as the weapons used against the Germans when Britain withstood them in the air battle during the Second World War. It’s amazing seeing the works of human beings still speaking volume, I wonder what it takes those that did the construction to put those stuffs in there. Afar off we could see lands, hills, and shinning lights telling me our nearness to our next port of call.

Now, the journey is smoother at least, I feel like I am riding on a smooth road as with a car, I don’t feel like sleeping, I am like, "hey, can’t we start it all over again", I now find resolute in the song "Storm is over......................." Oh yes, storm is over now, I can feel the sunshine, see you in London!