Leaving Melbourne

It's Sunday night (technically Monday morning at this hour), and I'm on watch at the gang plank on the Robert Hunter again. It's nearly 1 am and I have three hours left to go on my last watch before the Farley leaves Melbourne. Tomorrow morning I am moving from the Robert Hunter into my cabin on the Farley, and then we will work on some last minute preparations on the Farley before our planned departure. Hopefully I will have time tomorrow to pick up a keyboard in the city; I have found out that a number of other crew members play piano, and we would all appreciate having a keyboard on the ship to help pass the time. We've been playing at the chapel at the local Seafarer's mission whenever we have a spare hour or two and it will be nice to still be able to play once we leave port.

Since finding out that the ship is finally leaving, things around the Docklands have been pretty hectic. There are so many last minute sorts of preparations, and little things to get into order. I have been helping to load supplies onto the ship, organize our food stores, learning navigation and doing general cleaning on the ship. I have hardly had time to contemplate the fact that I will be leaving Melbourne, and Australia in the next couple of days. Like I thought might happen, I said my third goodbye to Tristan and Gemma tonight. The rest of my final goodbyes will come later as some of my other friends will be coming down to say farewell to the ship as we leave the dock.

I'm feeling tired as I have been going pretty hard the last few weeks; working and catching up with my friends throughout Melbourne and Warrnambool. My last month here has made me realize how many people I have come to love and how much I am loved here in Australia. Because of this any time not working on the ship has been spent with my friends around Melbourne leaving me quite run down and exhausted. Hopefully once the ship leaves and I get on a set schedule, I can recover a bit so that it doesn't catch up with me in the form of illness. Besides looking forward to having fewer distractions once out at sea, I am just excited for the new experience of being out on open water.

I believe that this will be my final entry before we leave and I probably won't update this space for about 30 days or so. I will keep an electronic journal so that when I do update it, there will be plenty for you to read about.

Wrapping things up in Melbourne

It’s nearly midnight on Wednesday, and I am sitting on deck of the Robert Hunter on security watch. I am wrapped up in a blanket and am so glad to have my Sea Shepherd crew issue beanie to keep my head warm as winter is moving into the Docklands here in Melbourne and with it comes the wind. Tristan called me not too long ago to wish me bon voyage and say his last goodbye to me before I set sail. Unfortunately our departure date has been delayed and I’ll probably say goodbye to Tristan at least once more, but I reckon it could be more. I’ve already said goodbye to Thea twice as I thought I would have left a week or so ago originally. This last Saturday Beth organized a bit of a going away party for me which was so sweet. I’ve never had someone else plan a party for me ( at least not since I was 6) and it was so great to have my friends from different places all get together and go out. We had a few drinks and topped the night off with a few hours of dancing followed by a long walk home…soo much fun!

So I’m just on the tail end of another 16 hour day; between security watches and helping to install the electronics on the Farley, I’ve had at least one super long day every week for the past few weeks. The long hours would bother some people I suppose, especially since there is no fantastic financial compensation (just food and accommodation), but I am so glad to be here working on the ship. Even after working for hours today measuring voltages of different cables, picking apart the electronics of the autopilot, just to find out we had to start all over again, I remembered that the work I am doing is important and it does make a difference.

The whole crew is getting restless. Everyone is ready to get out to sea and start the campaign. Pedro and I mapped out the voyage today, and it looks like it will take about 60 days to get to where we’re going…past the direct opposite side of the globe. Those 60 days aren’t taking into account any time staying in port along the way. And I haven’t even spent a single night at sea yet, and now I’m going out for months. Ha Ha, never a dull moment for me.

I still can’t believe all of the amazing things I’ve done during the past 2 years. When I talked to Nathan the other day, I told him I was setting off to see the world, and he said, “Isn’t that what you’ve been doing the past 2 years?” and I he is right, I have been traveling and exploring during the past 2 years, but who says I have a limit to how much time I can have exploring before I have to return to a certain place. Who knows, maybe there is a limit and I haven’t found it yet, or maybe I’m just ignoring that limit, but I don’t think so. I think I am just starting off and I have a lot that I want to do. Places I want to see, people I want to meet, foods I want to taste and emotional roller coasters to ride.

My watch is nearly over and I’m looking forward to retreating to my cabin for the evening. Pedro says sleep loss is cumulative and I’m not doing a very good job catching up on what I missed out on Saturday night. Melbourne seems to have fallen asleep with just a few taxis cruising by the ship and a few drunks stumbling along the footpaths on their ways to who knows where. Life has become a bit surreal; the reality of my present situation is still sinking in. I still feel giddy with excitement when thinking about the Sea Shepherd and our upcoming campaign. It’s good to be alive and doing what I love.