3. loneliness, a whale and some land

17th march 2006 - 0800 pm

back from a long day! i am already feeling sleepy...but 4th enginer
has asked me to come down to engineroom...said he would show me
some important stuff like tappet clearance and lub oil system of
generator...i am in a fix! a part of me wants to go down to learn the new things, but another part is dragging me to bed...i have been thinking about calling home for quite some time. the chance never came along...hope to call today before going to bed...god alone knows when i will be coming back from the engine room.
right now we are heading for Panama.to the eastern entrance of the Panama Canal - Cristobal. we are supposed to reach there on 21st. i have to wait and see when i will be getting the chance to go out on shore leave when we reach any port. just want to call or mail my friends...its real isolation here. in MERI (my training institute), even though life was tough at times, more often there were laughs, fun, friends, weekly outing and that sort...good thing is that here i am not getting any time to feel the lonliness!

18th march 2006 - 0745 pm

i had called home yesterday after coming back from engine room at
around 11:00 pm. the phone is located in the bridge, the navigation control room. its a satellite network, so communication is pretty expensive..it was then 0800 am in india! mum was really excitd to hear my voice...just talked for five minutes and hit bed right away.
it is amazingly beautiful sight to look at the ocean in the evening time...different colours blend beautifully into the sky...the patterns of the clouds with a very wide horizon in the distance, the dancing waves...are all just magnificient! it is a real food for the mind after a hectic day in the engine room.
the most interesting thing is that i saw a Whale today...for the first time in my life!! it was far away from the ship, still i could ot miss the peculiar hiss and the tails..
i could see land far away...if i am not mistaken, those are the lands of the Dominican Republic. yesterday i had a look at the navigational map in the bridge. then we were to enter the sea between PuertoRico and the Dominican Republic in a day's time..at around 0730 pm, i could figure out distant lights, probably that of
some coastal city.
i am looking forward for the ship to reach Panama. it i not sure whether we would be able to go out on shore leave, but the glimpse of land nearby would be exciting!!