Oxleys' Adventures

Sunday, September 2, 2012

We have just arrived in the English Channel and are heading up the Channel for 6 hours to dock at Antwerp, Belgium. There was much excitement as we crossed through the narrowest passage of the English Channel; twenty miles across to be exact. There to our portside were the great ‘White Cliffs of Dover” and to our starboard side was Calais,France!! Great fun….especially for our Brits’ on board who love their Mother Country and their Queen!!

Freighters are moored everywhere, awaiting their turn to enter through a canal system into Antwerp.
This is a major shipping port for Europe and we are amazed at the size of some of these supercargo ships as they wait at anchor for their position to enter the port.

It was interesting to note the number of windmills that have been constructed just off the shipping lanes to generate power for their perspective countries. Of course, windmills were some of the first cargo we spotted when we boarded in Houston.

Our pilot for this leg of the trip is now on board and we should be at the Antwerp dock by evening. Everyone is studying the maps and busy identifying the ports we are passing on our way.

By the way….the Atlantic crossing was spectacular. The seas, skies, and stars all cooperated with full regal experiences. We even managed a crew barbecue, hosted by the Captain!! The officers and seamen are full of warm smiles and wonderful laughter!! It is a terrific crew that makes you feel as if you are all part of the Rickmers’ family!! They are always there to lend a hand, answer a question, or update us on the intricacies of navigation, seafaring, and the challenges of managing the loading and unloading of volumes of heavy cargo. Everyone works non-stop and VERY HARD to keep this vessel running!!!

Of course, there must be a moment now and again to relax and celebrate the journey!! It is overwhelming to think about how many months these hearty seamen are away from their families. We even celebrated the birth of our cadet pilot’s daughter, Sophia, far away in Rumania. Everyone is anxiously awaiting the ‘hand delivery’ of the first ‘official pictures’ as we eventually arrive in Hamburg!

Here are a few quick looks at our travel across the Atlantic (hoping the video of the “White Cliffs of Dover” make it’s way to you. Please note that it certainly does not do justice to the experience….

Here’s our Captain Virgil:

Here’s Bud loving every minute of last night’s BBQ including the final result for the poor red snapper!!

Some more pics of the great crew!!!!

That last seaman was Gerhome our excellent steward!

Here’s a few pics of our sail into Antwerp, Belgium, as we pass Holland! It is certainly beautiful ….beaches….sail boats…tugs and freighters all making their way!!

Here is another attempt to share the ‘voyage’ by video!

After traveling up the Atlantic Ocean for the first time by freighter, we began to discover the meaning of ‘rolling’. The ocean was relatively calm…only about 8 foot waves (which are virtually nothing for a ship of this size) but without ‘ stabilizers’…you begin to ‘experience’ the roll of the seas. It certainly was nothing compared to the possibilities that may await us, as we set sail across the Atlantic in just a few hours.

The trip up the Delaware River to Philadelphia took a little over six hours. Bud and I managed to awaken and enjoy a few hours in the midst of the night to take in the skyline and wonder if this massive ship was really going to ‘fit’ under the famous Ben Franklin Bridge…of course, she slipped through like a charm…..

Well, we are ready to sail across the ‘ocean blue’ …and …of course Bud is as calm as can be just reading the paper to catch up on all the US news before we set sail….
I am busy making sure that everything is ‘secured and buckled down’ for the ride!!

We had a wonderful time in Philly! Here are a few pics, in case you haven’t had an opportunity to visit this historical spot.

Here’s the Liberty Bell the easy way (with Spartan Spirit and Flat Stanley) “through the glass”, so you don’ t have to wait in the tourist lines:)!

OK…so here’s the ‘real deal’ without glass….I went back ….as every patriotic American should do!!

Here are my ‘traveling buddies’ also seeing Independence Hall!

Oh….where is my ‘real buddy’??? Oh, there he is…parked on a bench with a bag full of something..gosh wonder what he may have been purchasing to prepare for the ‘big sail’?

Of course…the diet coke…was only ‘a cover’ for yours truly to sneak on board!!

I was surprised to learn that Philly has the third largest Chinatown area in the US….following San Francisco and New York ( of course)!

Of course…if you know us well…..you know that we had to take the trolley tour all through the city. We actually always enjoy the ‘overview ‘ and then decide where we want to spend the remaining time. Here I am with Peter, the Brit, who now lives in Brazil. It ended up that all of us took the ‘double decker’ for a few hours….

The Post Office was very interesting, as it is the ONLY Post Office in the US to NOT fly a United States flag, as it is used to designate its distinction as the first US Post Office.

More pics to give you a feel for this port stop:

That last pic was not only the ‘back of buddy’s head’ but also the home of Betsy Ross!!

Now, if you have still hung with us through this post until now…..here are a few shots of the gentlemen as we enjoyed some ‘deck time’ last evening as we sailed up the Delaware River and into Philly!
Here’s Lynton from Australia….

And a few more glimpses ….

They are -of course – all retired to be able to pull off this length of time away. The ‘blokes’ are all finishing their round the world by freighter trip. Only two of them actually knew each other before coming on board. Those were the Aussies, paul and Lynton, but all get along fabulously !!! We will miss them, as they will all be going their separate ways by the time we leave Genoa, Italy. Allow me to introduce them to all of you. From left to right are:
Terry (New Zealand -retired pilot); Paul (Australia – Alcoa Supervisor); Bud (of course!); Lynton (friend of Paul’s from Australia – special project manager in spots all over the world…Nigeria/South Africa); and Peter (Brit now moved to Brazil…purser on the Cunard Cruise Line for years…and other investment ‘policing’)….all great and interesting shipmates!

Of course here is a shot …just to ‘humor’ the only female on board, yours truly!!

Well, off to dinner for our last meal in the USA for a long time!! I will try to capture our ‘menu board’ so you will have an idea of our seafaring selections as we sail!!

We wish you all well….
Cheers, mates!!!

After about four days of VERY calm seas, we arrived in Savannah, Georgia. This is our first port of entry on our trip. In order to enter a port, a ‘pilot’ arrives by tug and literally ‘leaps’ aboard our moving freighter and then pilots the ship to the dock. Two tugs actually accompany us and end up ‘pushing’ the freighter over to its final destination. It is an amazing feat to watch…especially the pilot’s ‘leap’ to the Rickmers Shanghai.

The ride up the river took us right past historic Tybee Island and Fort Pulaski, dating back to its utilization as protection in the Revolutionary War.

The historic homes of Savannah are charming and clearly captivate your attention with their distinctive curb appeal. Here’s a peak of a few ‘charmers’ from the trolley car ride which took us all through the area:

We were thrilled to have Virgil and Linda Mann meet us and spend some time together…..probably the last Lima folk we will see for awhile! Thank you, so good to see you!!!
Here are some of the highlights we saw, including Savannah’s famous statue of The Waving Girl, which sits on her riverside greeting the sailors!

We were very blessed to also attend Mass at the very beautiful Cathedral of St. John the Baptist!

Off to our next port which will be Philadelphia! When traveling at sea there is no satellite….so none of life’s luxuries such as cell phone or ability to post a blog or e-mail is available, of course. If there ever would be an emergency, the ship has their own satellite communication system available.

Hey, take a look out our port hole as we await the port agent’s announcement of when we will depart. This is a container ship headed to sea. I have gleaned the difference between a cargo and a container freighter. We are traveling on a cargo freighter. A cargo freighter carries its own cranes and VERY interesting shipments from all over the world. It may also carry containers. Here is a picture of Bud with Nick. Nick is a civil engineer and works for a nuclear plant in Augusta, Georgia. He was in port carefully overseeing the arrival of the steel to be utilized in the nuclear plant. He will be leaving for his next assignment in Australia soon.

Here’s Nick….Hey, gals……pay attention ….26 year old SINGLE civil engineer ….on the road to success!!

Oops….just noticed that this ‘post’ from our departure may never have ‘published’….
This is my first attempt to try and figure out the posting of a short video clip, so you may possibly catch a glimpse of our departure! Forgive me, all of you who may want everything sequential….learning all this as we travel together:)!

Previous post from our departure on August 13, 2012:

We have ‘set sail’ from the Port of Houston! The ride down the Port of Houston waterway to the Gulf of Mexico was an amazing experience. We traveled for over 6 hours passing multiple freighters, tugs, and oil refinery after oil refinery!!

Here are also some evening pictures from the departure. We are approximately 3 days away from our next port of Savannah, Georgia.

Here are pictures from the ‘Bridge’ where all of the navigation for the ship takes place!!

Here are some of the instrumentation panels that are utilized!

For Biz Paeth….there we were right off your home in Cedar Key!!

Here are the faces of the people that enable millions and millions of cargo to traverse the world to actually make our lives easier. They are everyone from our captain to stevedores to cooks to stewards to officers to the seamen!! The look of men who love the adventure of the high seas:

There MAY be just a few items that luxury cruise passenger ship folk MAY miss??? Let’s take a look….

The Spa Deck for sun bathing…

Work out room….

The ‘pool area’ only filled by request ….at sea…and with salt water!

The dining area….

The ‘freighter concept’ of a “stair stepper”…

The ‘party area’ for good ole BBQ….

Picnic areas where we will celebrate birthdays, holidays, pig roasts etc!!!

Time for laundry anyone?

Our ‘freighter’s media center’ for everyone’s enjoyment!

Need to do some ironing….freighter folk are prepared!

Well, we may soon be ‘casting off’ from the Port of Houston within the next 24 hours! They tell us that it will take six hours to travel the rivers to the high seas. We are all hoping that trip will be by day rather than in the dead of the night!! We look forward to beginning the ‘roll’ of freighter life..ships WITHOUT the luxury of stabilizers (cruise ship lovers beware:)!)

It is Monday, August 13 and a very Happy Birthday to our son, Eric!

Friday, August 10′ 2012….Bud Oxley’s #1 item on his Bucket List came to fruition..we boarded the Rickmer’s Shanghai for a four month trip around the world. We are still in the Port of Houston watching the intriguing ‘dance of the cranes’ as they load and unload valuable cargo. One of the amazing ‘crane transfers’ is watching enormous wind turbines being exchanged to trailers hundreds of feet below.

The crew is phenomenal and we were surprised to have the pleasure of joining four male ‘ship mates ‘ also traveling around the world from various ports. Peter is a retired pilot from New Zealand. Paul and Lynton are sailing buddies from Australia and retired Alcoa supervisors, mechanical engineers and project managers. Peter was from Britain and is now living in Brazil….our retired ‘financial policeman’ of the group. The guys get along fabulously and have welcomed us into their midst with great tales of their adventures.

The Captain and officers are Romanian and much of the crew Croatian and from the Philippines. They speak English and we are attempting to learn each other’s dialects!! The food is hearty to keep the crew sustained for their hours of intense and skillful mastery of the ship and her cargo.

I want to share a few pics of what it took to get us ‘on board’!!! Yes, they are taking that luggage up over the side with ropes…..how else might one do it??

Here is a glimpse of the ‘Owner’s Cabin” with one tired “mate” already snoozing from the ‘move in’ even though we didn’t touch a thing…the crew was terrific on helping us out and making us feel very comfortable.

The ‘dance of the cranes’ was amazing to observe….here are some attempts to give you a feel for the work of a cargo ship :

Now, all of you who know me ….that is Buddies’s wife and ‘shipmate’ …(notice the other wife’s of the boys opted not to try this excursion…..I think they could be missing the adventure of a lifetime!)…you may all know how claustrophobic I am….well take a good look at the rescue boat which we all must board during the ‘muster safety drill’:

Well, your’s truly ‘practiced’ today and all is well as long as I am observing from the ‘gathering area’…:)!!!

Never fear….as Bud is now ‘fully trained’ to launch and take over in the event of any emergency!!!

We won’t disembark port for a few days yet…so we will keep you posted on the freighter fun!!!