Naut's Thoughts

By Nautikos - About Me - E-mail this page - Add to My Favorites - Add to Blog List - See other blogs in Everything Else

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

At Sea...Part XXI

Today let me begin by answering a couple of questions that came up. First to UtahJay, whose eagle-eyes noticed something hanging from one of the booms of the stay-sails, and wondered if they were squid. Well, they weren’t whole squid, but strips that one of the men had hung up there to dry. Taps... Sign in to see full entry.

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Monday, February 11, 2013

At Sea...Part XX

The game’s Japanese name is shogi, and it is indeed related to chess, which probably began in India, and of course underwent many changes over the centuries... It didn’t take me very long to pick up the rules, and since we weren't fishing and had time on our hands, I started playing against the... Sign in to see full entry.

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Sunday, February 10, 2013

At Sea...Part XIX

One day, when I happened to be on deck with my camera, something that no longer occurred too often, I met him and, on the spur of the moment, asked him if I could take his picture. He didn’t smile, but said ‘ hai ’... But then, at the very last split second, he sort of turned away... Oh, well... And... Sign in to see full entry.

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Saturday, February 9, 2013

At Sea...Part XVIII

Nights, and sometimes days, of hectic activity were relieved by irregular stretches of rest. Either the squid just weren’t ‘running’, or our holds were filled and we had to sail back to Halifax periodically, where we needed to refuel as well. On those occasions some of the boys and I would head to... Sign in to see full entry.

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Thursday, February 7, 2013

At Sea...Part XVII

A little later, after I had returned to my bunk, it turned out that one of the men quartering with me had actually been in the tub at the time this event took place. He smiled at me, pulled out a bottle of Suntory whisky, and offered me a glass. I said kanpai, tossed it down, flopped into my bunk... Sign in to see full entry.

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Wednesday, February 6, 2013

At Sea...Part XVI

The immediate tension was dissipating, and when Ken was finally able to turn to me, things came out, if slowly and laboriously... As Ken was talking to me, it began to dawn on me that I had it all wrong... I cannot possibly reproduce the awkwardly convoluted conversations I had with my ‘translator’,... Sign in to see full entry.

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Tuesday, February 5, 2013

At Sea...Part XV My first night ended with a shower and a long soak in the large communal tub, where one of the deckhands was grinning, repeating things and molding curves with his hands. “What’s he saying? I asked Ken. “He’s saying, ‘Too bad you’re not a girl’...” I had spent a day and a night... Sign in to see full entry.

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Monday, February 4, 2013

At Sea...Part XIV

As dawn broke, the fishing tackle was raised and men cleared away the baskets and other gear and washed down the deck. I went into the stern, tossed my remaining squid to the gulls and terns that had begun following our ship, put away my equipment and records, and went below. I had been up for more... Sign in to see full entry.

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Sunday, February 3, 2013

At Sea...Part XIII

I went to work, taking squid of various sizes out of the trough or picking them off the deck. On my desk, after killing them quickly, I measured them and then dissected them and inspected their intestinal tracts, recording my findings... As I settled into the rhythm of my work, the clatter of the... Sign in to see full entry.

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Saturday, February 2, 2013

At Sea...Part XII

The ship was moving slowly, gently rolling on the low swells that even on calm days make the sea appear to be breathing. The fishing gear had been lowered and extended beyond the gunnels, but the jiggers had not yet started. It was clear that a shoal of squid had been noticed on the fish-finders,... Sign in to see full entry.

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