the story of a watchkeeping officer - it ain`t easy mate

entri nasehat...i gave stupid advice...don`t read them...

i can`t stay here forever eh...??

I really can’t sleep tonight. I deserve a much needed rest for I have been sleeping for 4 hours every day.

Paperwork…maintenance…watch keeping..and more paperwork…thinking about that special someone who still out there and still didn’t even exist in my textbook of life….life changing decision…of whether I should stay here where demands are increasing day by day and my mind can’t really cope up with it…or shall I leave to a greener pastures…where payment aren’t as much as what I get now but the pressure and demands are not quite as provoking and devastating as where I am now…

Yes…I have been thinking a lot of going away from MISC….maybe to some other small offshore company…or maybe to get a DP cert and work with any DP consortium…or maybe just lay low setting up a small business where I can do what I like…things that I love…

I love sailing…but it is not really a wonderful career….shipping industry especially on tankers is the most regulated industry on the planet…there are regulations for everything….even for throwing out shit.. .

And every part of the regulations require total compliance…a non compliance will result in a ship or a company to lose its business….and somebody losing his/her job…

So hear me out…if any of you reading this site…looking for a great prospect at sea going to 50 plus foreign country for a free holiday…think hard and get yourself straight…shipping is not an easy business…driving ship is easy but you have to shoulder a burden costing multimillion dollar worth of ship..cargo and the priceless human lives…and staying on board for 6-7 months is not a holiday cruise…unless you work on board Star Cruises…right..??

That is what you get for a salary 7 times the amount a normal person gets on shore….somebody died on your watch…then you are same as dead…same goes when you drive the ship and hit another buggers driving his ship…then you are also same as dead…

This is not an easy job…  : P

-come to sea and see for yourself-

the story of a watchkeeping officer - counting days..

entri mahu pulang...bak kata krew KD TODAK ketika karaoke di Sipadan..."bawalaaah ku pulaaaangg...."

keje kuat...penjaga meriam kuning diraja cik Melati

time flies when you are having fun...or in my case..when there is so much work to do...looking at the calendar today i noticed that i had been around this ship for almost 5 months now....come August 3rd..i will be exactly 5 months onboard this fine lady...


i`m getting much2 slower at speed now...compared to what i was few months ago...my working momentum is dropping and i`m coming to a dead stop...which in a seafaring career is a natural behavior...

how would you feel when you had to do the same thing ever single day....sometimes you just feel bored and tired of the same routine all over...but this is the reality of life...

routine is something of a norm in seafaring....everyday is a routine...starting a day at four in the morning...coming up to the bridge for watch...keeping watch...making log entries at the end of the watch...conducting fire rounds...going for overtime...ensuring all fire fighting or life saving appliances is in good order...and in place..ready for use and ready for any sudden inspection planned by the company....

but what make a difference on every routine that every single day there is something new...sometimes..you came up to the bridge with nothing registered on radar...clear sky and calm seas...sometimes the radar is cluttered with targets...ships coming down and overtaking right and left...crossing from port to starboard and vice versa...

and while you feel like "i dont wanna work today" after watch..you can just lay on bed and had a shut eye...or test yourself with a game of Supreme Commander or Left For Dead...just for fun...but on any other days...it just work..and work..

seafaring is not fun anymore...with tonnes of paperwork and filing...it feels like your working on a normal day job somewhere in the office of a corporation in Kuala Lumpur....with the difference of you are at sea and far away from your love ones....

albeit...somewhere in the hectic day to day operations of a ship....a bit of fun and enjoyment were in place...karaoke..smoking while chatting and gossiping about our nation political stupidities or experiences of some of old timer crew in the company those days...with a cup of coffee or iced milo with environment like kedai mamak tepi jalan...do make us human again after a while...

but after a while...you feel like..."i had enough"...and that is the day when you requested for signing off at the next convenient port...

with that...i'm counting my days to that very day....coz i had enough..


-come to sea and see for yourself-

a navigator`s serenade - electrification of a heart

entri tersirat...yg tersurat tidak menceritakan segalanya...

electrification of a heart

 

 

 

I just wanted to hold you in my arms..

for you had electrify my life..
and I will never let you go..

hold me..

and our lips will always be sealed...

 

-come to sea and see for yourself-

a navigator`s serenade - far and dreaming

entri sebanyak mungkin....

i own nothing...

there are the seas

the sky

and you

but none of them are mine

and none of them

are within my reach

and each of them are keeping us apart

for i am far

and yet

you felt so near

-come to sea and see for yourself-

the story of a watchkeeping officer - looking back...

entri kisah lama...

jangan baca buku dlm gelap...!!

i was looking back at my previous post since this blog came to be in 2009....how time had gone by and how i had changed...how things had change around me for the last three years....

i laughed at some of my writings and drafts...i surprised myself in some of it...and i felt ashamed on how immature i was in some of the post...its like rojak pasemboq...(god i miss rojak pasemboq)...a lil bit of self stupidity...a little bit of enlightenment to myself...which i didnt know whether it had any use to others...some misery...some happiness...some of this and some of that...

which leads to where i am now...

i dont know what will this post lead to...

but one thing for sure..
it will lead me forward....

"the grass is greener on the other side of the field"

-come to sea and see for yourself-

story of a watchkeeping officer - day after day : madness

entri x dapat cope up.....


day by day...i felt fed up...getting bored and felt tired....i dont even care anymore to walk to the shipyard gate and have a look see of the city...coz there is no time at all to do that...

working condition had been better since the beginning of the 2nd week...where blasting is now focused inside the ballast tanks..but then its chaotic on deck...everything is everywhere...

and to make things worst...our ship is schedule for vetting in Ulsan...which is 2 days from Qingdao...hearing this...i felt like giving up...after all this and now that....

...I wont dream to come again for docking in China...it is astonishingly terrible...

i rather went back home...this is too much for me.....

the story of a watchkeeping officer - day after day : day 00 to day 07

entri kerja paraas...drydock sungguh sakit...


i had lost my ability to write...eh silap...to type...coz my head are filled with drydock specs and makian2 from senior officer....so my day to day life in a place called Qingdao Bei Hai Shipyard are presented as a pictorial entry...

i am one lazy fakka....

this is from day 00 till day 07...enjoy the bad resolution pic...and will be posting in the same manner for days to come...

enjoy the not so sharp non SLR pics...ngahahhaaa

day 00 - on the blocks

day 02 - blasted heaven

day 03 - extreme working conditions

day 05 - drones...

day 06 - China industrial strength....

day 07 - making progress..

haha...seems like everything is in order...then wait till day 08...

-come to sea and see for yourself-