I don't know what to say! I feel really terrible about allowing myself to get depressed yesterday. Okay I know that sounds a little warped, but get a load of this: I have a wonderful day on Monday, end up feeling at the top of the world. And then yesterday, plunge into the deepest gloom in a long long time, simply because nothing seemed to be happening. And this morning it was almost as if fate was reproaching me for gross ingratitude, 'cos there I was again, out on a small boat! :D
Well, it was actually much better than two days back. This was a nice quick trip from our ship to the chase boat lying a few miles away, to transfer a passenger. And I had nothing to do other than grab the rail, wedge myself firmly at the bow and enjoy the ride! The sky was grey, and the sea a considerably darker shade of the same, but the world wasn't totally sans colour, the brim of the sky was touched with a light clear blue. It was just as cold as the other day, much to my deligt for some reason, and it started raining as well! Now, I'm not the kind of guy you will find standing out in the rain just for the fun of it, but out in the open sea, with the white spray from the boat's prow drenching my water-proof immersion suit, it was about as ideal a situation for rain as possible.
The sea was different today. The water was less choppy, but the swell's were much huger! I don't quite know how to explain this, you have to see it to believe it! But instead of metre high waves crashing against the boat, we had the sea turning into a huge undulating mass that carried us with it. No jerks, just smooth upheavals, if that makes any sense. And there was the usual company of curious birds flying low within a cable's length of the boat. And though I still didn't trust myself with my cam in the water, one of the guys, Dave had taken his along, and here's a pic.
Later in the day, I was coming up from the gun-deck from some errand when though the starboard hatch an extraordinary sight greeted me. I ran for my cam, and rushed up to the heli-deck. The sky was ablaze. It seriously was. Imagine a huge comet! With the sun at the edge of the horizon as the head, and the tail streaking out, sweeping along the horizon in a blinding arc. I saw my whale-watcher friend clicking away merrily with an SLR, but this time he had chosen his Canon digital SLR, I couldn't even ask for copies. He smiled apologetically at my cam. But I'm not too unhappy with my pics either. They don't come even close to doing justice to the spectacle I witnessed today, but will serve to refresh the images blazed across my mind.
PS. At the end of my shift, I got the best card I've been given in many, many years! And that made today even more special :).
Hey happy birthday pal :) Do they have any cake-smearing ceremonies in the Arctic? Come to think of it do they even have cake on board? :D
ReplyDeleteBTW, I'm sorry I had to delete your comment, but I prefer to remain incognito on my blog for several reasons. Hope you understand:)
@lakesidey - Thanxx! And well, though they have cake, most people don't know that it's my birthday today... And I didn't think it appropriate to enlighten them. Even though I very much doubt the possibility of cake smearing even had it been public knowledge. And as for post, I understand absolutely, my mistake actually :P.
ReplyDeleteYes Manoj, the gun-deck has guns, but not the projectile type.. these are air guns used as sources in seismic exploration. And no, they won't be much good against pirates :P. Waise there do exist modern day pirates in the South China Sea, so the idea of carrying guns (the damage causing kind) isn't all that fantastic.
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