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Crewtoo | The maritime community, at sea and at home

Thursday, May 24, 2012 Headland SatNews

HOW TO JOIN IN
This newspaper is yours. Any seafarer in the world can send us comments, jokes, shouts, articles, letters, and answer the weekly poll. Crewtoo is free, fun and gives you your voice. However, to make sure only seafarers are e-mailing us, we ask you to first 'join'. This takes 10 seconds: Simply e-mail your name, rank, home e-mail address and nationality to join@Crewtoo.com. Once you are a member we will send you an e-mail telling you how you can send us comments, jokes, questions and more. Enjoy, and please let us know what you think.

HAVING A GREAT WEEK?

Good Day! We hope you are having a great week and safe journey? Firstly, a big welcome to everyone that took the time to join Crewtoo last week. It was amazing to see so many people e-mail and take part! Thank you so much for all your messages, jokes, shouts and votes. It was great reading them all. As always, we will try to print as many as we can in this week's issue of Your Crewtoo. This week we would like to know 'What are your three favourite things about working at sea?' To join in, simply e-mail us before Tuesday and we may print your message in Your Crewtoo next week. (If you're not already a member: simply e-mail your name, rank, nationality and home e-mail address to join@Crewtoo.com and we will reply with instructions. Don't worry, it's quick and easy.) We hope you enjoy this second issue of Your Crewtoo, made up completely of messages we receive from seafarers. Have a great week. All the best, Dan @Crewtoo
This continued for about 3 minutes. On the bridge the captain's eyes instinctively fell on the tachometer which showed the RPM normal and no change, then on the ship's speed, which showed no change, and finally checked the depths on the echo sounder which did not show any readings as we were in depths greater than 2700m. In the engine room, the C/E reported all parameters were normal down there and the engine staff were wondering what was going on and asked if we had entered shallow waters all of a sudden. We were trying to figure out what could have triggered the unusual vibrations and some thought that we might have hit a whale below the water line. 30 minutes later we received a navigation warning stating that an earthquake of magnitude 8.7 on the RS had occurred in a position 255NM SSW from our position and a tsunami warning was in force in the area right up to South Africa. We were all pretty amazed at the forces of Mother Nature as we did not expect to feel the effects of an underwater earthquake so apparent in depths of almost 3000 meters. We are probably among the few seafarers who have had the opportunity to experience such an occurrence. For those who may wonder what it was like - it was almost the same as the vibrations & shuddering experienced on a vessel in ballast condition going full astern. The only difference was that this time we were going FULL AHEAD. UNDERWATER EARTHQUAKE WHAT AN EXPERIENCE!!!! (Neil) "when i clean the bilge well and i found almost 2 and half meter of snake." Other than lots of whales, dolphins and other sea creatures, I remember a very strange thing to share: The ship was handed over from one management company to other. The old crew had left some BEER bottles in the bond store which were not consumed. The new management company had a NO ALCOHOL policy.

YOUR SHOUTS
This is where we will print your short 15 word messages. Simply e-mail your message to us. We will print your message here next week for the world to see.

LAST WEEK'S POLL RESULT

MV.Cattleya Ace - Capt. Giovanni A. Bongosia- Happy Birthday! On behalf of the crew. (3-O Charles P. Go) "thanks to my crewmates @M-V_BAHIA_GRANDE" I celebrated my birthday onboard. It was so great and fantastic. We are all happy to celebrate the party - featuring the Bahia Grande Band keeping us alive and our head banged. Our stressful minds unwinded and refreshed. I'm hoping for the good and harmonious relationship here on board. Making us away from loneliness.. and acting sorrow. All the best Guys. Longlive. Godbless us and safe trip! (Makoy_Gwapo!) Happy 22nd wedding anniversary to my ever dearest heart. i love you and i always will. (Capt. Rolly) "Whiskey brandy soda pop...we are seamen on the top" as i believe we are the back bone of the world's business (Anuj) I'm so glad to join in this huge worldwide family. (Jun) This is the first installment of Crewtoo that we have seen before. All Hands aboard and some we forward it to ashore, very much enjoy this proverbial cyber note in a bottle to the seamen and seawomen aboard our ship manned by all USA citizens aboard. We are returning from Sudan via the Suez Canal and bound for The Great State of TEXAS! Thank you for your New Sea Rag, Your Crewtoo It is Very Well Received Aboard, Now Carry on as we await the next edition. (Capt. Max) Though more-than-a-week belated, nonetheless "SHE" deserves more than a shout or a front page. so to say, HAPPY MOTHERS' DAY!!! (Gerald) If you're looking for best management and leadership then board M-V Desert Condor. (Nicetas)

What is the strangest thing you've spotted from your ship?

"My story happened about five years ago, in the Persian Gulf area while our ship was in transit, going to Fujairah at night time, 1800 hours. I was on poop deck, when I saw a glowing thing around our vessel, plenty of them. I said to myself, what the hell was that! It's like an alien thing attacking our ship. But later on I found out it was jellyfish, thousands of them. We got a high temperature alarm in our coolers in the engine room because of less supply of seawater. Those things were choking our sea chest suction filters and we had to open it twice for cleaning, until we got away from them. In the end we collected two drums full of jellyfish." (Eddie) "When we are passing the Atlantic Ocean some part of West Africa; our ship a blue color on the side and a white color in the accommodation and then suddenly become a combination of yellow and brown color due to a desert storm from the Sahara. Next day a lot of job for us to fix the mess." "hi, the strangest thing i saw was while crossing the Amazon River. A couple were having fun half nude in their boat...." "Most replies will be coming mostly from the deck watch keeping officers from various vessels. From my vessel we are sending you not the STRANGEST THING SPOTTED, but instead one of the RARE PHENOMENONS one could experience out at sea by all ship staff. On 11th April 2012 0939GMT, our vessel was 40NM North West of Sumatra Is., proceeding towards the Malacca straits, when suddenly we felt unusual vibrations & shuddering within the vessel's accommodation and hull. The crew working on deck stopped and were looking up at the bridge & then at the sea wondering what was happening.

PAGE 2 - Thursday, May 24, 2012

Also viewable on shore at Crewtoo.com

I saw a stewart on the orders of the master (possibly psycho according to me) breaking the beer bottles and emptying in the sea. It was a strange thing according to me, as the beer could have been consumed with no fuss and the crew would have enjoyed a small get-together. Pity on such people. (Ulhas) "the most memorable experienced in my life, when i spotted a rocket launching somewhere near in miami, florida, during our 0000-0400hrs watch" "Hi, it was way back in 1992, while crossing Atlantic on a easterly voyage. On a totally dark night, i saw the entire water around ship shining in fluorescent colour. I was mesmorised and fascinated. But why it was so? There was no moon, no light from any where, so what was it? Next day I asked others and was told that this effect was because of very tiny creature called ALGAE. Now after all these years at sea, I'm still so hooked that i always enjoy this scene whenever i get a chance. Have a nice day. God bless us. (Narendra)" "There are three very strange things i have seen at sea: 1. a few years ago i was on a tug towing a barge down the English Channel and could see a few boats ahead. When i got closer, I could see Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May from the English TV programme Top Gear and they were crossing the North Sea in a Toyota hi lux 4 wheel drive pick up with an out board engine on the back pushing them along! 2. two days after the tsunami hit i was on an anchor handler and saw an island float by the ship with actual palm trees on it but we were 2 days out of port. We also saw a dog on a pallet and he was alive - hungry, scared and thirsty, but alive. We guessed he had been on there nearly a week. We washed him, got the salt out of his eyes, gave him water and food, looked after him and took him into Malaysia when we docked. We informed the authorities and they took him. After 6 months of quarantine checks, injections and a lot of money from our captain, he finally got to keep him and named him Tsuna. He had him for about 9 years before he died it was in the papers in the UK. 3. but number three is when I had just started in the offshore career. I was 18 and on a supply boat in the North Sea. It was Christmas and was working under a rig, when a boat came about 500mts away. They turned on the speakers on deck and there were carol singers on it. They came from Yarmouth on some boat and every year, if the weather is ok, they come to the rigs just offshore and sing carols. So a boat at sea full of Christmas carol singers has got to be one of the strangest things I've seen. (Jon)" "The strangest thing I've ever see in the ocean was a giant squid that we caught in Las Ventanas, Chile. It was almost 2 meters long. it was kinda Scary. and it blew a lot of ink when we took it up onboard.." "Hi... When our ship was enroute from Abidjan to France, one evening I was walking on deck and spotted a large bird sitting on Cargo Hold Hatch Cover. Initially I thought it was some seagull but when i moved closer, I was astonished to see that it was big OWL, maybe a desert owl. I think its the weirdest thing i have ever seen while at sea. (Ali)"

YOUR FAVOURITE THINGS

This week we want to hear: What are your three favourite things about working at sea? Is it the money, the view, the lifestyle, the peace, the challenge? Let us know what your three favourite things about working at sea are! We will print as many of your messages as we can in this magazine next week. If you're not already a member, why not? It's free and fun, simply e-mail Join@Crewtoo.com with your name, rank, nationality and home e-mail address to take part! We will reply to let you know how to join in.

YOUR TIPS
This week's tips are from Joseph, a Chief Officer: Tip 1 - One must learn and develop how to be flexible with others attitude in life and in work. If you have 24 crew, you should have 24 attitudes to develop in your self in order for you to be an effective leader. Tip 2 - If one of your crew or anybody commits a mistake, don't blame him or her, develop in yourself a NO BLAME POLICY. You should set this as an example not to be repeated by him or her or the others. Tip 3 - Reject Crab Mentality.

YOUR POEMS
LIFE ON SHIP - by Zalmer Caballero Life on ship, Everyday is always Monday Working day and night even in holiday Weather is bad, never mind that. With God's guidance I'm prepared for that. Thinking of family miles away. Hoping they are safe and happy every day. Keep away my only love on temptations. And she will love me faithfully. I've travelled oceans and many seas. I meet different people, different faces. This is the good moment I will ever miss. Proud to myself I experience like this. Here I go again, packing my clothes and preparing. Completed my contract and to go home again. Tell the people what I have seen. To our small beautiful world that they've never been.

JOKE OF THE WEEK

A young woman on a asked the priest beside her in Custom check line: 'Father, may I ask a favour?'. "Of course, my child, what may I do for you?" said the Father. "Well, I bought an expensive electronic hair dryer for my mother's birthday that is unopened and well over the Customs limits, and I'm afraid they'll confiscate it. Is there any way you could carry it through customs for me? Under your robes perhaps?". "I would love to help you, dear, but I must warn you: I will not lie," said the Father. When they got to Customs, she let the priest go ahead of her. The official asked: "Father, do you have anything to declare?" "From the top of my head down to my waist, I have nothing to declare'. The official thought this answer strange, so asked: "And what do you have to declare from your waist to the floor?" "I have a marvellous instrument designed to be used on a woman, but, which is, to date, unused." Roaring with laughter, the official said: "Go ahead, Father". (Ali) Can you do better? Do you have any clean jokes? E-mail them, and your nickname to us and we'll try to include as many of them as we can in Your Crewtoo each week!

SEA TRIVIA
The oceans contain 99% of the living space on the planet. Less than 10% of that space has been explored by humans. The depth of the Marianas Trench is 35,640ft and later verified to be 36,200ft. So deep that even if Mt. Everest were submerged, there would still be a mile of water above it.

LEGAL THINGS
Your privacy is important to us, and the information you send us is kept safe and secure and used only to provide services and offers suited to you. Users can leave Crewtoo at anytime with just a single e-mail to leave@Crewtoo.com. Votes, messages and opinions sent to Crewtoo may be printed in 'Your Crewtoo' and shared on our website, Crewtoo.com. Please understand we try hard to print as many messages as possible, but this is not always possible. If your message wasn't printed, feel free to try it again the next week. We hope you enjoy 'Your Crewtoo'!

NAUTICAL SAYINGS
Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean. (Ryunosuke Satoro) A sailor is an artist whose medium is the wind. (Webb Chiles)