Why does the whole world have to listen to America? Why is everyone supposed to care about this place, no matter where they live on earth? What is so important about this society? And can’t we just ignore them? Aren’t they just evil, selfish, bad, no-good merchants of death and inequality? The USA is a […]
Please, close your eyes right now, and make a wish. Go on. I’ll wait. I think it’s worth doing from time to time. Whatever your heart really desires right now, can probably reveal to you all that is worthy of gratitude in your life, and what you need to be doing less of. My sweet […]
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Fake News
The chaos in my life is subsiding this week. My friend and I have completed all of the joinery in my bathroom project, and 99% of the plumbing. My best friend has successfully completed his heart transplant operation and is currently sleeping it off. I finished the ECDIS navigation training course ahead of time. I’ve […]
Aloha to the illusion of history. I shouldn’t really be writing this. I’m meant to be writing a navigation training course for a client, for submission to the coastguard for approval next week. But I’m now becoming a person for whom the urge to write becomes a pressing question. No other activity can proceed until […]
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Eat Your Curses
I visited my friend in hospital on Monday. I couldn’t help but laugh and smile the moment I saw him. ‘It’s not good mate. I’m 37. Total heart failure’. ‘I know, but you’re alive, mate!’ We chatted as he passed in and out of consciousness. All of the machines that are helping the blood around […]
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Real Filth
I don’t feel much like writing this morning. Yesterday, I found out my best friend (the sterile 2nd Engineer Atheist from last week’s ferry trip, who was my best man at my wedding, and my closest friend through high school), has suffered a massive heart attack. At 38 years old, he was unconvinced by the […]
I’ve returned home. After one month at sea, we proceeded directly to Ireland for a little road trip vacation. We had planned to stay with a friend, who sadly had to cancel at the last minute. We decided to go anyway, as the kids had been looking forward to it. Also, we badly needed to […]
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90 Seconds
I was living the dream. The wind was twenty knots, but it was perfectly aligned for my approach to the berth. The late evening sun was low enough in the sky to bring a golden glow to every surface and relax your skin with its blanket warmth. But not so low that its glare would […]
Eternal Father, strong to save, Whose arm hath bound the restless wave, Who bids the mighty ocean deep, It’s own appointed limits keep; O hear us when we cry to Thee For those in peril on the sea. The Navy Hymn, William Whitting, 1860. Some went out on the sea in ships; they were merchants […]
Sex Re-Education Campaigns, Pride, Harm, Norms and Sailors. It’s hard to know where the time goes. I’ve been home for 1.5 weeks. Five days were spent doing ‘ultra-parenting’, taking the kids away from the wife to compensate her for my absence. This week I’ve been enjoying the greatly enhanced energy that comes with a combination […]