Newport News
Bags packed and set out on the porch, passport securely tucked in jacket pocket, taxi en route; in a few minutes I'll start out on yet another voyage in yet another ship. It's been over two months since I've felt felt the roll of a hull and heard the whine of engines beneath my feet, and it's time to return to that world. I'm ready.
And even now, with over two decades' time cruising in a dozen types of vessel behind me, I can feel the old tension building within me. It is a familiar sensation, composed in part of curiosity about my new ship and my future duties within her and in part of anticipation--the pleasurable mixture of expectation, the tingle of worry that every new employee in a strange company, every new suitor on the first date is has known.
Will I measure up to my new command and Captain's standards? Will this be a good "fit" of mariner and vessel or a "square peg" situation? Will I be happy as a member of Supply's crew or will I count down the weeks and months until, disappointed and disillusioned, I can carry my gear down her gangway?
In other words, will this nautical Blind Date be the successful beginning to a new chapter in my seagoing career? I certainly hope so, but I've sailed enough to know that sometimes it doesn't happen that way. I can only do my best, whatever position I find myself in, and wear my "game face"..
My cab is here, and it's time to go.
Mare Est Vita Mea!
Bags packed and set out on the porch, passport securely tucked in jacket pocket, taxi en route; in a few minutes I'll start out on yet another voyage in yet another ship. It's been over two months since I've felt felt the roll of a hull and heard the whine of engines beneath my feet, and it's time to return to that world. I'm ready.
And even now, with over two decades' time cruising in a dozen types of vessel behind me, I can feel the old tension building within me. It is a familiar sensation, composed in part of curiosity about my new ship and my future duties within her and in part of anticipation--the pleasurable mixture of expectation, the tingle of worry that every new employee in a strange company, every new suitor on the first date is has known.
Will I measure up to my new command and Captain's standards? Will this be a good "fit" of mariner and vessel or a "square peg" situation? Will I be happy as a member of Supply's crew or will I count down the weeks and months until, disappointed and disillusioned, I can carry my gear down her gangway?
In other words, will this nautical Blind Date be the successful beginning to a new chapter in my seagoing career? I certainly hope so, but I've sailed enough to know that sometimes it doesn't happen that way. I can only do my best, whatever position I find myself in, and wear my "game face"..
My cab is here, and it's time to go.
Mare Est Vita Mea!
No comments:
Post a Comment