Greetings from Tenerife!
 

So while you are all at home, having fun driving your Pros, I am anchored off the shore of the island of Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands. Some of you may recall it as the scene of the horrific airport accident back in '78 or 79 (two 747s collided on the runway, lots of folks dead). From where I am I can see this really sweet road curving along the side of a mountain, I know it's twisty because I watched a bus making its way slowly along. And me without either a bike or car! Guess I will just have to dream.

Your being in Tenerife reminds me of one of my favorite sea chanties, "Aboard the Good Ship Venus"

The refrain from which goes,
"Aboard the good ship Venus
You really should have seen us
With a figurehead of a whore in bed
And a mast of a phallic genus."

And the relevant stanza,
"The ship's hound's name was Rover
We turned that poor hound over
And ground and ground that hound around
From Tenerife to Dover."

There are several other stanzas referring to various types of shipboard sexual activity but you get the idea.

I'll have to pass that one along. No dogs on here though, most guys head ashore! Although there is a rumor the Second Mate has a blow-up sheep!!

Well, we might be on dry land with our beloved Pros but the weather is starting get sh*tty around here...at least you are on a semi-tropical island.

So...is this a stop on a trans-atlantic cruise or what?

Sounds like Navy lingo to me Karen. So, it seems the Chief has some shore time. Nice. I'd rent a cra for sh*ts & giggles!

If I had the money for that, then I would be restoring my RX-7 (with apologies to my gf)!


I'm merchant marine. We're the guys who get sunk carrying military cargo during wars, also the ones who transport things like Proteges from the country of origin. I work for a commercial company, although the ship I am on now is under contract to the gov't to carry US Marine equipment (we are what is termed a maritime prepositioned ship [MPS]). Since I joined the ship in Torquay England we have also gone to the island of Madeira.

The Chief in my screen name refers to the license I hold from the US Coast Guard as Chief Engineer of steam, motor or gas turbine vessels of any horsepower. I get some time ashore, but I don't take enough to do any driving around. I would rather work what I can so when I am home on vacation I have the money to spend on my fun there. :suitdance

LOL...word. I thought you were still in. Cool beans...take some pics! :evilgrin:

Yeah, post some pics of your vessel.

Well....someday I'm going on a trans-atlantic voyage (screw this Caribbean Hurricane crap). The Canary Islands are on the way :)

I've never been in the Navy on active duty, although I am in the Reserves (confused yet?). I'll do what I can for pics, my digital is at home but I can scam one on here. Posting has to wait until I get back in January though, our 'Net hookup is via satellite...can you say S-L-O-W? Plus we have to limit our time online.

You can see this ship by going to http://www.globalsecurity.org/milita...vy/mpsron3.htm. Look for M/V PFC DEWAYNE T WILLIAMS. There are picutres, specs etc on that site. There were five of this class built, they were named for Medal of Honor recipients.

Phantom, I agree with you about getting away. Just remember the storms start on this side, when we were in Madeira we were getting weather from the beginning of Wilma. The Pacific isn't any better this time of year, I spent four years over there running between Borneo and Japan with LNG and we were always dodging typhoons. Make sure you travel in the winter/spring and you should be okay. You are pretty safe on a ship nowadays anyway, we get reports so we can route around the weather. Trying to sail through a storm can cause a lot of damage and then the company loses money. Heads will roll!!

Oops, forgot, you want to avoid the North Atlantic in winter, those are some storms there! No hurricanes though.

Ehh...my brain is getting foggy from reading too much cruiseship literature ;) Probably do a transatlantic during the summer...I want to do the South Pacific cruise from Tahiti next December for our 10th anniversary. It's just a wait and see if we have enough $$ thing...ha!

Pff...That ship is tiny.

J/K, Thats pretty kool that you do that. It's also sweet that you have any internet connection at all!

chiefmg,
Interesting information on the website you posted. It seems you have an enjoyable and important job. Interestingly, after I graduated from high school in New York City, I had thought about going to the US Mechant Marine Academy at Kings Point on Long Island in New York state. For a variety of reasons, I made a different choice but a good friend and classmate of mine did attend the school and thought very highly of it. Upon graduation, he was granted a Third Mate's license as I recall and entered service in the Merchant Marine. Over the years, we unfortunately lost contact with each other but as long as I knew him he really enjoyed life on shipboard.

BTW, I'm sure you've seen the 1943 movie "Action in the North Atlantic" starring Humphrey Bogart as First Mate on a Liberty ship sailing in a wartime convoy from Halifax, Nova Scotia to the port of Murmansk in then Soviet Russia. Despite the wartime propaganda and all the Hollywood war movie cliches, this is one of the most thrilling and suspenseful movies I've ever seen and it's a great tribute to the important role played by the Merchant Marine in time of war. When the ship becomes detached from the convoy and is pursued by a German submarine attempting to torpedo it, the tension builds as the two captains engage in a duel of wits, leading to the final outcome.