I've traveled for a long time; the journey of 16 hours in a van made me feel like a canned fish. It wasn't just the confined space, but the smell of sweat, alcohol, and cigarettes, always spiced up by some guy who took off his shoes. The smell of roadkill socks stirred up the brain like stew. The only option in a van was to stick your head through a closed window.
One of the passengers behind me said, "Hey man, you trying to kill us all in here? Put your shoes back on."
The man with the stinky socks replied, "What? Why?"
Everyone complained about the smell while the stinky socks guy's face remained puzzled, completely oblivious to their discomfort. He put the shoes back on, probably thinking he didn't smell anything. The driver opened some windows, and the fresh air came in like a drop of water in a desert. I saw a plane in the sky, and it made me wonder how beautiful and comfortable it must be up there.
We arrived close to the ship, and I felt like this was my true calling. I could feel the ship in my blood, probably because my father, his father, and so on were seamen. It's hard to explain, like your heart is at peace and calm. The ship looked strange, with a big hangar doorway and cars on the decks—it was probably a RO-RO ship[1]. As I exited the van, I hoped my lungs would be filled with fresh sea air. Instead, the air smelled like dead fish and burnt oil.
Everyone from the van gathered on the ship ramp and waited for the disembarking crew. On a closer look, the ramp was all rusty, welded in a few spots; even the ship looked like a bucket of rust. A crewmember from the inside of the ship shouted, "Aaaa, fresh punjeta!"
My brain worked around this word—'punjeta?' I had never heard of that; it must be some seaman expression. Another voice echoed from inside the ship, "They are here. The crew change is here."
After a minute, I observed a stampede of crewmembers. The leader of the group was a young, overweight man, about 20 years old, with a prominent belly. He hauled his big suitcases with such speed and strength, like his life depended on it. The young man stormed quickly to the van and threw his suitcases in the trunk.
One person from the crew approached me. It was an elderly man with a commanding presence. His distinguished appearance was marked by a full head of thick, silver hair and a neatly trimmed beard. His rugged, yet refined features were complemented by a strong jawline and piercing, intelligent eyes that seemed to hold a wealth of wisdom and experience. For a second, you could say he was a Captain, but the label on his chest read Chief Officer.
Chief said with a lazy, calm voice, "You must be…the new Cadet."
I smiled and said, "Yes. I'm Jack Tanner."
Chief looked at the overweight young man who was seated in the van and said, "You see that fat boy over there? He lasted one month. The one before lasted three months. I heard of you, Tanner…your dad is a legend…hmm…we'll see about you. Now come on…follow me."
I wasn't worried much at the time; the only thing that bugged me was a thought—'Will I be as good as my father?' I didn't want to spoil my family name or dishonor my father. I followed Chief up some narrow, oil-slippery steps.
Chief said, "That obese boy…he was a son of some Chief Engineer…a spoiled brat. He didn't even wash…always so greasy and…stinking like he soiled his pants. I wonder what kind of mess is his…I mean, your cabin."
We reached the main deck superstructure[2] and made our way through the ship. The ship looked confined from inside—all narrow, dirty walls, with rocky carpet in the hallways filled with bumps and dents. Beneath the carpet probably lay rust with crusts and holes. He showed me my cabin and for a moment, my brain was thoughtless. There was a red, dirty rag that represented a carpet on the floor. The floor had the shape of a moon's surface, all filled with craters, around 5 cm deep.
Chief said, "How did these holes come back? That shouldn't happen because we cemented the entire rusty floor…best you avoid the center of the room."
My brain wondered, "How will cement hold on a crusty cookie?" I asked, "But where am I supposed to walk? On the edges?"
Chief replied, "Yes…best you do that. We don't want you to fall…through the floor."
I thought to myself, 'Just great, now I must play cliffhanger in my cabin.'
Next thing that caught my eyes was the small bed below the rusty window. The rust from the window merged with the bed. The bed looked like someone took a dump right in the middle. As I peeked to the right, I saw that the best part was the bathroom, some prehistorical cave with moat, rust, and a half-stuck window. I took an interest in the window part since it was wintertime and the bathroom was minus ten degrees.
Chief said, "There is…no hot water."
I said, "What about heating!?"
Chief chuckled and said, "Heating…never heard of that."
I thought to myself, 'The Stone Age was a fun era to live in; too bad I must live it again in the 21st century.'
Chief walked to the door across my room and unlocked it with his key. He walked inside and gave me a new thick winter working suit.
I said, "At least something is right."
I quickly changed my clothes and followed Chief to meet the Captain. I imagined that the Captain would have a big white beard and that he smoked a pipe. We reached the Captain's quarters[3]. The doors were open, but there was no light—just creepy darkness. I noticed two shoes that stuck near the door frame. The shoes were old, worn out, and cracked. One had a hole in the bottom that revealed a part of the sock, and the other shoe missed a shoestring.
Chief said, "Captain?"
I thought to myself, 'Now wait a second, those shoes couldn't belong to a Captain.' In a second, the shoes disappeared. A person jumped out of the dark room, like he escaped captivity.
The Captain panicked and quickly said, "What, what happened? Are we sinking, an accident, what? Tell me!"
I must say, I had never seen a Captain of this sort in my life until that day. He had a big beard, although not white. Combined with his overgrown hair, it gave the impression he had just been rescued from an island after being stranded for five years. His clothes were dirty, ragged, and worn out. His rugged, disheveled appearance and gaunt face resembled that of a hobo—he would have been perfect for the movie Hobo with a Shotgun without needing any makeup.
Chief said, "Calm down, Captain…everything is in order. I just wanted you to meet the…new Cadet."
Captain Hobo nodded his head and said, "Welcome aboard, Cadet."
I said, "Thank you, Captain."
Captain Hobo searched his pockets and found a pack of cigars. He lit one up and asked, "Chief, is there any coffee left on the bridge?"
Chief said, "Yes, Captain…but you should eat something. You can't live on cigars and…coffee."
Captain Hobo waved his hand and said, "Yes, yes, I know."
Chief said, "I'll show the Cadet…his duties."
Captain Hobo nodded, and we left.
While we walked down to the cargo deck, Chief said, "Captain there…he will kill himself one day. The man only drinks coffee…and smokes cigarettes. I think he lost…ten kilos."
When we reached the loading deck, Chief said, "Your duty is…to check the car trunks for…immigrants."
I said, "There are people hiding in car trunks!?"
Chief said, "These immigrants are…some unhappy local citizens that want to reach more advanced countries and…they hide in the trunks of new cars."
I was surprised by that statement and followed Chief, who opened trunk after trunk on each car.
I asked, "How many cars fit in here?"
Chief said, "Around eight hundred. Come on…they will overwhelm us with cars. You must keep up…with the loading crew."
I checked the trunks, and it wasn't long before I opened a trunk from a limousine car and found a person inside.
Chief shouted, "Get out…you heard me…out now!"
The person climbed out of the trunk. He was dirty and smelled like a sewer.
Chief shouted, "You too…come on!"
I looked, and there was another person inside the trunk. As the second person moved, he revealed a third person.
I said, "I can't believe three of them squeezed inside. How can they breathe in there?"
Chief said, "And this is a…medium-sized trunk. Not sure how they breathe…beats me."
After all three of them were out of the trunk, Chief chased them off the ship. I looked at the trunk of the car. The trunk smelled badly and was all dirty with mud and unidentified liquids. I thought to myself, 'Good luck to that poor guy who buys this car.' I closed the trunk and continued to check other cars that were loaded. I wondered what kind of port this was with no security. After a few hours, the cargo was all on board, and the ship prepared for departure.
Chief said, "There is a routine on this ship…you sleep three hours during the day and…three hours during the night."
I looked at him and said, "You are pulling my leg."
Chief chuckled and said, "No…it's true...you will see."
I asked, "Why only three hours per day and night?"
Chief replied, "The rest of the time…is used to approach ports and…cargo operations. We navigate between…two nearby ports. There is a…sister ship and…we will meet her halfway."
I said, "We meet the other ship every time in the same place!?"
Chief said, "Yes…the other ship supplies the same route…when we are in this port…she is in the other one. We…meet halfway and…change ports."
I followed Chief to the stern of the ship and helped the crew release and stack mooring ropes.