11-02-06 Jakarta, Indonesia

Well we docked in Jakarta at about 5am today, the UN is now loading their stuff onboard. Looking forward to getting out and about tonight, hoping we get a draw LOL. Jesse


Jesse James 11-03-06 Damn Russians!!!
Well, here we are still in Djakarta. I was on the deck a few moments ago to check out our loading progress. We only had about 15 more containers to load. Andy and I figured about 2 more hours and we would be underway to Singapore..... Then the call came. It appears that the Russians were supposed to send UN supplies with this shipment but they were having problems sending it here on a plane due to the weight. I guess they figured out the weight/safety issue and the containers are on the way to us now. Our ship cannot sail till 4pm tomorrow. It is currently 6:50 PM on Friday night here (Your time is 4:50 am Friday). It is expected to take us about 30 hours to get from here to Singapore; no one has had time yet to address our travel arrangements; whether or not they will change. I have been spelling Jakarta incorrectly... I guess it is Djakarta, sorry about that. Of course our map in the crew mess says the island is Jawa, not Java LOL so who knows?

I took a 1/2 hour of video just sitting in the back of the van last night....you would not believe how these people drive LOL. There we probably 10 motorcycles for every car on the road and they squeeze between vehicles even when there is clearly no room. If you pay attention to the little shops on the sides of the roads you notice that many of them sell side view mirrors :) Well, since we are not leaving tonight I am going to take a shower then decide if I need sleep more than sight seeing.

Jesse

11-05-06 Last Transmission

Well, here we are sailing very slowly to Singapore. We expect to arrive about 6am Singapore time and after anchoring and pay off those of us that are leaving will transfer to a boat to take us to shore and a hotel to stay till the 7th. Our new flight information has not yet been forth coming so I do not know if I will have any information to send. It is now about 1:30 am or 12 am your time on the 5th. It is very unlikely that I would get any more emails from any one at home.

It's 4:30 pm here now. All that is left is eating dinner and waiting till morning to be released from the ship. I am looking forward to a day in Singapore. Djakarta was great! Forget about bungi jumping, if you want a thrill take a motorcycle taxi ride thru town LOL.... That'll get the adrenaline pumping. While in Djakarta we were the BIG news in Indonesia.

News crews, reporters and cameras everywhere. It seems the troops they are sending to Beirut is a very big deal to them. Last time I guess the troops they sent were observers only, this time they will be armed. We are taking 6 of the soldiers onboard and it sounds like the rest go on the 24th of the month. If Djakarta could get it's pollution under control I think it would be an awesome city to return to. The people all like Americans very much. Although we were told that after dark we need to be very careful, there is a high crime rate.

They like American stuff like crazy though ... A&W, McDonalds, Dunki'n Donuts, Pizza Hut and KFC all advertise the FAVRIOT AMERICAN MEALS.

Thank you for reading all these emails I have sent, I know it couldn't have been easy but, we do what we can right?

Peace

Jesse OUT!

10-20-06 Soth Africa - Cape Town

A few days ago we left Cape Town, South Africa. This is a town for the wealthy in Africa for sure. A condo near the water front is about 1 Million US. I understand that is rent, not a purchase.

I changed $100 US for the local currency and got back 620 Rand. 4 shot glasses and a T-shirt cost 300 Rand. Not a cheap town!

I did go out with Joy, Andy (boson) and Mike (The Mate) and we had a great dinner at a German restaurant. I had the duck, it was great and chased it down with some good German beer. We then wandered around the waterfront a bit. The mall was just like being back at home, except the mall was more like being in a Beverly Hills mall. Everything upscale and over priced. (Whisper---I see white people). This is still very much a white town and talking to at least the cab drivers, the whole apartheid thing didn't end as well as (he at least) hoped. I guess the crime and unemployment rates have hit some pretty high marks (according to the cabbie) since then.

We only had one night out on the town, the next day we were supposed to sail but the winds were high and the pilot did not want to move an empty ship in that weather. We were restricted to the ship so we could move at an hours notice. One whole day was wasted on the ship just waiting, the next morning at 6 am we were able to get underway. We visited Cape Town because we had a salt water pump fail on us in Tanzania, the pump was flowen to S. Africa for repair and we picked it up and installed it in Cape Town.

One thing I will not forget is the view in Cape Town. The city lies under a huge table top rock. This mountain is very steep and the clouds roll down it's slops like dry ice fog. The clouds would slide so fast it looked like time laps footage. The day we left the clouds were gone and you could see the flat top. We were only allowed a $200.00 draw due to a shortage (which should not have happened) so I was not able to do many of the things I wanted to do, but time was short anyway. If I ever have the money,this is a town I would come back to and visit again. We departed in the direction of the Caribbean hoping to head home. But we now are awaiting possible new orders. At first we though we may be heading to Korea, but just now as I am typing the Chief Mate has told me that the contract did not go through..... However we are now circling in the South Atlantic waiting for word on another contract.... looks like we may backload from Jakarta, back though the Suez to Lebanon. I am beginning to wonder if I will ever make it home LOL....

Jesse