On the morning of the 17th we left Galveston and set sail for the east coast of the US.
Galveston was a nice town; well nice as a town can be for Texas anyway. The heat and humidity just killed me most days. The dock we were loading at just made it worse. Dust from the grain going into the cargo holds was so thick at times you could not see 20 feet. So you sweat from the heat while choking on the dust, not very pleasant at all. I did get a chance to go to the bar where the margarita was invented for Peggy Lee, and ZZ Top apparently played there while they were still just a band from Houston. Unfortunately I forgot to order a Margarita.
Almost 1/2 our crew is new this time around. Our SA (Steward Assistant) quit on us when we arrived in Galveston, and today the replacement has just announced he is quitting. I have a feeling his boy friend will be happy to have him home (note: This guy actually stayed and was later fired in Kenya).
While at dock the company seemed to have made an error. They hired several workers to come aboard to do maintenance work. But they failed to hire from the union pool. These guys worked for 3 days before the Co. took any action. The Co. should have called our hall to fill any extra positions according to the contract. Now that the union has cleared things up it looks like Joy and I are the beneficiaries of the error. For every hour each of the non-union workers worked Joy and I get an 1/2 hour of overtime. It worked out that we each got over 90 hours just for the time the workers were here. Almost to bad that they didn't stay longer ;)
While in Galveston, besides loading grain for Africa we also loaded a boat on deck for Oman. It appears we will be getting 6 more boats soon for Kenya. So on this trip we will be carrying 7 boats on deck with about 60 containers besides the grain. When we leave North Carolina we will be heading to Israel, Oman, Kenya, Tanzania and refuel in South Africa and then head home.
Most people are guessing that we should be home by the end of October or early November. I was told by the Chief Engineer that there was a pool going for our return date and time. I would have gotten into it except that he said it was $100 winner takes all. LOL $100 seemed a bit steep to me especially since other guys have the advantage of charts and experience making these runs, I guess the captain is not allowed to play LOL. I choose to not loose so I am not playing that game :)
Well my lunch time is just about over so I need to run. I will write again soon, and I hope all of you are doing well. Take care. Jesse
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