Bye-bye land; Hello open ocean!

June 27, 2011

Ahoy, me matey’s. Greetings from the watery part of the world! Call me Curley, Brendan Curley, the ship’s librarian for the second sea term. Now, before you draw any conclusions about my fluency with 21st century sailor jargon, I must warn devoted readers of this blog—surely they number as many as the stars in the sky—who are accustomed to the sea-savvy tidings of Mike Russell, our former librarian and a veteran salty dog, that I, Curley, represent a very different point of view... that of a first-time sailor. I am like a fish out of water so consider this my maiden voyage!

Fortunately I am not the only one on a maiden voyage; I find myself in the same "boat" as many of the mugs — freshmen students, for those of you unfamiliar with sailor talk —who are here aboard TS Empire State VI for the first time. I know what you’re thinking, reader. “Seasickness, indeed!” No, sir, not I! For I’ve the constitution of a bear and the stomach of a sheep. I also float like a boat and sing like a Bee Gee (though I’m evidently rather poor at metaphors).

Don’t believe me? Feast your eyes on this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/its-been-done-before/5873358786/. "Truly singing his little Irish-American heart out on the boardwalk in Cobh." I must have been the spitting image of a genuine Irishman, too, for I had no sooner sat down when a group of cadets approached, turned my case around, tossed some Euros into it and said, “This is how we do it in America, boy-o!” Yes, sir!

O, I could go on and on, but enough about me! You're probably wondering about our beloved cadets, and I can tell ye that they were as smitten with Ireland as I. Good, clean, honest American fun was had by all. I saw our cadets everywhere I went in Cobh as well as Cork where many of us made excursions. I even spoke to a cadet in the library today who said he went fly fishing! And, naturally, there were many more who like me brought instruments into town to make music with the locals. Indeed, all I heard the last night in town as our seafaring cadets glumly filed back to the ship was, “What a wonderful country!” “What truly friendly people!”

Alas, here we are now one day out at sea and making great time due to arrive within another day or so in Gibraltar, at which point Captain Smith will apply the brakes, donut around a few islands, and float leisurely into Croatia by July 6. It’s quite lovely I hear. In fact, we are all looking forward to the beautiful Mediterranean scenery, weather, and locals.

Lastly, we also have a new port, ladies and gentlemen. Rijeka. I repeat: Rijeka instead of Split. Address cards and letters accordingly to:

Name of Cadet, T/S Empire State, c/o

BANDIC d.o.o. (Ltd.)

Smiljanica 2

21000 Split

Croatia

Until next time, dear reader:

Fair winds and following seas!