In the next port, we got a notice to go for anchor as our berth is not ready. At the forward station, there was me, Bosun Lemmy, and Chief Officer John.
Chief Officer John listened to his portable VHF radio and said, “Drop both anchors.”
Bosun Lemmy said, “But the port side winch is not working.”
Chief Officer John said, “Captain knows this. You can question his orders. He is in command now and responsible for this ship.”
Bosun just shook his head, and we slowly wheeled down to a certain depth one by one anchor. We used the starboard winch. Then he just dropped them loose and used the brake to control the chain descent.
After we successfully anchored, Chief Officer John said, “Now we are going to lower a lifeboat to do a rescue drill.”
Bosun Lemmy looked overboard and said, “The currents in this region are strong. Look at the sea. It’s not smart to lower the lifeboat.”
Chief Officer John responded, “We must have a record of live exercises for the safety inspection and to test the boat's functionality. How do you expect to use them in a real-life emergency if we never test them? The system could be faulty or corroded.”
Bosun Lemmy’s jaw tightened as he walked to the starboard boat. I overheard him mumble in his beard, “Another page from the book of bad ideas.”
We followed Bosun Lemmy.
Chief Officer John said on the portable VHF radio, “Everybody to the starboard lifeboat. We are going to do a live exercise.”
When we reached the lifeboat, the crew was already there, and Bosun Lemmy prepared the lifeboat.
AB Silver said, “Chief, the current is strong. Do we really have to do this now?”
The crew looked overboard with unpleasant expressions.
Neanderthal AB whispered, “Who in their right mind would lower the lifeboat now?”
Chief Officer John said, “I heard that. Now, Silver, you and Eric will go into the boat.”
AB Silver said, “But I don’t know how to start the engine.”
Second Engineer Will said, “Just pump this lever and pull the start.”
AB Silver and Deckhand Eric climbed into the boat, and the Chief lowered it a little bit before stopping for some reason. He looked at the lowering handle and jiggled it. At that moment, the boat jerked, and the front hook of the lifeboat opened. The lifeboat swiveled down, and AB Silver and Deckhand Eric fell into the sea, quickly dragged astern by the current.
Neanderthal AB and the 3rd Officer quickly ran to the stern, and I followed them. Neanderthal AB took the closest lifebuoy with a rope, while the 3rd Officer tied the end of the rope to the ship. Neanderthal AB threw the lifebuoy, and AB Silver grabbed Deckhand Eric, managing to catch the lifebuoy just in time to avoid being swept away by the currents.
Bosun Lemmy lowered the mooring ropes, and AB Silver showed Eric how to climb and sit on the rope end. Then, Bosun Lemmy pulled them up with the winch.
AB Silver shouted, “Where is that Chief? I’ll rip his head off.”
Deckhand Eric coughed seawater and vomited from shock.
Neanderthal AB said, “Good thing nobody got hurt. On one ship, the same thing happened, but the OS smacked his head on the lifeboat hook, and after that, he was never the same.”
I said, “Temporarily, due to a concussion, or...?”
Neanderthal AB replied, “No, brother. He was sent home immediately, and I met him later on some ships. His character changed and the speed of his thinking. He had a hard time understanding stuff.”
Chief Officer John quietly stood frozen, holding the lowering handle. Bosun Lemmy walked over moved him aside. Bosun Lemmy looked at the boat overboard and saw the front lifeboat rope hanging down, which was used to pull the lifeboat to the deck for boarding. Using a staff with a hook head, he caught the rope, tied it to the crane, and then lowered the rear end of the boat with the lowering handle until it was horizontal again.
Bosun Lemmy said, “Give me a mooring rope and Jack you seem agile enough. Could you hook the steel wire back on the boat?”
Marlboro Man dragged the mooring rope while Neanderthal AB slacked it on the winch.
I said, “Sure. I can do it.”
They lowered me down, and I managed to hook it up again. I held tight and said, “Secured.”
Bosun Lemmy returned the lifeboat to its position and secured it. After I climbed down, he looked at Chief Officer John and said, “Live exercise is over.”
Captain Balding showed up from the stern and said, “Who tied the rope from the lifebuoy?”
The 3rd Officer said, “I did, Captain.”
Captain Balding said, “You know you can’t do that. You throw everything overboard with no rope attached so that the person drowning can use this rope to drag the lifebuoy to them.”
The 3rd Officer looked at Captain Balding with a question mark on his face. He said, “Never heard of it. But by that theory, in my opinion, the person could entangle themselves with that rope and drown. That’s why we have more types of lifebuoys, like night ones with a lamp, regular ones if the ship is going full speed, and ones with the rope for pulling people.”
Captain Balding said, “You have no idea. Never tie this again, just throw it all overboard.”
AB Silver, all wet, wiped his head with a towel and said, “Yes, throw it all in, since he is already in the water, he can drop dead.”
Captain Balding left without saying a word.
Neanderthal AB said, “I was on one ship where the Chief Officer was cruel to the crew. There were some people overboard, and he tied a rope around his waist, gave the other end to the crew and jumped in. The crew just threw the rope on him, and he drowned.”
AB Silver said, “Enough of your stories.”
The crew he mentioned was the pack with the Alfa leader. If you mess with them, stuff like this happens.
In the evening, we departed from the anchorage. The port side anchor was up, and Bosun Lemmy struggled with the winch to raise the starboard anchor. When the anchor finally emerged from the sea, it was hooked to a huge anchor chain, probably from some big heavy ship.
Chief Officer John said, “Listen, Bosun, now we are going to…”
Bosun Lemmy interrupted, “Just shut up. Either I will do it my way, or you can go do it alone and go fuck yourself.”
Chief Officer John didn’t say a word, but his face changed colors from discomfort. Bosun Lemmy managed to free the anchor in a similar way as the last time. The ship slowly headed to the pilot’s station.
Bosun Lemmy said to me, “If you see a solution to the problem, use it. Don’t listen to half-brained superiors.”
I noted his advice in my brain.
After we moored in the port, Sleazy Waiter ordered me to clean the floors on all decks before the port authorities arrive. I cleaned the floor near the Captain’s Office and noticed Captain Balding and Bosun Lemmy were inside.
Chief Officer John walked into the office, raised his voice, and said, “Bosun, you are drinking on duty.”
Captain Balding raised his voice and said, “Bosun can drink all of this and smash this bottle on your stupid head. This is how useless you are. Get lost from my sight.”
Chief Officer John walked out of the Captain’s Office and left the deck.
In the evening, I tagged along with AB Silver to see the town. There was a miniature minivan waiting for us at the gate to transport us wherever we liked.
AB Silver said, “Believe it or not, this is a passenger van.”
AB Silver and I barely fit in the back, with our heads almost touching our knees. The driver took us through an 8-lane swarm of small cars. As we drove around, it felt like an ant colony, just mini cars all over the place. We stopped in front of some building and exited the minivan.
AB Silver said, “Hey, take us to a shopping mall.”
The driver said, “Come. Come.”
We followed him through a derelict building into an apartment with one desk and a urinated mattress on the floor.
I said, “What is this!? Do you think they sleep here?”
AB Silver said, “Probably. Take us shopping. No be here.”
The driver said, “Wait, my office. More people.”
AB Silver said, “These goddamn people.”
In a short time, four girls arrived in skirts, and the driver said, “We go.”
AB Silver and I could barely fit in the minivan, and the girls literally squeezed inside with us. One of them lay on our backs, laughing, while another sat on our laps, also laughing. The other two stretched beside us to ensure the door could close. The driver took us to the shopping mall as the girls laughed the entire time. We crawled out of the minivan.
The driver said, “Girls with you. You alone, you lost.”
AB Silver just smiled, and we went into the shopping mall. Inside, there was a huge space of various jackets as far as the eye could see. From the ceiling, there was a banner hanging that read $20.
I turned to the girl closest to me, who wore a black skirt, and asked, “This is all twenty dollars!?”
The girl with the black skirt said, “Yes. You choose. All same price.”
I said to AB Silver, “Did you hear this? Any of these jackets are twenty dollars.”
AB Silver said, “It’s all made here.”
I browsed some jackets and said, “These are all known quality brands.”
AB Silver said, “I’ll buy a dozen branded shirts for two dollars, and back home, no one will know these are fake.”
We browsed the mall, and afterward, walked in the street with the girls. There were no animals or birds or anything anywhere. I turned to the girl in the black skirt and said, “There are no birds, dogs, cats!? It's really quiet.”
The girl in the black skirt said, “No, we eat all of them.”
I said, “Eat!? No pets!?”
The girl in the black skirt said, “Some have pets and tags. No tag, you eat.” She smiled.
AB Silver said, “Take us to some drink and girls bar.”
The girls nodded and took us through some back alleys to the third floor of a derelict building.
The girl in the black skirt said, “You go inside. Bye bye.”
I said, “You are not coming with us?”
The girl in the black skirt said, “No… no… here boss lady. Bye.. Bye…”
The girls waved their little hands and walked away, gently bouncing like little kids. For some reason, this rattled me because I remembered that creepy pedophile waiter on board.
AB Silver asked, “Are you okay?”
I said, “I’m fine.”
We entered the place, which looked like a small apartment with a hallway covered in silk curtains. An old lady sat behind a counter in her rocking chair, slowly rocking back and forth. The boss lady said something in her language, and a middle-aged woman appeared from behind the curtain. They were not very attractive or in good shape, probably due to their age. One of them showed us the drinks they had.
AB Silver pointed out some strong liquor and said, “This one.”
I pointed to some juice, thinking to myself, ‘I hope this is juice.’ Then I asked, “You think they speak our language?”
AB Silver said, “Nah, kid.”
One of the older women sat on the lap of AB Silver. Another one approached me and looked how to sit on my lap. I really didn’t move into the right position for her to sit as I didn’t know what to do with this middle-aged woman.
AB Silver said, “What’s wrong, kid? They have experience; these will wear you out. The young ones just lie on their backs and let you do all the work.”
I said, “I think not even Viagra would help me in this case.”
The boss lady said something, and one of the older women used a telephone to call someone. The middle-aged woman who wanted to sit on my lap moved away. Soon, a young girl with tight jeans and long black hair entered the premises. She came to me, leaned on my lap, and placed her small hand on my thigh. For some reason, in my mind, she looked like a small girl, and I felt like a pedophile. Throughout the evening, I remained very reserved, even though this girl tried her best to keep me company.
AB Silver said at some point, “I’m going to hit this.”
I said, “I’ll just go to the ship.”
AB Silver said, “What? Why? You got the younger one. What, are you gay or something? You don’t drink alcohol, no women, no cigars. There is something wrong with you, kid.”
I laughed and said, “No. I just don’t feel comfortable here in this place. That’s all.”
AB Silver said, “Well, suit yourself, kid. See ya.” AB Silver went behind the curtains.
I said goodbye to the girl and boss lady. As I walked down the street, I looked back and saw in the distance Neanderthal AB, bosun Lemmy, and the sleazy waiter going to that establishment I just left.
The next day on the ship, around noon, I joined AB Silver and Neanderthal AB, who leaned on the gangway and talked about something.
Neanderthal AB laughed and said, “Some stallion you are, brother, no action last night.”
I said, “All that experience you were talking about, Silver. It didn’t work out!?”
AB Silver said, “Hey kid, I didn’t even start, and she started moaning you’re too big. I just played a little and gave her ten bucks.”
Neanderthal AB said, “You gave her ten bucks, brother, for what, cuddling?”
I said, “Hmm, ten dollars, that’s not much.”
Neanderthal AB said, “No, brother, he had to pay the boss woman like fifty dollars.”
I said, “I don’t understand, first you paid the woman, then the boss lady?”
AB Silver said, “You have to give something to them. They are poor and get some percentage from the boss woman. The young girl you were with, it seems she has a sick grandma and provides for the rest of her family.”
I said, “How do you know this? They don’t speak our language.”
AB Silver said, “That pervert waiter knows some of their language. He told us.”
Neanderthal AB said, “Waiter got the girl so drunk, brother, that they had to take her home. She was crying like she hadn’t made any money for a few days. After, he asked if they have some kids available.”
I was borderline mad with steam in my brain. Every time I heard about that waiter, it’s like someone stabbed me in the chest and turned the knife inside. I said, “I just don’t want to hear about that scumbag.”
AB Silver said, “Kid, working on ships, you will meet all kinds of scum from this planet. You know that in some countries, only ex-convicts are on ships because they can’t get a job on the shore.”
Neanderthal AB said, “When we get back, brother, to our part of the continent, you must never say you are a sailor to the girls. They’ll just run away thinking you’re some ex-convict or something.”
I just nodded and leaned on the fence, thinking about that cute girl from last night. If only I had known she was in such trouble, maybe I would have taken her back and given her some money. I wondered if she had a chance, maybe she would have got a normal job. I wouldn’t have been able to help her anyway because my pay is only $500 USD.
The 2nd Officer Jeff came from behind and said, “We are shifting to a different port. They have some issues with the cranes here, go to your stations.”
We shifted the entire day from one port to another. Once we moored at the other port, it was already nighttime.
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