Whilst spending time at sea you are able to see a different aspect of nature. Some of the marine life that comes to say hello is mind blowing. The sunrise and sunsets can be breath taking at the same time. Photography on the other hand is something i’ve never really had a big interest in to be honest. I have always been the tourist type, taking pictures of landmarks etc. But one morning somewhere in the middle of the Indian ocean i decided to snap a beautiful sunrise whilst my bread was baking in the oven. The photograph below is taken with my iphone 6 looking through a pair of binoculars. It was just perfect timing that a flying fish lept out of the water and began its 100m journey skimming across the top of the ocean. I was actually quite impressed with the timing and the photo!! There is no filter used in this photo just great timing!!

 

The last voyage i took on board a vessel was sailing back from the Maldives to Valencia in Spain. This consisted of 28 days at sea consecutively without touching land and sailing through the pirate waters of Northern Somalia. We then navigated up the Red sea passing Djibouti on our left and Saudi Arabia on our right. We continued up the Red sea to our next anchoring point which was the entrance to the Suez canal. Luckily we had  3 former special service soldiers with us, equipped with their high powered rifles. On TV documentaries about piracy they often talk about Dows and skiffs. Well on the first photo below thats exactly what it is. The larger boat is the fishing dow, used by fishermen, which is pulling the skiff. This skiff is the boat the pirates use to approach the vessel they wish to hijack. For around 8 days as we were sailing through the high risk area of northern Somalia, Djibouti and Sudan, we were on high alert as there were many skiffs ferrying drugs and people smuggling to Saudi Arabia too not just the pirates lingering around in the back ground!!

As an adrenaline junkie this part of the trip was exciting for me as it was happening right in front of my eyes. Its what you see on TV but was actually happening right there and then. Whilst sailing through the high risk area, i was being entertained by the countless stories of the 3 ex special forces soldiers who were on board. The tours they have participated in for the UK, the close combat with pirates on other voyages and the training they have had to endure in the past. I cant mention their names but Soldier A,B,C kept us safe throughout the whole voyage and entertained with their banter!!

Being at sea can take its toll too, we call this cabin fever. Being surrounded by the same crew members for long periods of time can become draining. So its imperative to keep yourself busy, make sure your banter is good and learn how to bite your tongue! For the chef i find this quite easy because you are always in the galley preparing food and are able to experiment but as long as the crew are fed on time that makes for a happy boat. Happy crew, happy boat!!

 

I find life at sea, the galley is a focal point of the boat. All crew members like to come and have a chit chat in the galley whilst making their morning tea and pestering the chef to see what is for breakfast!! A good choice of music in the galley is imperative throughout the day as music can lift a crew members mood almost immediately. In the morning i like to play some light jazz and blues. A nice album by BB king would suffice. It starts the day off in a mellow kind of way. You really wouldn’t want to blast out some Metallica at 7am whilst all the crew are waking up, put it that way!! The photo above is of one of the armed forces preparing some protein bars for the crew. Throughout the voyage the 3 armed personnel (chancers!!) would drop subliminal messages on a daily basis as to what they like to eat!! It was kind of a little helping hand to be honest because when you are cooking 3 different dishes a day, for 28 days, you kind of run out of things to cook plus having the added pressure of the produce running low!! But after a few days i let one of the chancers into the galley to prepare some protein bars for the crew. It was a lovely gesture actually and it gave me a little breather to spend some time on deck. The 3 chancers would often help out with washing the dishes throughout the voyage and keeping the coffee flowing too.

I don’t really know what to say about this crew member to be honest but what i will say is, spending a long time at sea can really play with your mind!! #goodbanter!!!

One of the best moments of embarking on a long voyage is the time to yourself to reflect on things in the past and also to catch some bloody lovely fish the ocean has to offer!! The photo on the left was a 30lbs tuna we caught which i turned into some sushi, sashimi and tuna steaks. The other photo above is of a beautiful mahi mahi which was rested, filleted and then thrown on the BBQ!! It tasted amazing!!

Believe it or not that is the stove top level and the boat is on a port tack. Just some of the hurdles the chef has to jump over whilst at sea trying to feed 11 hungry mouths, 3 times a day!! Hahahaha