Greenlight (or not)

Last week, I finished the last in a long series of medical tests. That means I officially have the greenlight to embark on what I’m calling my OC Voyage*.

The last company I worked for, Oldendorff Carriers (OC), gave me the most amazing parting gift, a trip aboard one of their bulk carrier vessels. Anywhere in the world. For any length of time. Crazy, right? What an adventure!

I spoke with Lasse, the Head of Crewing, about what I should do to prepare for the trip, and he said we wouldn’t do much planning before I received a clean bill of health. Now that I have it, I can finally let my imagination wander.

Here’s what I know so far:

The vessel will be a Handy E-class ship. This means it’s large enough to travel long distances, but small enough to enter different ports along the way to load and discharge cargo. The route isn’t set yet — I’ll probably only find out which vessel I’ll be sailing on two to three weeks before departure.

The length of the trip isn’t confirmed either. Hopefully, it’ll be somewhere around six to seven weeks. Depending on where I start and finish the journey, I might add on another week or two for good measure.

What will I actually be doing on board? Most likely, I’ll be involved in rust removal or painting. If I’m lucky, maybe I’ll get to work in the galley or mess.

And that’s all I know about the practicalities for now.

I plan to document the entire journey from beginning to end. This is the very first post. If all goes well, I’ll be telling endless stories in different ways — living out both my artist and sailor sides to the fullest.

Please stay tuned.

* I found out I have to take a seafarer medical test on top of all the other I took. Hopefully, I will be considered seaworthy.