Introductions

20th March 2007, St Lucia

I’m looking at the moon as I write this, she’s nearly full and glowing in the dusk like a lamp. We eventually got to see some blue sky this evening, the thick grey clouds that have been with us have finally been chased away by the wind from the south east, but the sun has stayed resolutely behind them as it set.

I have spent most of the day sitting on the well deck under the blue and white striped tarpaulin, scraping varnish off the wheel. It’s a long and boring job, but I have been occasionally joined by Pip when she’s not been sorting everyone else out with jobs or sanding deck plugs. I finished my ladder scraping this morning, and Francis was very impressed with how well it came up, which can only be a good thing.

We finished work at five, and the young were soon in the water, getting rid of the sawdust and sticky, oily, greasy bits that accumulate when doing maintenance. I was accompanied on my laps of the ship by the little fish we’d been watching all day, thousands of them swimming around the ship, sometimes leaping out of the water like a patter of rain in an attempt to evade the larger fish that were chasing them for lunch. As I swam I sent tiny flashes of sliver leaping out of my way, which made me giggle, as there’s no chance I could ever catch them!

I think I should introduce you to the crew, as I’m going to be talking about them a fair bit and names alone will leave you wondering who the heck they are and where they fit in. So pay attention…

We have no captain at the moment, he’s due to arrive on Saturday, so in charge at the moment we have Francis, the Mate. He’s got a mop of salt and pepper hair and a rather lugubrious way of talking, he can go on a bit, but is full of knowledge.
Ben (Mr Swain himself) is the Second Mate, he seems to have more of a handle on the organisational aspects of running a ship and has spent most of the day franticly on the phone trying, and succeeding, to sort out getting a sanitation inspection we have to have to be able to continue sailing.
Kevin is currently our Chief Engineer, but he’s getting relieved in a few days, I get the impression he can’t wait to get back to proper beer and the English climate, mainly ‘cos he’s told me so. He’s the kind of chap who’ll go to an English pub for a traditional roast on a tropical island…
Keith is the Bosun, he calls himself a grumpy old man, and anyone under 30 is classed as a child. He likes to be in bed by nine, but will stand anchor watch if the rest of the crew is going ashore for a night out. In fact he’s a sweetie underneath, I told him that I want his job, and he said he reckons I could be taking over from him in about a year. I think it might take me a little longer, but he has himself a willing and eager pupil here!
Tom is our cook, I was so pleased to see him here as he became a good mate almost immediately when I was on the ship for a few days last summer. Puddings aren’t his strong point but he makes a mean chicken and veg pie!
LJohn (Little John) is, I think, Bosun’s Mate, he’s 20 but acts more like he’s 15 sometimes, or most of the time, if you ask Pip! He was on board when I joined Pelican in the summer too, as was…
Oli B, who, to my shame, I failed to recognise when I met up with the crew on my first night. He’s very quiet compared to the rest of the young’uns, he wants to become a ships engineer so a lot of the time he’s hidden down in the engine room.
James has been on board since the ship left Weymouth, his defining feature is a beautiful white mans afro, but secretly, he just reminds me of a monkey!
Pip also joined the ship at Weymouth but she went home for a month over Christmas, she’s been deferring going back to her Oceanography degree for months now, a girl after my own heart!
Jules has been on the ship for about the same amount of time, I’m not sure exactly how long, she’s been tied up with office things and admin for Ben most of the time so far. She and he are coupled up and they’ve gone ashore for the evening, LJohn came back from dropping them off complaining that they’d been petting in the RIB! They’re not generally publicly affectionate though, they’d probably get a bucket of seawater over them if they were.
Anthony is the guy I met in Scuttlebutts before Ben showed up, he had been staying in a hotel but the day after he met us he moved over to the ship. He’ll be on until we reach Weymouth and also intends to stay on as a volunteer after that- I have competition!!
Bruce is a Yorkshire chap who’s been on the ship for a couple of weeks, but he’s not going to be coming on with us, he’s got a boat of his own in the marina, the lucky sod.
Last but not least we have our most recent member Ray, he’s staying on until Weymouth too. He’s of the salt and pepper generation, and I just left him and Keith having a conversation about beards in the saloon!
As the crew changes and grows I shall try and remember to update you. We were visited by a couple of local girls today who were under the impression that they’d be joining as paid crew, I think they might have been put off the idea when Francis told them they’d have to pay to come on board, but we shall see.

Tom, James and Anthony have gone ashore for beers now, I nearly joined them, but couldn’t be bothered in the end, so I am sitting on deck with Pip and a glass of wine with some music on her laptop. I discovered today we have an extension cord so I can sit up here writing without having to worry about my computers pathetic battery life. Keith’s having a moan about the state of the ship, everything’s been left out, so I think I should go and have a tidy up. Over and out!!