I got up at 4 am to fly from San Jose to Houston. I was a little nervous checking in because I didn’t know if my bag was over weight and how much stuff I’d have to move around, it ended up working out really well. Mom hung around with me for a little while just killing some time before boarding. From San Jose to Houston it was about 4 hours, not too bad, slept most of the way. It was really interesting flying in though, it was really flat, a lot flatter than I thought and also there were a lot of trees. I guess the airport is more on the outskirts of the city because I didn’t see all that many tall buildings, just mainly houses and other stuff, it was odd.
The layover was about and hour and I called mom and she told me that Margaret had emailed me, told me where to go and that I was to call Caleb when I got in.
The flight from Houston to West Palm Beach was really nice, had a great window seat in front of the wing. After looking out the window for a bit the clouds got in the way so I took another nap. When we landed I ended up talking to some of the people next to me and I told them I was working on the Bounty and that they should stop by, ha.
Getting from the airport to the Bounty was the thing I didn’t like, took a cab to the Rivera Beach Marina. My cab driver didn’t know exactly where to go; lucky for me I had done lots of research so I had a better idea than her. After I got there and dragged my bags for a bit someone asked if I was head for the Bounty and directed to me a spot where I could get picked up. Later I found out that the same thing happened to other people so it was made easy for me. Called Caleb and waited around for him and went over to the Bounty.
Motoring over in the little dinghy was interesting, turn around the corner and there was the Bounty all in her glory with the dregs of the sunset flowing over her deck. First thing I saw of her besides her masts was the stern, we motored around to the bow, gave me a great view up her hull. Climbed out, got on the dock, up the stairs, over the gangway and I was on her. After a month of prepping, researching and worrying I was finally there!
Sam helped me take my stuff down to the second deck? Tween deck? I have no idea, and said he wasn’t sure which was my berth but that I could look around and he pointed out a few things.
So I explored a bit, went down another deck and found the berths, smaller than I thought, but more storage space actually. I ran into Chuck, the cook, he was taking a nap, oops. Went back up and walked around and saw some stuff, I have no idea what anything is really called. Went to the top deck, weather deck I guess and met a few more people there. Rebecca, Peter, Katie and Ashley.
The rest of the night was spent more or less in the galley chilling, getting to know everyone and hearing a bit about what is ahead. Rebecca and Caleb are married and leaving the ship for the season, Sam is leaving for awhile but will be back, they are the mates. Peter is the new mate, he’s from San Francisco, west coast yo, he’s 30, really nice, I think I’ll get a lot of info out of him.
Katie and Ashley are experiences from what I hear, they have been on other ships and are in their early twenties. Ashley is really cool, I like her, we quoted Monty Python and the Holy Grail together.
There’s another girl, Tsveta, she’s quiet, haven’t heard much from her.
I’m the young and very inexperienced one.
Rebecca showed me to the berths and said I could have anyone I wanted, I took the one where no one was, might as well be alone while I can or maybe I’ll move.
Also…. These people drink a lot, and some of them smoke. Oh well, and I’m only 19, I haven’t been exposed to all of this before, it’s a big grown up world.
So as for tomorrow, maybe another 2 people will come and we have to get up at 8.15 and work starts at 9. I have no idea what I’ll be doing, but I guess I’ll be finding out then, but I hate not knowing.
I’ve got my room nicely settled ish, supposedly they are going to rip out some of the shelves in my room and put some in the empty space next to my bunk, so we’ll see if I have to move all my junk. Rebecca also said that the people who just left had to repaint the bunks so they are nice and clean.
There are a lot of weird noises going on around me; I think it’s mainly the generator and the bilge water. Also every once in awhile I can really feel the ship move, at first I thought I was just dizzy and I was the one who was moving, but no, it’s the ship.
I also checked out the head, two toilets and two showers, two washers and two dryers. There is also a small library, hopefully I can find time to read a bit.
Ironically I’m listening to “I’m On A Boat.”
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