Life at sea under a not so blue sky

A while back I really got upset with my sister after she introduced me to one of her friends as follows, “This is Ophelia, my sister. She used to work on ships”. Now you would ask why this would upset me? Well you see, I felt that I had “moved on” and that there was more to me than “that life” which I left more than fifteen years ago!

I had been longer on land than at sea and had not only been Regional Sales Manager for more than 7 years at a well established hotel group, but I had also become a certified life coach! I confronted her about it after asking, “why she always did that, telling people about what I did fifteen years ago, instead of what I was doing now” and she admitted that it was an “interesting conversation point”. My response, “Fair enough, but please stop it. I am building up a coaching practice and could do with being introduced as that instead! Trust me, I can keep a conversation around that going for hours!”

After I got home, I decided to really unpack as to why I reacted the way that I did especially since my life at sea really was a big part of who I had become. I really broke it down doing the pro’s and cons of life at sea versus my time on land, whilst at the same time doing some PQ reps (meditation type exercises) which I knew would take me to a place of love instead of saboteur.

Truth was, like everyone does, I really “glamorized” my time at sea. I always spoke about the new places I got to visit, the amazing tours I got to take, the crazy parties and magical formal nights with fancy dinners and Broadway-like shows I got to see. The Captain’s functions I got to attend as his secretary and the hours of being on “the bridge” as first the deck secretary and then the girlfriend of a deck officer. The interaction I had with Customs and Immigration Officers as “Practica" and Crew Purser, the endless spoils I got whilst working in the Crew Officer from fellow crewmembers, especially from the food and beverage department. Then when my mom and sister came for a cruise, they got the royal treatment as that is what your ship family did, treat your family as one of the passengers with endless treats. The dramatic rescue of a lone sailor and his dog in the Caribbean, going to crew alert during an onboard fire, the medivacs of elderly folk in Alaska with the helicopter flying over the ship, almost missing the ship myself after getting stuck in Fort Lauderdale traffic. Trying to out sail a hurricane, going through the Panama Canal AGAIN, “wanted” passengers getting arrested onboard, as an officer having most passenger privileges, my single cabin with massive windows. The list is ENDLESS.

I “glazed over” the long hours, no days off, screaming passengers, not being able to get the stamps or crew telephone cards to balance, crew drills, the same food week in week out, Alaska and the Caribbean AGAIN, office politics, walks of shame, being sea sick AGAIN, missing home, chasing lost luggage, giving crew bad news of their contract being extended, the death of a fellow crewmember, code Alpha, playing security to unruly passengers, inport manning, 90 Day inspection, random drug tests, onboard floods, the noro virus, having terrible cabin mates with no space to swing a dead cat around. This list too is ENDLESS.

Yes, so maybe I “created the beast”. Maybe I should not have “glazed over” the bits which now after writing it, was not so bad. I did have an interesting time. I got to experience more than what most individuals get to experience in an entire life time. Maybe I did take my adventures for granted and should have “immersed” myself more than what I did! Should have, could have, would have, didn’t.

So yes, life at sea was not always under a blue sky. There were plenty of dark skies, cloudy, rainy days, a thunderstorm or two, but when the sun did come out it was magical with numerous horizons, fresh summer breezes (literally and figuratively), clean ocean air, red sunsets and pink sunrises.

The morale of the story?

Yes, I do like to “re-visit” that time of my life, but on my own terms, with the people who know not only about the blue, but also the not so blue skies.

Until next time.

Light, love and positive thoughts

Ophelia