Why a freighter trip?  Our objectives were both shared, and individual. Several objectives were those of learning about ocean-going ships and crews, enjoying quality time with each other, crossing again by boat the ocean we last crossed in 1984 on our 38' cutter Alter Ego, and seeing Asia from the vantage point of cargo ports.  Other objectives were more personal.

Liz.  Liz also wanted to see how to live in a “bubble” surrounded by ocean, with what we brought with us and without contact with the outside world. However, most of her time is taken up with how to update our website (www.bikenfly.org) using Dreamweaver CS4 and the new, standardized Cascading Style Sheets. She has been creating pages for about 10 years, but she wanted to move toward using standardized technology. For this task, she has two manuals, one “for Dummies” and one a 1,000-page tome which is useful but packed with details for professional and commercial web designers. Another manual addresses iMovie to incorporate both still and video photography on her new MacBook Pro laptop. She took two week-long courses in photography (of people, and of places), and Tom got a new tiny camcorder. Fascinating, frustrating stuff! You can check out the results of these labors when we get home.

Tom.  Tom’s objectives included a combination of uninterrupted work, occupational transition, escape from the daily deluge of work-related emails, recreational reading and learning the basics of videography.  His ‘work’ is on a new GHEC / UCSF project, developing a modular introductory course on global health.  With his 78th birthday looming ahead on August 14 he is using this trip as an opportunity to start changing his role at the Global Health Education Consortium.  Up until now he has been working near full-time as GHEC’s Executive Director, combining about 55% time in administrative matters, 35% time on program matters, and 10% on other UCSF and volunteer program activities.  The ocean trip is thus a first venture into reducing the administrative component and shifting more toward that of a semi-retired ‘program person’, involved in the production and distribution of GHEC products.

Who travels on cargo ships?  Two short answers, we do, and at least for our part of the world, not very many people.  Based on the experience of our hosts most passengers are retired (the usual maximum age is 79), and most voyages don’t have passengers.  Liz and I are exceptions to the usual passengers what with our long experience with boats and the sea.  Our route this year is not in much demand; long ocean passages, generally cloudy, cold and sometimes very rough weather, and very short times (and inconvenient hours), in port.  Most passengers seem content to escape from their land activities and spend time in state rooms or in a deck chair reading.  Occasionally persons will sign on without any notion of what freighter cruising is like and soon become very bored and unhappy.  We also heard of passengers who spent their voyage nursing vodka or other libations from start to end.

Policy of accepting passengers.  The decision as to whether to accept passengers is up to the ship operator, not the crew.  For the crew of a working ship passengers can mean potential problems without compensatory pay.  These problems include requests for services or ‘entertainment’ not normally available on working ships, personality conflicts, work distractions, more time spent in a foreign (to the crew) language, risks to passenger health and to the ship, and post-trip complaints.  We are therefore very appreciative to NSB for their passenger policy and to the Hanjin Boston’s crew for the warmth and openness with which we have been received.  Of particular note is the access we have been accorded to virtually all of the ship.  There are many ways an uninformed, careless or malevolent passenger could complicate the voyage, and considering ship motion and the elderly age of most passengers, the risk of a fall (and a fracture) is always there.  We were pleased to observe carefully all precautions, to ask permissions when appropriate, and most of all, to stay out of the way with mouth shut (at times, a challenge, given our never-ending quest for information), when on the bridge.
               We would also like to commend NSB for the excellent NSB Magazine they publish in German and English.  Lots of pictures, stories, glossaries of nautical and freighter business terms, and information about the many different aspects of ship equipment and management.  Very informative, well edited and it almost made us feel part of the NSB family.

Acknowledgements: We want to express our very great appreciation for the many kindnesses and bountiful information provided to us by those members of Hanjin Boston’s crew with whom we had most contact.  Though we mention only six persons by name, all others with whom we came across in our daily perambulations were also very welcoming.

Captain Mario Trepczyk
First Mate Alexander Herold (Oakland to the 2nd Pusan visit)
First Mate Dennis Bachmann (for the last Pusan/Oakland legs)
Chief Engineer Karl-Heinz Meyer
Second Mate Dennis Schmidt
Steward Edgar Quiamson

We also want to acknowledge with appreciation the prompt service and comprehensive pre-trip information provided by Maris Freighter Cruises, the agency that arranged our trip.  They publish an excellent small catalog that highlights available cruises covering many destinations and different durations, and we are pleased to commend Maris to your attention.  For those interested in current costs please see the Maris website (www.freightercruises.com).  At the time of our trip the rates were in the 85-105 Euros/person/day range, to which may be added port charges, and if required, the costs of a pre-trip medical exam, immunizations, visas, trip cancellation insurance and, at your option, gratuities.  In our case total costs for 35 days added up to about USD 140/per person/per day.