I am in a dry dock for the next seven days so updates will be in infrequent. I am taking notes however so expect a deluge in about a week.
Dry docks are fascinating if you have never been in one.
I have written a couple of stories about Naples as well but they will have to wait until I am back online.
I am not a fan of unknowns but will try and write the next week as best I can.
We are trying to find someone to take over the remaining week of rent in our apartment in Juan Les Pins. Once the apartment goes we will bunny hop the way to Livorno by train. It is usually an eight hour train ride and as I have some computer work to do on the way it seems best to hit a few ports on the way up.
On Sunday I am going to be working for seven days on a 37 metre Benetti motor yacht which is going into dry dock for a week. Benetti is a famous brand of Italian boat. They are good looking, have smooth lines and are a bit quirky. A bit like me really.
This is work from our fantastic Australian hook up. I am going to get a cabin to stay in which is very rare for day workers. This should keep costs down. Anna should be getting some work as well.
Odd. Just as I was writing this blog entry we have been offered some work in Naples for Saturday. We get to stay on the boat on Saturday night. Naples is a monster journey. Its probably a full Nintendo DS charge and half a book long.
We would have to go through Rome. Bummer.
Anyway must dash. Bags to pack ect.
So yesterday we found out that we would not be working on the charter yacht. The charter had been cancelled.
Mass carnage ensused. Expletives were hurled. Gin was drunk. Baguettes were desecrated.
This galvanised Anna and I. We are moving to Italy.
After a sleep the world seemed a kinder place.
We had a great trip up to Italy again. I got some day work fixing up some computer things on a Yacht. We made some great contacts and are back on track to conquer the world.
To bastardise an often missquoted quote
France.
We came. We saw. We went back to Italy.
How much do I love today? Let me count the ways.
52 days
3 Apartments
31 Train Rides
21 Bus Rides
15 Days of Car hire
2 Nights in Hotels
3 Countries
8 Seasons of Fraiser! (cheers Doug)
16 Bottles of Gin
12 Bottles of Cider
10 Bottles of Roset
31 Baguettes
4 Pizza
2 Calzone
3 Broken toes
2 Pairs of broken Sunglasses
1 Nokia Phone (presumed dead)
6 Polo Shirts
3 Pairs of Boat Shorts
28 Dock walks
200 copies of CV printed
8 Recruitment agencies
5 days of 3g Internet
31 visits to Internet Cafes
Now let me commence with the series of odd events that led up to today. Last week was a write off. A new moon zapped us of all motivation and we were left stricken. On Sunday a three day self blood sacrifice began. During my morning shave I managed to clip my earlobe and the bleeding began. On Monday morning I did exactly the same thing. Then on Tuesday morning I cut my thumb opening a can of fruit that some Australian vagrant left in our house
Naturally we were quite happy to leave France behind and head to Italy. It was in Italy we met a fabulous couple from Tennessee who wowed us with their commanding grasp of Italian and charming obliviousness to Super Yachts. This is salvation when you have been thinking about them non stop for six months.
Refreshed, fed and happy our dock walk this morning culminated in an interview of sorts with the Captain of a fantastic Yacht. The interview was about 5 minutes long. There were no questions. We could have actually jumped on the Yacht right then and there but we had to return our rental car. The Yacht picks us up on Saturday. We have ten days work together. We think it is a trial. If it is anything like the interview we might just crack this Super Yacht thing.
SUCCESS!
I had hoped to write this post once we had secured full time jobs. But the start of another month and a lack of other things to write about has given me impetus to commence this opus early.
It appears we were given dodgy intelligence on Yachts of Maximum Dimensions.
Disseminating the tons of written, verbal and digital information has been a full time job. Countless interviews with recruitment agents, shipping agents, port security, dock walkers, gangway attendants, runners, stray dogs and rope lines has stretched my processing power to its very limits.
Three reoccurring themes have struck again and again.
It is who you know.
It is good luck and timing.
It is good luck and timing.
A few people I know have had good fortune after spending all their money in bars and at the beach. The Scotch man in me baulks at this idea. The Devil in me thinks this idea has some merit.
A few people I know have had some luck with recruitment agencies. Sadly the recruitment agencies here are largely ineffectual. I am reminded of a Murphy’s law
Why is it to get a bank loan you must first prove that you do not need the money?
This could easily be adapted to getting a job here.
Why is it to get a job on a super yacht ,you must first get a job and have had a perfectly good job for at least a year?
My best friend the internet, in true internet fashion has plenty of great resources that you must pay for to get the most out of them.
I am starting to get bored.
Colour me not impressed but my first real experience of South Africans was not a particularly rosy one. An incredibly unpleasant South African chef grafted himself on to my girlfriend at the times sister and managed to export himself to New Zealand. He had a fierce temper and self assured cockiness which made for a poor ambassador.
Anton Rushinecko I just took your name and miss spelled it. I hope you are balding and an accident with some x-ray equipment has rendered you infertile. Up until seven years ago this was my sole South African experience until a particularly brilliant scholar of sorts hurtled through my rapidly expanding circle of friends.
Fast forward to now and the streets of Antibes are awash with South Africans. They have a reputation for scrupulous spending, working hard and questionable ethics. It was two South
Africans working for free I fear who cost me a days work on Octopus. Hence inhabitants of the dark continent have occupied a part of my brain which is reserved for criminals and horses; until now.
I am happy to say a South African acquaintance has helped me to get some more day work upon a yacht. He is also a wealth of gossip. Information is gold in this industry.
So South Africans. Let me toast a glass of wine which is far superior in your country. I still do
not know what a rand is worth but may you always quote everything in rand. May things remain kiff. I am sure your political system will be worth poking fun at one day and may your accents remain forever the same.
Please excuse my hasty editing. Ever used a French keyboard?
The Cannes film festival starts tommorow. It was interesting walking around this morning. The yachts look radically different with sleeves attached so stars can enter hidden from prying eyes. There was a man lying on the road talking on a cell phone. I could have seen a Hollywood director going for a morning run who looked like Oliver Stone.
After a horrible last week it was nice to move into a new apartment yesterday. The white palace is incredibly pimp. Our star signs have improved for the better but we have lost free internet. So I am going on a blog update starvation protest until someone gives me an unsecured access point.
Serious!
It seems fitting that the inspiration for this entry came from a physical mishap. I was thinking about asking the gods of the internet for a sign or omen. My socks had become wet from a leaking water bottle. I leapt off the bed to invade the lounge and was assaulted violently by a wardrobe pillar. My right ankle turned inside out in its haste to dodge the pillar. This evasive action was for naught and I retired to the bed a whimpering shadow of my former self.
Luckily my wife was on hand to provide first aid. The remedial properties of frozen French chicken nuggets are to be admired. As are the various pharmaceuticals we imported from New Zealand. Minutes later I had struggled to the end of the bed to find the laptop and commenced writing this pain induced 250th post.
Tomorrow we are leaving Antibes at the incredibly early time of 4am to head towards Marseilles. We will be visiting St Tropez and Cannes on our way home. Before I arrived in France I thought St Tropez was a type of sun block.
There is probably a point in my writing today. I just can’t for the life of me see it. I blame the blood rushing from my brain to my foot. That and the pain killers
I think I can safely say that Summer has arrived on the Riviera. We have had four very sunny days and the local wind Les Mistral has dropped away to a manageable breeze.
More people are turning up to sample the beaches. The distinctly European way of sun bathing is becoming familiar. After a few days of working in the sun I have started to gain new insights into things I had previously ignored.
Boat shoes
Back in the early 90’s a terrifying craze reached my high school. The humble boat shoe became the sole of choice and many a misguided youth proudly wore them anywhere but on a boat. I dodged this fashion faux pas until now. But I can safely say that the modern day boat shoe has saved my posterior a lot of hurt. They grip incredibly well on wet surfaces and seem to be aptly named. Who would have thought?
Soap Suds
Have you ever washed a car for 8 hours? The humble soap sud begins to take on whole new dimensions after an extended period. Soap suds even taste ok when they fly into your mouth. I could have become dehydrated and delirious if it was not for the soap suds.
Staring
I now know the feeling of a captive ape. Staring people look ludicrous. I have mastered the art of not pulling faces back at them. It is easy to see why primates act they way they do.
Polo Shirts
File polo shirts in the same underused drawer with boat shoes. They dry really quickly and dirt seems to rebound off them. Mysterious technology indeed.
It is now the weekend. It is time to do some land based adventuring.
One of the first things I did today was sign a non disclosure agreement. This is standard procedure for a Yacht like Octopus which contains many secrets. So I can’t actually talk about anything that went down on board…..
But this is how my day started. Walking towards the beast.
And what a handsome beast he is.
I did crack some choice jokes today and I worked bloody hard. I am absolutely stuffed. The good news is that I have work until the end of the week.
SUCCESS !!
The really good news is that my lovely wife is going to have some work next week on the inside of Octopus
SUCCESS !!
Life is truly what you write about it.