Chief MK Departure/ damn the suit case moment

Each time its the same. Except this time Abut Dhabi is in question.
When the suit case is dragged out from under the bed and left open on the floor, a horrible cramp in the stomach happens, which does not pas until I arrive on the ship. Despite the fact there are still 7 days left at home until boarding, I have a feeling like I am already there.

The checklist of things which are thrown into the suit case . One by one I throw them in and am considering what I have forgotten. The longer I navigate, the less things I need. I used barley be able to shut the large suitcase, and today there is space left over in the small one .. Sad but all I need re the basics. In 10 years of navigation I have changed so much that the state of my suitcase has become quite worrying.

The worst part of this preparation is the accepting that you are going away and the thinking. I'm thinking abut everything I have been doing whilst I have been at home, and most of all about the things I did not manage but wanted to do. I'm thinking how is it possible that I did not manage to do all that, where did the time fly.. Than I have to take a turn to think about  people. I think about those I did not get to see, some seven say hello to. Is it really possible that I did not manage to see someone I care about and whom I really want to see? how can I explain being home for a month, and not having the time even for a coffee. Who can comprehend that? How to explain that to people?

how to explain to uncle that I did not manage to come see his kids, apart from the one weekend , and even than I stayed less than I expected.  People all those I disregarded, all those I have forgotten, and the are all saddened by  it. I'm saddened by it. Old friends who deserve to have some time dedicated to them, and yet maybe we haven't even spoken on the phone.

How to explain that to them..


I am going trough the numbers on the phone, form the first to the last, and am looking at all the names. Those who used to see me off to the ship- have become those whom I have coffee with the day before departure. It has not passed long since they have turned into those I speak to on the phone before  I leave. Recently they started just getting a message from the airport. Today I'm looking reading all those names , and I'm thinking that there is no sense in even sending a message. When I haven't managed to say hello when I was home- who cares that I'm going away. What is the difference?

 I'm looking at the phone thus, at the phonebook, than after all that bother about the departures,  now I am troubled by the memory of how it used to be before, and of all those friends, which I managed to loose in 10 years since I have started navigation.

Emptying the fridge, putting the car and motorbike into the garage, paying the bills.. The ritual is always the same.

 Its al ong way to the desert,
I think its not very smart to sleep the night before at all it would be better to saviour the last moments home , but there is some delicious pleasure in sleeping in one's own bed..

Capo I.T. Bye Bye ship..

Good old Samsonite is waiting loaded like a gun, wheels greased up, everything is ready for the discharge letter.!

 

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Stari dobri samsonite ceka ka zapeta puska kola su podmazana sve je spremno samo se ceka otpusno Pismo.

Chief MK. ODLAZAK

Svaki put isto. Osim sta je ovi put u pitanju Abu Dhabi.
Kad se kufer izvuce ispod kreveta i otvoren stavi na pod, pojavi se odvratni grc u zeludcu koji stoji dok ne dodjem na brod. Bez obzira sta sam doma i sta ima jos 7 dana do ukrcaja, imam osjecaj ka da sam vec tamo.

Checklista stvari koje se ubacuju u kufer. Jednu po jednu ubacujem i mislim se sta sam zaboravia.
Sto duze navigam manje mi stvari treba.Prije sam jedva zatvara veliki kufer, a danas mi je ostalo mista u malom kuferu. Zalosno, ali najosnovnije stvari su sve sta mi treba. U 10 godina navigacije toliko sam se prominia da me ovo stanje kufera bas
zabrinjava.

Najgori dio ovog spremanja je prihvacanje da ides ca i razmisljanje. Razmisljam o svemu sta sam radia dok sam bia doma, a najvise o onim stvarima koje sam tia, a nisam stiga napravit. Mislim se kako je moguce da nisam stiga sve, pa di je vrime proletilo…
Dodju na red i ljudi, pa mislim o svima s kojima se nisam stiga druzit, a neke ni pozdravit. Je li moguce da nisam stiga vidit nekoga do koga mi je stalo i koga stvarno zelim vidit? Kako objasnit da sam bia doma misec dana, a nisam nasa vrimena ni za kavu… Ko to moze svatit? Kako to ljudima objasnit?

Kako Ujki objasnit da njih ni dicu nisam stiga doc i vidit, osim jedan jedini vikend, a i tada sam osta krace nego sam planira.Ljudi, svi oni koje sam zanemaria, svi koje sam zaboravia, svima njima je to krivo. Meni je krivo. Stare prijatelje koji su zasluzili da se vidimo, mi se mozda ni ne cujemo na telefon.

Kako njima objasnit?


Listam kontakte po telefonu, od prvog do zadnjeg, i gledam sva imena.
Oni koji su me nekad ispracali na brod su postali oni s kojima popijem kavu dan prije broda.
Nije proslo puno prije nego su postali oni s kojima se cujem na telefon prije odlaska.
Nedavno bi im zna samo poslat poruku s aerodroma.
Danas listam, gledam ta imena i mislim se kako nema smisla niti slat poruku. Kad se nisam stiga javit dok
sam bia doma, zasto bi ih bilo briga sto idem na brod? U cemu je razlika?
Gledam tako telefon, listam kroz imenik, pa uz svu muku oko odlaska sad me muci sjecanje na ono kako
je bilo prije i na sve prijatelje koje sam uspia izgubit u 10 godina otkad navigam.
Praznit frizider, spremit auto i motor, platit racune… Ritual uvik isti.
Dug je put do pustinje, mislim se kako je pametno ni ne spavat vecer prije, ali ima neki gust u tome krevetu…

Capo I.T stuck in ice..

S: It would be great if you would photograph that ship engine of yours.. And you in your working uniform. 
Question, does that ship of yours sometimes navigate trough ice?

Capo I.T:
Sunci, type into google Stena Atlantica, that was my last ship, we got stuck in ice and had to call the ice breakers to come pull us out..

S:
Bilo bi super kad bi mi fotka kako to izgleda ta makinja tvoja.. I tebe u uniformi na poslu..

Pitanje.. dali se taj tvoj brod nekad probija kroz led?

 

 

Capo I.T:
Sunci utipkaj na google stena atlantica to je moj prosli brod di smo zapeli u ledu pa smo zvali ledolomca da nas izvuce ...

Capo I.T Hello whales

Capo I.T.

 The ship is speeding south wards towards the fire lands and The Straits of Malagan..

S: Desribe whatdo you see there? Penguins?

Capo I.T.:

 

Sunci I see billions of droplets of endless navy blue sea, but the eye does not miss a chancing whale, or a tuna, or a flying sardine whilst I walk about off duty, I also dont' miss the passing  turtle , just as wouldn't our dceased- one eyed -Krvi ever let anything the sea surface pass - if he where alive

 

Unfortunately I see also a lot of rubbish, but luckily no drowned men as of yet.. If I see ol' Magllen, or Columbus, or Cook, I'l let you know..

 

 

 

Capo I.T:
A ja jurin prema jugu prema mageljanovom prolazu i ognjenoj zemlji😀

Sunci vidin milijarde kapljica beskrajnog modrog mora ali ne promakne mi oku ni kit ni tuna ni leteca srdela dok setan uokolo nakon radnog vrimena ni kornjaca mi ne promakne a nebi fala bogu ni nasen pok jednookom krivome da he bidan zi

 

 

 

 Nazalost vidin dosta i smeca ali na srecu jos nisan vidija utopljenikaa ako vidin piten staroga mageljana ili Kolumba ili Cooka Javin🍷

 

 

Capo I.T on the prospect of a multi coloured bus with piglets and coconuts

S: Have you made a break from Alcatraz?

 

You know I asked a friend to take a photo of you from L.A, and found out that Alcatraz is in San Fran.. but let me know , what are you doing? Are you riding trams  like James Dean up and down San Fran? Have you met a Valentina?

 

 

Capo I.T.:

 Sunci, ciao! I'm still in Alcatraz, for the next 5 days and than I go towards Panama, and than I should be heading home.

In Panama I have to ride on that multi-coloured little bus, filled with coconuts and piglets, for 12 hours, whilst chewing coke like a goat! Haha. Or I have to hitch a ride with that little plane for two, with a parachute strapped to my bones..

 

What would you choose, the bus on a road full of holes, or the paper plane- without a parachute?

 

S:

I'm mad, I'd pick the plane and chew on the coke leaves just in case we land on Machu Pichu- and happens that I can't get down ever again-because there are no stairs.. So I'l be high for the rest of my life and it will be nice ..

 

Your description is brilliant. With the coconuts and piglets, I died from laughter.. Ill have to draw that! Ps didn't tell you, our project will be exhibited in a big Maritime museum..

 

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S:

Uspio si šmugnit iz Alkatraza?

 

Znaš da sam pitala prijateljicu ruskinju da te slika iz Los Angelesa, I saznala da je Alkatraz u San Francisku .. Ali reci mi šta radiš? Jeli se vozikaš tramvajima gori doli ko James Dean po San Fran? Jesi li upozna Valentinu?

 

Capo I.T.:

Sunci Cao! Još Sam u Alkatrazu idućih pet dana, potom idem za Panamu, I onda bi trebao put doma..

 

U Panami se moram vozit s onim šarenim autobusom, punim kokosa I praščića 12 sati, I žvakkat koku putem ko koza! Hahah. Ili se pribacit onim malim aviončićem za dvoje sa padobranom na kostima..

 

Šta bi ti birala?

Bolje busom cetom punom rupa ili pajperom bez padobrana?

 

S:

Ja sam skroz luda, ja bi s avionom I žvakala lišće koke za svako slučaj da sletimo slučajno na Maču Piču ,pa da više nikad nemogu sač doli, -jer nema skala.. Pa nek sam puknuta do kraja I bit če mi lipo..

 

Opis ti je brilijantan! S kokosima I praščićima, umrla sma od smija.. Ovu ču ti morat nacrtat! Nisam ti rekla - izložiti če nam project veliki pomorski muzej!

 

 

 

 

Chief MK , good Bye Split- hello Dubai

 

We met the previous evening so that I could give MK his newest ship.. A pipe laying ship from Malasya. It seems the more of these I draw the better they look.

I have started to concentrate on painting the ship instead of focusing on the sea and the sky- which was my original approach.. Maybe because I have started to understand a little. Care for the subject matter. And Well if Chief MK took months to try get a real jack up rig built, with  errors and repairs occurring all the while, it makes sense that my jack up rigs also need a lot of trial and error until I get them perfect. I aim to paint some enormous ones soon with a lot of detail for the museum exhibition..

After a month on land, Chief leaves for Dubai tomorrow. It seems that the ship built in China needs at least a month in the Shipyard before it will be ready to function . After which he will go with the ship and start it working.

I put my new snazzy camera on the table planning to shoot his portrait, so that I can paint it- seeing that it had not happened this month. To my surprise MK knew a lot about cameras. In fact he knew everything and I was left shocked.. I told him how the photographs he had sent me don't look as if he knew anything about photography. He replied- that is because he is banned from using a camera at work the last 5 years , and what he can photograph is from the bad phones  he smuggles.

It seems unimaginable to us all accustomed to internet freedom- that once MKs ship is ready to work, he will have to leave his mobile phone, and every other gadget which has a camera- on land- and than go work for several months- without his mobile phone- as if in prison. Its forbidden to take any photographs when working in Arabia. He says he feels like an old man when after months of no contact he gets his mobile phone back and starts stabbing at the touch screen having forgotten how to use it.

We had a drink , a laugh, exchanged updates, and bid our good byes.

 

Capo I.T. Still stuck in Alcatraz

Capo I.T. :
Wait a little, don't you know my story about the Red Lobster? Wraahah. Its a terrific story..

S: Do you want me to give your girl a painting of daddy's ship Your dad sent you this so that you know where he is..

Our project Sir, is called the Mariner and the ocean, and could end with an exhibition about you in a maritime museum, and one about MK, and hope full than you both my mariners will be happy and so will I be.

Our "friend" sends a Red lobster back right at you.

Capo I.T. Sunci unfortunately facebook is in a banana just like I am myself, and I cant open any photos.. But I will in your honour open up a bottle of top red vine, and that ought to happen in the next ten days.. So long.




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Capo I.T. Čekaj malo ol ti neznaš moju priču o Red Lobsteru? Hahha. To je strašna priča..


S:Očeš li da ja maloj dam sliku tatinog broda.. Posla ti je ovo tata da znaš di je..

S: Naš project zove se majstore, The mariner and the ocean, I moga bi završit s izložbom o  tebi u pomorskom muzeju, I MK s izložbom o njemu, I valjda če vas to usrečiti pomorci moji. I ja ču biti isto sretna.

Ps. Prijatelj šalje red lobstera tebi..

Capo I.T: Sunci nazalost face book nam je isto u banani ka i ja nemogu niti jednu sliku otvorit...ali cu zato u tvoju cast otvorit bocu vrhunskoga crnoga a to bi se tribalo dogodit in next ten days max.pozz

Capo I.T stuck in Alcatraz

 

 

S:

Here is one of my Valentina's just for Alcatraz.

 

 Our common friend is chasing an ex girl of his and so far has got no where. So he asked me to introduce him to a friend of mine.. And I happen to have one whose birthday it was reecentley and I haven't  yet given her a gift. ..
 

Her fantasy is to try some M and S, eyes covered up, a bit off whipping ..

So our altruistic friend suggested that we wrap him up in wrapping paper, leave him in front of her door,  and when she opens the gift, inside is our dear friend in boxers, condoms between teeth, ready for what what ever comes is next..

 

There you are, a thought for this evening. I can  cheer up a Capo in Alcatraz, if I have managed to cheer up that friend of ours..

 

Capo I.T. : Hahahahaha ahahahahhaaha He should deffinaltey get a proper whipping .. hahhah. You have made me laugh..

And what is the name of our project again?. I have turned into a little robot my brain is compleatey washed out, I can't wait to jump into that multi coloured bus next to some panama aunty hahha, It can go to Machu Pichu as far as I'm concerned as long as it drives me as far from the ship as possible, raising dust all the way behind it..
Is our friend still in Split I have no idea..
 The biggest problem I have , Is my daughter who is constantly nagging her mother -when will I get back.. All day long.. And the last thing I told her is that the plane has run away, I'l have to think of something new next Sunday..

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Evo ti jedna moja Valentina Samo za Alkatraz

 

 

Prika nam kuva neku svoju staru curu i nikako da mu se posreči. Pa me je pitada mu nađem prijateljicu. A ja imam jednu kojoj je nedavno bija rođednan- I nisam joj još ništa poklonila.

 

A ona želi se okušati u SnM situaciji sa zavezanim očima I bičevanjem.. Pa je naš prijatelj reka da čemo njega upakirat u rođendanski papir, a kad ona dar otvori, unutra Prika stoji u mudantama, spreman za bičvanje s kondomima među zubima,

 

Eto ti misao za večeras.. Mogu ja razveselit i jedong kapa u Alkatraztu ,ako mogu i našeg Priku

 

 

 

Capo I.T : Hahahahaha ahahahahhaaha tribalo bi ga stvarno dobro izbicevat hahaha bas si me nasmijala.....a kako se projekt zove jebiga zaboravija san....posta san ka mali robotic mozak mi je skroz ispran jedva cekan uskocit u taj sareni autobus sjest do jedne panameske tetke koke hahahaaaaa pa nek vozi i na macu picu ili na mars samo da vozi i da se prasi za njim ....sta dalje od broda.....jeli frane jos u splitu neman ja pojma....najveci mi je problem mei koja stalno pila mater da kad cu se ja vratit po cili dan zadnje sta san joj reka da mi je uteka avion moracu nesto novo opet izmislit iducu nedilju

Phone call entre MK and S

MK: So how are you.. Have you finished my painting? Half finished? Just admit you haven't finished  because I haven't been in touch. Admit it. Just say fuck you- no communication- no painting.. 
What , you haven't even started?
 Oh come on, you have to finish it, and give my painting before I go.

I am going away this Tuesday. I finished writing the Chief course programme, the maritime education centre was super enthusiastic, wanting me to start immediately as a professor. And than of course the ship company phoned- and asked, can I fly the next day. Last Tuesday. I told them to go fuck them selfs.

But I am leaving this up coming Tuesday instead.

Its a bugger. I really wanted to start teaching this course . I will teach for one day though. Saturday, a sailor is being sent from another centre to split, just so I teach him for a day, a trial of sorts.

Sorry for not being in touch.

Chief MK in Split Coffee 9

Sunci: And so you are still here? You got a rest this time. You got ower the flu.. Do you realise you have been on land for a month now?

MK. Yes it has done me good this time home. I have seen asked by a marine education centre to teach other mariners.. Than I proposed to create a course specific for my work role of which there are a few in general if any at all. So I spending all my days and nights writing the course. I have also thought up a pretty cool application for mobile phones- for sailors. Something that would be so useful to me if it existed. So im sure it could be usefull to any sailor. Looking how to finance the application now..
Actually looking forward to teaching a lot as well .

Cief MK in Split coffe 8

Sunci : You are still here.. When are you going back to work?

MK: Should be any day now. The ship has set sail from China, but certain parts of it are not working as they should. There are repairs going on as they sail for Dubai. Il be joining it in Dubai.

Enjoying being home still.

Chief MK in Split Coffee 7

Sunci: So how come you got the motorbike out of the garage..? Didn't you say that you wouldn't because  its winter?

MK: Look at the sun! Its a perfect day.  The tax office and than for coffee..

Chief MK Coffee In Split 6

When we get back.. We have to report into the port authority. And Than we have to go in to the tax office and  pay taxes ..

 The port authority is important.. I have to get a certain number of days in the year aboard the ship in the Chief position in my Seamen's book. And than I can go take the Captains exam. And well than I can go and become a captain next.


As for the taxes. See I pay a huge amount of taxes so that that middle aged long haired man in his speedos can be on official sick leave from his office- and I pay his alimentation trough my taxes, whilst he mocks around in his speedos ain the middle of the winter plays ball in the sea.

 Same as half these people sitting having coffee. I mean does any one work? How can so many people on a working day  spend all their days at coffee like this?

Excuse me. Got an email from my company, ill just read it a second.

 

 What. They must be joking. They are offering  less than half the wages. They can't expect to pay those wages to an European Chief. No one could accept this. If I accept, than soon they will lower the wages all across , the standard will drop.

Chief MK Coffee in Split 5

Sunci: So when you are going back on to the ship?

MK : The up coming Tuesday. I got 10 days home. Luxury. They haven't got me a ticket yet, I'm waiting for a phone call from the company.

Chief MK Coffee in Split 4

 

It started all a few years back.. A friend went aboard a ship in front of the Split Riviera.. He was bragging about getting directly out of his house, onto a speed boat and than going to work just out side the port. A pretty fly situation right? Especially when everyone else works on ships on the other side of the globe.

 

An way there he was feeling pretty smug, he got onto the speed boat, and on to the ship, and than it turned out there where problems on the ship which had to be reopaired, and his ship spent 10 days on anchor just mile out of Split port.. 

 

He was stuck. Couldn't leave the ship, couldn't get home, and was close enough to swim home.. Frustrating as hell,

 

I was having a coffee at the beach, and you could see his ship in front of the beach. So I took a photo of my table in the bar- with the drinks and his ship in the background.

 

I phoned the friend up, spend an hour makingsure he tuned on the mms option this phone- and than I sent him the photo. There you are working- and we' having fun, that sort of thing.

Chief MK Coffee in Split 3

 

I have to take a photo of this and send it to my friend aboard a ship in Alaska. I have to do it just to make him suffer a little. See, every time one of us is home and the other is on a ship , the one back home takes a photo of the good life and sens it to the one at work to make him suffer..

 

 

Chief MK Coffee in Split 2

 

This is life. Ah life is so good. The coffee.  The sea. The sun. You forget there is a Sun, until you get home and see a sun which exsists.

MK Back home in Split and the first coffee with paintorette

 

Sunci:

Hello Spud Ship sailor. What is it like to finally see the sun? And to drink espresso?

 

Chief MK:

Hello Artist, Nor do I see the sun nor the sky, the man sitting behind me on the flight, coughed all over me during the flight back home and has contaminated me with the bird flu and who knows what else.

After two months of pain, im fucked up for the whole of the few days I get back home,..

 

Shall we go grab a coffee hopefuly  without contamination occurring. ..

 

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After MK spent a few days back home in Split, we  went for coffee and met for the first time, since starting the project and the daily correspondence. 

 

 Actually it was proper meeting for the first time, really, as we met only very briefly before during his testing of knowledge of Maritime English which I over saw and he got 100 percent on..

 

The encounter was odd. We where very well acquainted- because of the letters, and not at all in person..

 

It was odd to meet the face, belonging to the personality.

 

 

 

Mk "So can I see the drawings..? Oh you have brought them. This is great. This is my ship! It has all the Chinese letters as well. Brilliant."

 

And so I discovered that just as sailors hate their ships when the are on them and near them , they love their ships , and remember them sentimentally , when they are back on land..

Chief MK going home..

Only a little bit of China left, 24hours until the flight..


Jos malo kine,  jos 24h do leta. ..

Off shore drilling for gas and oil update- as I understand

In the sector of off-shore drilling for gas and oil extraction there has been a crises of late. North sea platforms have shut down. A huge number of mariners who work on the  rigs ,supply ships, have been laid off in the automn, and are without work at this moment in history.

 This branch of work at sea- usually being the best paid,  means that men who are accustomed to high stress work , 24 hours a day, but also very high wages are suddenly finding them self - unimaginably  unemployed.

This in it self is a shock to the men. Many are looking for other forms of work at sea . Others are starting new businesses on land with their savings. Few men are left working in their field.. However as there is very little work, agencies and ship owners are now in a position to offer much smaller wages. Not much smaller, but half the wages of which the where paying before Christmas, and daring to offer even less than that.

 The sailors are sudnely in a sitation where they must ether accept half their wages, or go without a job.

Chief MK in China Fog

Visuals? Visiblity is 10 meters today, I didn't see anything.
And I couldn't elaborate about experiences had in person. That's the job, its why its paid double than jobs on all other ships.. There is just work and nothing else.

Here is a photo from my ship in Australia instead..

Vizualno? Vidljivost je bila 10m danas,  nisam vidia nista :)
Ma ni uzivo ti ne bi ima sta vise rec. Takav je posal,  nije bez razloga duplo vise placen nego na obicnim brodovima. Samo posal i nista drugo.

Evo jedna slika sa broad u Austrailji.

Chief MK In China

 

I waited in Mc Donalds, and when I ordered I realised I have no wallet.

 

That Electrician bought me a bottle of Chivas today. What a character!

Ja ceka u McDonaldsa i kad sam narucia skuzim da nemam novcanik.

Oni elektricar mi je kupia bocu Chivasa danas. Koji lik :)

 

Chief MK In China, on company big big shots..

Today some company big shot turned up. No one has been since the construction of the ship has commenced,  he turned up for the first time and started  to patronise at once..

 

Just as I was ready to put him in his place, I realised that he is saying exactly what I have been saying all this time. We can't work using the local's  system  and expect results!

 

I altered my attitude, and watched him delighted.

 

Every day there should be a fucking meeting. There is no work to be done, if no one knows what they are to be doing, and not like cockroaches, everyone scattering without a trace.. Everybody hates the meetings, but there are no results without them.

 

The arse of a captain, who has up to yeaterday insisted that I ought adjust to the locals and work as they do,  kept his  mouth shut and nodded his head to everything.  A day has not passed and he already is sorry for the idiotic thing he said yesterday, especially once he met my smug smiling face.

 

Than the smartypants from the company went ahead of himself a bit, and started the sentence " You are responsible for" when  I immediately interrupted, and explained that we are not on full wages and thus are not responsible for anything there, directing him instead to the local project manager..

Maybe I should have keep quiet, I instantly remembered how I failed at the captains exam- because I did not know how to keep my mouth shut. But what can you do- its stronger than me.

Later the Electrician came up to me- with a russian-english statement  "you the best chief"... Referring to the two ball-less asses, who kept their mouths shut and head a nodding.

This put me in a good mood.

 

 

 

Chief MK In china- on the shipyard ways

"At the Ship yard. On the ship, the locals are still " Working" without any results.

There are no major changes, they are working at fixing the major problems we have pointed out. We want them fixed for when the boat sets sail for Dubai, whilst they are looking to spend as least as they can, and are stretching out cheap work, so that they don't have to spend money on anything expensive before we hit the deadline for departure.. "

Chief MK In China, a day in the life of

I spend my days,  all my days,
working at the shipyard,
than there is the daily walk from the hotel to Mc Donalds,
 and than there are your letters.

 

Chief MK in China, on Fog

. I can't take a photo for you, I can't see anything in front of me, the city is permanently in a huge impenetrable fog .

Sailor from Split found dead aboard the ship

Four days ago a young sailor, 25 year old  Filip Rinčić from Split died in a tragic accident in the China Sea aboard a cargo ship.

It is assumed that he was crushed by a port hole door  in the deck - which weighs many tons..Though he was not participating in our project, Filip is a colleague sailor, born in the same city as the two mariners who we are following, and I am taking the opportunity to pay respects to the young man. One of many young men lost  at sea trough out the centuries.

 The news reminds us how dangerous working aboard these huge ships can be. Technology has evolved shipping, but still the men's lives are permenentley at risk aboard the ship.

They are at risk without ever needing to leave the port, and still more once they set sail, out at the ocean rolling in huge wave swells, exposed to all sorts of weather, to ice in water , to pirates, to mal function, and to the very breaking up of the ships hull due to slamming of the ship on to the waves.

I head discussion of these news around a tea table, between  two mothers of young sailors who are at this moment away abroad a ship. The mothers shuddered in realisation of how dangerous the jobs their sons have, and in relief ,to  have  after their heart almost stopped beating whilst they read the morning's headline- -discovered that their son was not on the vessel in question.

At work painter painting the ocean and the mariner world

Very wet paintings- from digital letter into painting.. somwhere off australila

Sunci-I.T in Aalcatraz..

Sunci:

I jesi li nam doma doša capo di tutikapi?

I.T.

Nisan nasa san jednu valentinu i ostajen u los angelesu😀

 

Sunci:

ahahha!

ako ti je lipa i zabavna ta Valentina dragi moj tuta uživaj tuta forca!

nadam se da je stvarno valentina u pitanju a ne zajeb s brodom!

 

I.T:

Hahaha a znas da je zajeb sa brodon evo smo bacili sidro taman isprid alcatraza i cekamo da nas zovu u porat a to ce bit tek 25.02 tako da sad trenutno gledan na alkatraz sa alkatraza😈 a golden gate u pozadini a kafic Dujic daleko 10000 milja

For a little captain's son

This Christmass, second one in turn we awaited with our next door neighbours who are the family of a Captain- who again was away at Christmass, which was in a way sad, but in another way hilarious as my son and the captian's son made sure the Christmas eve is unforgettable and full of mischief... We the women, and their daughter,  where constructing  a ginger bread  house and getting high, on gin and tonick's  in her tidy aparament -whilst my husband and both our sons wrought havoc in my apartament next door. ..

Any way tonight was the boy's 5th birthday. I painted a little work for this bedroom, a ship inspired entirely by I. Tuta's Stena bulk stuck in ice, but close enough similar to the father's ship- so he can imagine it being the fathers ship...   when he is away.

However on entering the apartament tonight- I discovered the Captain had returned- and it was his birthday as well as his sons on the same night.. Guitar, alcohol, friends children--- aaa its a house full and celebrating this evening ..

And it was so nice to see my she
neighbour relaxed, at peace, and  him greeting eagerly all who came, and their being in love. The whole space and time disotrion and those months in between seeing one another- seem to me to produce - a perfect state of in love ness for ever, and every time they meet again.

aaw.
you know I put in love above all else. :)

Sunci-IT-IT Sunci

 

Hej capo nisi mi odavno ništa javia ,pa šta se događa, šta da slikam?

 

 

 

 

 

 

I.T:
Heeej sunciiiiiiiiii ja ti vec dobrih 20 dana sanjan kako prolazimo ispod golden gatea u san francisku i pijen casu crnog vina kalifornijskog i cekan celicnu pticu da poleti all across do stare dobre gnjile europe hahaha........znaci stari dobri samsonite se lufta u kabini i sprema za let(malo je mladji od mene godiste 1992 ducan u gentu belgium😀)......samo kad dodjemo u jameriku cekaju nas coast guard pa veting inspection pa port state control pa flag state inspection hahaha najebali smo

 

 

I:T.

 

Hehehe capo di tutti capi

 

Sunci:
oli ste zaglavili na falklands

ajd još malo

čula sam da je pomorcu naj draži dan-kad dobije detalje leta za doma

:)

 

 

I.T

Za taj papir se zivi

 

Sunci:

 

haha

jesu li bile dobre bananas?

I.T

To ti je isto kad pacijent dobije otpusno pismo ili zatvorenik izlaz iz przuna hahaha

Banana gud

Sunci:

 

aha shvačam

ajde bogati a onda kad dođete doma...

 

niko nema lipši život

malo u đir, po večerama,

po svitu...
 

I.T

 

Za 7 dana stizemo u LA a potom san francisko plan mi je ukrcat se u tramvaj bez karte pa uzulicu nizulicu dok me kontrola ne capa

Hahaha

Ka jamed dean😀

James

 

Sunci:

 

hahah

onda san ja bila james dean na 37sedmi

puno godina

sad sam marlyrin monroe

 

I.T

Hahaha

 

 

Sunci:

 

madež,I karta

 

 

 

I.T

Ali u nas je sve ravno a u san francisko se mos skalat i karocon na balinjere to me nacrtaj haha

 

 

Sunci:

 

haha

čekaj to si za 10dan doma?

na maskare

 

 

I.T

 

Tuta putuje doma sa karocon nizbrdo a u ruci mu botija viskija

 

 

Sunci:

 

hahaha

sviđa mi se ta

wiski je pomorcima novi rum čini mi se

I ovaj drugi kapetan samo o wiskiju

po cile dane sanja wisky

 

I.T

 

Vrlo vjerovatno ako ne zaglavin u san francisku ili ako se ne bacin sa golden gatea u savu

Malo sa napuka evo taman prolazimo equator zeze sunce tuta forca

 

Sunci:

ovde mrak mrkli

 

 

I.T

 

Hahaha a sta ce bidan dosta mu je vode ka i meni

9 uri smo razlike od vas sad

 

 

Sunci:

 

u jednom momentu u kini je dobija wiski od električara jer govori iskreno naprasite stvari kapetanu..

taman kad si ti stavlja onu sliku no alcohol piva

bija je prisritan, I posla je tebi sliku wiskija al san zaboravila poslat

 

I.T

 

Napravit cemu festu doma

A vodu neka piju manekenke

 

Sunci:

jej

hahaha

ajde dočekat cemo te jee ha

  

 

 

 

I.T

 

 

Gustajsee you soon ak ne bude kakvi zajeb sa smjenama

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunci:
ajde lipa manekenko

laka ti noć

 

 

 

 

 

I.T

Cujemo se pozdravi svoje decke i nadji mi sta cure hahaha

 

 

Sunci:

 

haha otvaram agenciju cure za pomorce

 

I.T

Joke

 

 

Sunci:

 

to mi je sljedeći biznis

 

 

 

 

I.T

 

Super bice svega tu

Haha

Laku noc

 

 

sunci

 

l nighz

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The artist and machinery of this thing

What has happened trough this project however is that I have in a way I am becoming close to the mariners. The mariners  can depend upon correspondence arriving to them on a regular basis, I am the human touch,  someone alive and unrelated to their work writing to them, in this sense I feel the very correspondence has started to matter , more than the outcome of the project,  and the paintings of their voyage.

 I on the other hand have come to fret about where they are, what is going on with them, are they well, are they safe, lonely, happy, fed,  I am becoming something like M is to James Bond, or air traffic control is to a pilot. .. I am without a doubt emotionally involved, two months on from starting.

I am traveling , with the letters I receive, and am imaging the surrounding worlds, people, foods, smells, weathers.. And I too am changing. Changing my perception. For example,  this week I have been painting an oil rig. And instead of it being dead, steel, oil digging mechanical monster exhageratedley monstrous  painted by this artist girl who loves forests and fairies and mermaids and nature. The oil rig has transformed ..

Someone I care about works on that oil rig.  Someone whose life I imagine is tied to that rig. I have followed the building of a rig, I read about the frustrations and pitfalls of the construction, of the uncomfortable encounters with alien cultures and un unedible foods, of little surprises in a day around such a uncomfortable rig,  which make someone happy, and a compleatley different rig I paint. The oil rig, which not long ago-would to me have been a cold  materialistic mother nature damaging cruel bunch of metal angles, has transformed into a castle in the sun set. The place where I realise my fantasies.

The place I dream about, because there is someone I know and write to on it. And the way I paint it.. how can I describe it, the difference. I imagine I hear the sea. The rig, the mexhanical monster has managed to flow into a beautiful sunset, it has become -as horrible as this may sound a romantic rig painting -for god's sake, if such a thing is possible, its sounds more ghastly than it looks let me promise, for despite all this self-analysis I aimed to paint the thing as it actualy looks.

But As I am a painter of watercolours and soft shapes and seas and portraits -straight lines and angles are all  a new science to me, and had I tried to paint this two months a go it would have looked all nasty and mechancihal and evil, but now, that I know of 10 years of missed christmasses spent aboard, of a trillion lone nights spend aboard, and yet still distinguish a love for this work on this rig. How can I possibley paint it to look evil?  hm . I want to go there and paint, this is the result.

I hope Im making someone else-laugh too-other than me.