Overseas tanabe -a 333 meter long, super tanker

This is still a sketch , of the view from the bridge of Tanabe , on to the ocean beyond and the much smaller ships about.. This was the last proper ship MK navigated on- before advancing on to oil and gas drilling-   Jack up Rigs.. Tanabe remains special in MK's memory..

Ovo je još u formi skice- pogled sa mosta Tanabe na ocean I manje brodove .. Ovo je zadnji pravi brod na koji je MK navigava prije nego li ih je zamjenio s bušaćima nafte i plina- Jack up rigovima. Tanabe ostaje poseban u sjećanju..  

MK 's first ship GREEN POINT

This is MK's first ship of the navigational career. He embarked aged 18  as a cadet.

Ovo je prvi brod u karijeri mladog MK na kojeg se ukrcao s 18 godina kao kadet.

Chief MK's Retirement from the mariner life at the ripe age of 28

Here is an unexpected turn of events. Chief MK who we have followed since December has decided to quit navigation.


As a result of the crisis in off shore work- Chief MK was on his return to Split offered first of all half his usual wages -to continue working for the company he worked for in China, and than less than that. He being one of the rare people actually employed in the off-shore sector at this trying moment, decided ( despite his wish to go give the owners a mouthful of rude replies)- to accept their offer.

The company kept delaying MK's departure. They would call MK and ask if he will be ready to fly the next day- than deffer the flight to the week after- and the next week as he was ready and packed to go- no one would step in touch, there would be no flight details in the mail- and so this postponing went on for two and half months..

In the meanwhile - whilst waiting for departure to work on his jack up rig in  the Arabian waters, MK came into contact with a education centre for mariners in Split. He sent his CV- and a few ideas as to what is missing in terms of educational courses in this city for the position of a Chief. The owners of the centre where delighted with his ideas- and commissioned him to comply-write a course that would be useful for someone who is or wishes to become a chief aboard a ship.Once again the education centre was impressed with  the ideas MK's produced and so offered him to become the professor of the very course that he was the author of.

The constant delays from the jack up rig company - prevented MK from being able to start teaching- as he was unable to provide dates that he is available and on shore. Rather fed up with the whole situation- chief MK finally quit the off shore company he has been working with, and has decided to become what he calls " A decent man - a person who lives and works on land".


MK's career aboard a ship- commenced at the young age of 18. He graduated the maritime college for the position of a navigator,and embarked his first ship the Green Point as a cadet. That was 10 years ago. Since than he has graduated a dozens of courses to advance trough the ranks on the ship and  on to more complicate,dangerous and better paid work on specialised ships, as well as a navigational university, and thus has advanced his way up to a Chief.
If Chief MK was to spend a certain number of days in this year- working in his position of a Chief- he would be entitled to take the Captains exam- and advance to a Captain-the top off the hierarchy at the young age of 28. This was the original plan MK had for this year.  He was ready to tolerate the mess of the off shore business- and the inconsistency of his company, but the last straw must have snapped...

Christmas's time this year- when I first met MK and started this project and correspondence just before he departed for China . I came to know that MK had not been home for Christmas for 10 years. He had not seen a Christmas or been around for the family reunions, or for friends or had seen the Christmas lights light up his town! Of course he sounded sad. My little treat for him was to keep the Christmas tree  up in my living room-until he got back from China.. Which was at the end of January- and the needle shedding Christmas tree came to be dangerously close to being thrown out of 8th floor balcony by my husband..MK made it back at the very end of the trees life, ans spent and evening lighting sparklers and pretending Christmas at our home..

It has been a fantasy in his mind for ages- to take a year off from navigation- and just do all the things he has been dreaming about in that year.. Like tour Europe on his motor bike. Create an aquarium for his new apartment ( loves designing and making aquariums together with the fish and plant life).. To take up photography once again- (photography and all cameras where banned on his jack up rigs )..To turn  his aparamtnet into  a smart apartment where everything is controlled by the mobile phone. And to well, be present for all the things he had been missing out on, birthdays, summer, family, friends,  relationships, a free run of emotions which away on ships are allway kept on cool.


How long  will MK be able to continue living on dry land without being out in the ocean, is not predictable. Mariners accustomed to their way of life sometimes find it very hard to re -adjust to the normal life on land- and more so to the much small wages which are available on land. Will he wait until the off-shore crises is over- and the embargo recently lifted off Iran- results  in a new boom in the offshore business- to try his luck and work his way up to being a Captain.. We don't know- but a capable and ambitious man -who has moved up the ranks in the navigational business fast, has he admitted to me sweetly one over coffee-how he has kept scribbled notes on paper- written in high school- on which he promises to him self that he will be Captain- wit the plan that he will one day read the same note as a Captain- I personally believe he will not give up until he is a Captain.. Even if he needs to rest and re charge for a while on land.

As for our project. I will keep you updated on MK's developments, even if less frequentley. Correspondence with someone back home-to a sailor at sea and away- is a life line- yet when they are on land- they actualy have a life- so all correspondence is impossible- they have no time for it- the are much in demand by friends- family-girls, happenings. And they have no need for it- it would be a nuisance- such an obligation when they have so much going on. I am keeping in touch with our sailors whilst on land- trough a series of sort encounters instead.

 Now that MK is not to sail in the near future - I  will delve more pedanticley into the huge amout of material and correspondence we had exchanged whilst he was in China, to produce more paintings, and better illustrate the life of a mariner whilst he is  away.

Bumping in to Capo IT at the Riviera..

So its mothers day and having skived the kinder garden to celebrate sunshine, my son and I walked across the rivera, loaded with mother's day flowers.. And bumped in to Capo of all capos. Engineer I.T. ..
He looked as guilty as if he where caught red handed stealing fruits in the neighbours garden- for not reporting in to me.
How is it I have managed to produce such authority with this project?
I told him I was not the port state control- which was just across the bar he chose on the Riviera- and which Capo had come into town to repport to, as a sailor must.

We had a coffee. Had to- seeing our paths crossed. haha

It was I.T's first coffee at the rivera since his return to Croatia two days ago. The coffee at the Riviera in Split is very significant- I must elaborate on this- for all men and women not form Split.

To have the coffee at the rivera- is to sit down, to say officialy Im home,
to look across your coffee table trough the passers by , trough the plam trees, into the sea and the sun. It is a feeling incomparable to any thing else. It is to say, I'm, home, all is well, I am safe, the world is in its place, the stars are in their proper orbits, I am happy. This is accentuated by the taste of the coffee, the scent of the sea air, the blinding sun .

Of course that is the feeling one has at the first coffee at the rivera when one arrives from aborad after a long time away.

You have read how the coffee at the rivera changes -following the development of MK's unexpected over -stay,- inside the coffee drinker - the happiness decays a bit over time, and due to over repetition .


Any way just to intorduce you a bit to Capo IT when he is on land- whom I know for years- as we come from the same tiny sea town just outside of Split..

Capo it was looking, very thin (  Personal observation-When mariners disembark their ships-  they all seem a bit drained.. They all hate food on ships and work under a lot of stress)
Capo was drinking coffee only. That is to say there was no traditional short alcoholic beverage accompanying the coffee. Which will change with time- just keep on reading...
He was all tidy, bright as a spark- wearing a watch- and it was still not noon.. Im accustomed to IT waking up at noon,  having his first coffee in town about that hour- and the inability to plan any certain thing with him at any hour.. hours do not exsist for him when he is home. Im also accustomed at seeing him untidy and wearing evidence of the good life and night before in his face.



Well I expect things will change once he gets used to being home. There will be no early waking up, and soon coffees will be accompanied by plenty of Rakia's. There will be no watch in his vicinity.. And he will gain a few kilos- making up on all his favourite foods- which are not available on ships. He will be inconsistent in keeping us updated- but he will be getting up to tons of fun we are not to keep track of ,and he will be happy .

Wellcome home Capo!

The continued warp

Out mariners have for a few weeks lived in a warp.
MK was convinced he was flying to his ship last Tuesday.
IT was convinced he will be home this week..
Both are left where they where- unable to start working on other projects- or ideas- because  they could fly at any moment, unable to settle in their minds, know where they will be- and yet not traveling anywhere.
I thought MK would be on ship by now and IT home- and so did they, and so did their friends, their family, girlfirends..
Tough is the life of the sailor.

Sretan rođen dan MK :)

Happy Birthday MK :)

Chief IT is comming home! Iden doma dobre volje sam odma..

S:

Its the monsters in the office. The fat boss is probably having sex with the new intern on your papers, so the release letter has slid to the floor and got lost under a cupboard. Make some noise!

Chief . I.T.

Fat boss can't get it up any more.  hahaahah !

I'm home begging of next, week confirmed by the fat boss!

**********************

S:

haha barabe u uredu..

Bit če se sexa debeli šef sa novom stažisticom na tvojim papirima pa im je odpusno pismo palo na pod, zavukl se ispodormara..

digni viku!

Chief I.T

Debelon sefu se vise ne dize hahaha

Doma san pocetkon iduce setemane potvrdjeno i odobreno od debelog sefa🍷

Capo I.T Delays..

Sunci:

So ,friend am I making a big dinner this weekend to welcome you back or are you going to kill your self over chewing on coke leaves?

Capo I.T

hahah Both those options! I haven't got my release letter- but its somewhere in the air..

S:

Čuj prijatelju jeli pravin večeru ovaj vikend za pozdrav dolasu ili češ se ubit od žvakanja koke?

Wed 18:56

Capo I.T:

Hahahaha oboje

Neman jos otpusno pismo ali tu je negdi u zraku

Chief MK's Birthday send him your greetings - Rođendan Chiefa MK pošaljite mu koju rić

Dear Readers. Tomorrow . 5th of March is our Dear Chief MK's Birthday.. If you want to send any birthday wishes to the mariner who has been kind enough to let us into his world and life,  send me an email with the wishes and I will forward all to MK or publish your wishes here.
 sunci.on.stage@gmail.com
Best Regards
Sunći

Dragi Čitatelji, sutra je rođendan našeg Chiefa MK!
Ako želite poslati neke žljeje mornaru koji nam je omogučio uvid  u njegov svijet- pošaljite riječi meni na email a ja ču proslijediti njemu ili objaviti ovdje!

Ljep pozdrav Sunći

If the mariners on board that ship knew that there was a painter girl painting their ship at that very moment,

The dark set in. The wind rose and bid me get out of there. The ship turned on a warm reassuring light as the sun was extinguished behind the mountains.

 If the mariners on board that ship knew that there was a painter girl painting their ship at  that very moment, from the shore, I bet they would have felt a little less glum, than they always seem to be.

The mariners aboard that ship had no idea that they and their ship where participating in that sun set.

This astounding sun set happened as the day parted.

The mariners aboard that ship had no idea that they and their ship where participating in that sun set.

Ships at sea - painting in wind

These paintings are studies..

Though I believe the are formally stronger than when I paint from  photographs-- you can feel these ships in space right?

The ships moved in down wind around the anchor all the time, presenting me with one anlge than another in minutes, not standing still at any point, and it vas very far away from me so not much detail . .. But I like these studes.

The end of the day, ship lights up a little by little..

Ships in my back yard

For the majority of this project I have been resorting to painting ships from photographs. Industrial ships are  completely new subject matter in my painting- and the Mariners we are following are on the other sides of the worlds with their ships- which makes it impossible to be present.

When wishes come true, I will spend some days - a week or so on one of these ocean going vessels- the ship company will sponsor my stay and painting on their ship - my travel there,  and I will love it, - but until this is realised, I must do my best.

Recently I have noticed a cargo ship at the beach, and than nat coffee, and than it struck me how every day I see huge ships sailing past my northern kitchen windows and going around the Split peninsula to the industrial port.  So really I do have ships to  paint from-. They are not the very ship our sailor friends are on- but some ships which could be of the same kind are passing.

A big wind has risen. The magnificent tempestous dramatic  dark cloudy southern wet winds- which I love to look at, and relish walk past the sea's edge and get covered by waves, and so I picked up my kit and went to the shore.

Here is the ship that ha been dancing around me asking to be painted this week.

 This is my painting set up.

And here is I ready to paint. Freezing wind by the way- thus the fur ..

-Odious moments with suitcases/ Nepodošljivi trenuci kufera

Chief MK and Capo IT. Have never met.
They don't know much about one another.
They are not the same age, or do the same work,
Never the less and as coincidental as this may seem- this project has some how connected them.
You the readers- and I the artist are following their two lives, things the two mariners are going trough- at the same time.

Though they both where supposed to disembark and embark their ships at different times- things have been re-arranged for them by their companies- and we have now the two sailors we are following at a very loaded, and stressful moment.
They are at this moment in the same and opposite situation.

Chief MK is starring at his suitcase, hating it, stressed out about it, not knowing which second a horrible little beep will sound on his mobile, and he will get the odious mail with a ticket and have to pull out his roots, drag his feet, and get on that plane that he really doesn't want to get on, and which will keep him away from home and all those little pleasures, for months.

Capo IT is starring at the suitcase which he has packed, the suit case is on the floor of his ship cabin, waiting, just waiting for that ticket out of there. Excited, and stressed out because of the delay. Each second away from home, away from that plane is odious.

***************************************************************+

Chief Mk I Capo IT se nisu nikada upoznali.
Ne znaju mnogo jedan o drugom.
Nisu iste dobi, niti obavljaju isti posao.
Unatoč toga ovaj projekt koliko god to se doimalo to slučajnost- ih je nekako povezao.
Vi čitatelji i ja slikarica- pratimo njihove živote, I ono što proživljavaju, u isto vrijeme.

Iako su oboje trebali već otići na brod / sići sa broda , firme su im promijenile planove, I trenutno dva pomorca koje pratimo se nalaze u vrlo napetom i stresnom trenutku.
Oni se nalaze u istoj - ali u obrnutoj situaciji u ovom trenutku.

Chief MK bulji u svoj kufer, mrzeči ga, u stresu, ne znajući koji trenutak morati če isčupati korjenje, dovuči se do aviona, na koji zaista ne želi ući, I koji će ga udaljiti od kući i svih onih malih gušti, na mnoge mjesece.

Capo IT bulji u svoj kufer, koji je spakiran, kufer je na podu brodske kabine, čeka, samo čeka kartu koja če ga isčupati sa broda. Uzbuđen je I jednako u stresu, zbog odgađanja odlaska. Svaka sekunda dalje od doma je nepodnošljiva.

Chief MK. In between worlds - Između svijetova

Chief MK:

Today I awoke in the morning. Thinking aobut the flight details arriving for tomorrow, how I must pack that suit case, ect..

I go for a coffee with a friend, I'm waiting for that mail- nothing.

We conclude that work hours in Dubai are over, the ticket will not arrive today  for tomorrow..

We make a pleasant switch from coffee to something stronger, and it continued until ..now.

A relaxed day..

S: You got a bonus day..

Warp time. you can do all those things no one needs to know about because everybody thinks you have left the country..

A little day of luxury...

*************************************************************************

Chief MK:

Danas sam se probudia ujutro. Mislim se kako ce mi doc letovi za sutra,  kako moram spakirat kufer,  itd... 

Odem na kavu s prijom,  cekam mail - nista. 

Zakljucimo mi da je proslo radno vrime u dubai i da nece doc karta danas za sutra. 

Lipo mi s kave pridjemo na nesto jace... I tako sve do sada. 

Bas se lipo opustili,... 

S:

dobija si extra dan..

Warp time.

Možeš raditi sve one stvari koji niko nezna da češ napravit jer svi misle da si več otiša..

Mali luksuz day.