Brazilian tattoo, ice breaking adventure and the mystery of the flying fish... look for pictures in the czech post...

We crossed the Atlantic six times already. Each trip to Brazil and back to Canada takes about a month with a short stopover in Searsport and Portland. Im halfway through the first sailing job. The job I dreamed about for so long. And like most of the jobs, the dream sometimes turns into a nightmare. When there is a storm out there and its impossible to sleep normally, when something breaks down in the middle of the night and you have no other option, then getting up and work on it until its fixed, when its over 120F in the engine room... Most of the time its ok work, but sometimes you wish this thing sinks already. 
I guess you can get used to anything. 
Time passes different here. Since we work every day, you stop paying attention to the names given to them. Noone is excited on friday afternoon and no one bitches about having to go to work on monday morning. If there was no ice cream on sunday you wouldnt know another week has passed. We count time on each individual trips south and back, as well as running hours of different machines, so we can maintain them on time. When I first heard of Einsteins theory of relativity, I was amazed. The concept of time passing slower as you reach the speed of light. Its the same on the ship. It feels like so much happened on the shore in last three months and we only went through like a week. As I was asking the older guys here who sail their whole life, I discovered, that most of them spent about a year on board at once. This one guy spent sixteen and half months on a ship when he was younger. Its funny to listen to their stories. They all start "This one time, we were shipping wood from... '' or '' This one time we were carrying iron ore from''.  Some of the stories he tells are crazy though. Like the one when they were hauling coal... 
The place we go to in Brazil is this small town close to Belem. Its in the delta of Amazon. Its amazing to see the water turning light brown as you get closer. The size of it is mindblowing. There are branches and leaves floating around us and the smell. You can totally smell the jungle in the air. This water flushed through the rainforest, sat still in muddy pools until it was pushed away by a heavy rains. And now its here at the edge of this vast ocean. Its full of life.. and garbage...
I always try to go out on shore, when in port. It takes about 24 hours to load Anette with 20 000 tons of cargo so we got plenty of time to hang out. If I didnt live in Peru, I would be probably amazed by the way of living down here. Its the same style of chaos, same 'broken houses' architecture and garbage everywhere as a proper city waste management. As we sit down to have beer these girls show up. They sit down at our table on the sidewalk without asking any questions.  At first I was stupid and was hoping on maybe meeting someone local to maybe have a conversation with. Just about anything. Well, these girls (you can call them whores if you want) arent the best people to talk to. All they know about my country is that its a country.. And pretty much all they know about Brazil is that its a country as well. I try to ask them about Belem, since I find it on almost every map of the world. I give up with laughter, after they tell me, that there is about hundred people in that town. Its a big town you know...
The one next to me is missing some teeth and it looks like her boobs are gonna fall out from her shirt on the table pretty soon. 
''Do you want sex?'' 
''Why the hell would I want that?''
''Because I need money''
Oh stupid me... What was I thinking. That is exactly what I want. Sex with you and pay for it in the end. There are some guys who cant resist the temptation though. I mean there are some pretty girls afterall. This one sailor summed it up pretty good the next day. I got drunk last night, I had dinner, I had a girl who carried my groceries and then had sex with me and all I spent was 100 dollars. Oh man, looks like you got a deal right there.  Then he starts describing the bathroom, trying to explain us, that a local sanitary equipment is a little different from what we are used to. Yeah.  Oil barrel full of cold water is not a sanitary equipmnet. 
It took me three returns to that town to understand better the 'relationships'. Once you go with a girl, she considers you 'yours'. She will find you in about 15 minutes you leave the boat and wont let you alone. Its crazy. Some guys pay them to leave them alone:) 
Last time we were there, it was the cooks last time, since he was going back to Czech republic. He had this girl there. As we were hanging out in this bar this young bartender(about 15 years old) showed up with a homemade tattoo thing(the device you use to make a tattoo). The girl with no teeth and dangerously low-hanging boobs grabbed cooks 'girlfriend' and the bartender started to tattoo her. Oh, things are getting interesting here. In about 5 minutes he is done and the girl has a beautiful new tattoo of our cook's name on her shoulder. Probably amazed by her love, he wants her name on his shoulder now. It took us some time to convince him not to do it. 
As we head up back north, the ship sits pretty low above the water and the passage is really calm. Even when the waves get big, we sail still. We take out the grill and have a nice barbecue on the deck. The suns sets quickly around the equator and the unknown southern constelations lit up the night sky. I gaze at the stars enjoying the warm tropical night. In a couple of days we will leave the gulf stream and cold days will come. 
The storm we went through leaving the stream was pretty crazy. Short, but strong. The waves washed every inch of the deck, carried away forgotten tools and equipment, and we woke up to a really cold day. It didnt take long till we hit the ice fields. Its a world of its own. These large white planes are amazing. And powerful. As we ram our way through it, the whole ship shakes in a really weird way. This is how I imagine earthquake. The floor just moves sideways, up and down under your feet and vibrates with the strangest noises. It doesnt take long and we stand still with large icepacks closing in behind us. The engine stops and it gets quiet for a moment. We are perfectly wedged in between two large ice plates. 
Dead astern... nothing. Slow atesrn... nada. Half...  It takes good 5 minutes for Anette to start moving back on full power. Its loud as hell. Ice cracks and squeeks as it gets crushed by the ship's huge steel sides. I wonder what we are gonna do. Well, we are men and this is men thinking at its best. We back out of it, about half a mile and ram the ice ahead of us. Full power of course.  And then we get stuck again. And we back out and ram again. All day and the next night. Because we dont need a god damn ice breaker. We are the sailors from Czechoslovakia and Russia and nothing is stopping us to deliver the cargo(late).
Anette is actually built to deal with ice. The rudder and propeller is positioned lower than on normal vessels and the hull is reinforced. But who knows what kind of steel was used and again my mechanical engineering knowledge of brittle fracture haunts me during the night as I feel and hear the ice scratching Anette's back. 13 ships got stuck in the ice in those two, three days out there and Canadian coast guard icebrakers had plenty of work to do. We were accompanied by seals. There were tons of them on the ice fields around us. I wonder why they never learned how to dress in white. You can see them so easy! It was awesome to see them in their natural habitat. Slide across the ice, sticking their heads out the water wondering what the hell is this big floating thing. 
Its as awesome as to see the flying fish. There is so much of them. Large groups just jump out and glide across the water. They fly so far! They make turns, go up and down. Its obvious that they do this for pure pure enjoyment. Or is it me who enjoys watching them? As I did, I noticed this weird thing. They seemed to push themselves with their tail fin halfway through the flight. It looked like they wanted to gain some more speed before they finally hit the water and dissapeared under the surface. Well it didnt take long and the most athletic ones started to land on the deck. We keep finding them every morning. Probably the waves help them too. I was so happy to find out, that my theory was right. Looking at the fish I found out its tail fin is designed to do exactly what I thought they were doing. The lower side of the fin is longer than the upper one. Opposite of shark's tail fin, for example. This allows them to submerge just this part of the fin during the flight and gain some speed... Amazing. And the wings. Just a perfect shape. What a beautiful creature. Pretty stupid on the other hand. I was watching these weird segulls catching them. The fish, instead of swiming away kept jumping up and trying to outfly the birds. So funny. 
This is the dream part of the job. Seeing things I would never see on land. Dealing with problems you never thought existed. And all without the help Including some work we have here. I mean, have you ever been inside the engine? Talking to a man, who is also inside the engine, but one floor higher? 
Thanks for reading. Next time Ill write about the safety drills, more about the crew and the captain... and who knows what Neptune has in store for us on our next voyage. 

Hospodske tetovani, uviznuti v ledu a litaci ryby postopadesate

Pulka prvniho nalodeni je za mnou. Zatim to utika docela rychle a kdyby nebyla v nedeli po obede zmrzlina, tak ani nevim co je za den v tydnu. Tim, jak makame kazdej den tady pojmy jako vikend ztraceji smysl. Nedele je sice od slova nedelat, ale to je zase od slova delat. Tak makame jen do tri. Cas se tady pocita na jednotlivy cesty na sever a na jih. Ta posledni byla docela dlouha. Po ctrnacti dnech na mori se vsichni docela tesime na to, ze na obzoru uz bude i neco jinyho nez voda. Zazili jsme toho zase celkem dost. 
Posledni navsteva Brazilie se celkem vyvedla. Posledni noc pred pristavem se v noci rozbilo zarizeni na cisteni paliva, tak jsem s tretim dustojnikem ve ctyri rano v padesati stupnich opravovali, dokud nebylo hotovo. Pak jeste hodina spanku a rano zase do kotelny. Dlouho jsem premejslel, jestli mam jit ven.  Jeste, ze jsem sel. To co se zase delo v tomhle brazilskym Chanove stalo za to. 

tady uz se trenuje na mistrovstvi sveta. Doufan, ze s tech orechu doma neco vyroste

 Devcata nas sice zase nenechaly na pokoji a otravovali nas celej vecer, ale poprve v zivote jsem videl, jak se nekdo nechava tetovat v baru. Asi na znameni velke lasky si jedno devce nechalo primo u stolu vytetovat kucharovo jmeno na rameno. Kluk, kterej nam celej vecer nosil piva se najednou zjevil s podomacky vyrobenou tetovaci pistoli. Mohlo mu bejt odhadem tak patnact.  V rumu namocenym ubrousku otrel slecne rameno a z vicka od koly zacal na hrot pistole nabirat inkoust a tetovat. Bezzuba kozata stetka, u ktery hrozilo, ze ji nadra kazdou chvili vypadnou na stul se zvedla a svoji kolegyni chytla zezadu kolem pasu a pevne ji drzela, aby se moc necukala a kuchtovo jmeno bylo dostatecne citelny. Uz jsem parkrat videl lidi s cerstvym tetovanim. Pekne si to mazou nejakym kremem, maj to zabaleny v igelitu... Tady bylo za pet minut hotovo. Utrit hadrem, za dalsich deset minut znova utrit hadrem kapky krve a hotovo. Nadhera. Kuchar se chce nechat tetovat taky. Skvelej napad vole. Nastesti se nam mu to podarilo rozmluvit. 

Tetovani za pivo

Druhej den nas cekala prace, o ktere jsem zatim jen slysel. Jednou za dva, tri mesice se musi motor cistit zevnitr. S Hujerem jsme se s chuti pustili rano do prace a z prostoru pod pistama jsme vyhrabavali celej den kyble pekelne cernyho mastnyho bahna. Olej smichanej s mazutovejma sazema a kovovejma pilinama. Uvnitr motoru je krasna akustika. Zpivam si, Hujer se poti jak hokejovej brankar a jen do obeda se jde trikrat sprchovat a prevlect. Ja sem zatnul zuby a skoncil jsem az kdyz jsem vycistil svoje 3 pisty. Hujer se mnou uz zase prohral kamen nuzky papir a musel delat 4. Kdyz jsem cernej vylezl na palubu na kafe, uz jsem mel od palubaku na hrnku napsano MAZUT HEY.

grilovacky na zadi jsou super. 

Cesta nahoru byla tentokrat neskutecne klidna. Jednak jsme byli nalozeny skoro az po vodorysku ukazujici maximalni moznej ponor v severnim atlantiku v zime a pocasi bylo vazne skvely. Cestou jsme si udelali grilovacku na zadi, ktery se ucastnila jen pulka posadky, ktera si nakoupila v brazilce burty. Ta pulka posadky, ktera bejt na jiny lodi pred par stoletima, by urcite zorganizovala vzpouru. Kazdy rano sbirame v golfskym proudu na palube litaci ryby. Nektery kusy fakt stoji za to a zustava rozum stat nad tim, jak vysoko dokazdou vyletet. Dlouho jsem zkoumal jejich pohyb nad hladinou a zdalo se mi, ze po tom co vyskoci a plachti, obcas ocasem machnou do vody aby jeste nabraly trochu rychlosti a doletely dal. Po tom co jsem pak videl prvni mrtvou na palube mi doslo jak to delaji. Spodni ploutev na ocasu maji delsi nez tu horni. Opacne nez treba zralok. Timhle spesl ocasem se takhle chytre dokazou nad hladinou udrzet dyl a doplachtit dal. Treba nam na palubu. Zajimalo by me, jak ostatni ryby koukaj na ty, co skoncili u nas na palube a pak je vlna splachla zpet. Myslim, ze jim neveri, ze tam nahore nad hladinou neco je.

Par detailu letaci ryby.

Kuchar. Vcera odjel domu. Ozral se takovym zpusobem, ze ho nechteli pustit ani do auta na letiste. 

Jak moc jsme se vsichni nechali ukonejsit klidnym oceanem a zapomenout na to, ze jsme vlastne na lodi jsme zjistili par dni pred dojezdem do Kanady. Pri vyjezdu z golfskyho proudu sme se v noci prohnali bourkou. Pekne nam to zase umylo palubu, odneslo co nebylo privazany a rano jsme se vzbudili do poradnyho mrazu. Kolem nas pomalu zacal led, ktery houstl, silil az jsme se zacali prorezavat jeho  souvislou vrstvou. Zpomaloval nas tak dlouho az jsme se v nem zasekli. Hrusostrasny skripani a pukani ledu ustalo a najedou ticho. Naprosto dokonaly. Po pul hodine, kdy motor rval na plny zpetny otacky jsme se pomalu zacali vyhrabavat zpet. Couvli jsme si asi kilometr a na plnej chod vpred jsme to nakonec prorazili. Po obede jsem sel na mustek a ten vyhled mi vyrazil dech. Kam oko dohledlo jen souvisla vrstva ledu. Vsude dokola. Jen za nama se pomalu zavirala voda, ktera je ted uz davno zase zamrzla. Kapitan starostlive klouzal ocima po tyhle ledovy pustine  a jen zahlasil, ze toto nevyzera dobre. Kormidelnikovi daval povely, ktery nas vedou skrz mista, ktery vypadaji jako, ze byly driv popraskany a znovu zamrznuty. Nikam to vsak nevede a za chvili stojime uviznuti v ledu zase. Tentokrat poradne na fest. Skripnuty mezi dvema obrima deskama musi nase lod z velky vysky vyadat fakt srandovne. Aneta je konstruovana na plavbu ledem. Mame sroub i kormidlo hodne hluboko pod hladinou aby ho velky kusy zmrzy vody nemohli poskodit. Zaroven i zesilenou obsivku a motor dimenzovanej na o hodne vetsi lod.

 Keptn vyklada kormidlo naplno na levou a na druhou stranu a za plnyho chodu motoru se snazi led za nama co nejvic rozlamat. K mymu udivu zustava naproto v klidu, i kdyz mi druhej den rekl, ze na tenhle den asi nikdy nezapomene. S neuveritelnou rozhodnosti dava Vencovi za kormidlem povely a po chvili se zacneme neskutecne pomalu z ledu pozadu soukat. Vaclav se uz tesi domu. Ted tady stoji bezradne za kormidlem s vyrazem ridice skodovky co ten den trikrat zapadl do zaveje.  Znova poradnej rozjezd a led uz pred nama zase praska a lame se. Trhliny se pred pridi klikati stovky metru daleko a led pod nama uz zase hlasite praska. Priletelo letadlo kanadsky pobrezni straze a dela nad nama dva dlouhy prulety. Pul dne cesty za nama pomaha ledoborec jine lodi a me jen napada, jaky mame stesti. Situace do ktery jsme se dostali driv lamala lode vejpul... Ten den jsme se jeste dvakrat zasekli, couvli a vyhrabali z ledoveho sevreni. V pripade, ze bychom nadobro uvizli, by nam prej na pomoc prijel ten ledoborec, kterej celej den vyprostoval tu lod za nama. 

Kapitan je neskutecnej pohodar a zaroven asi hodne zkusenej a zodpovednej namornik. Prakticky kazdej tejden mame poplachy, kdy trenujeme ruzny nouzovy situace. Vetsina lidi na to nadava, ale chtel bych ty pitomce videt v akci, az se neco stane. Pri kazdym takovymhle treninku mi beha mraz po zadech pri predstave realny situace. V zachranym clunu, kterej visi dvacet metru nad hladinou je po peti minutach nedychatelno a ti z nas kteri jsou jeste vetsi a silnejsi nez ja maj co delat aby se nasoukali do sedacky a zapli si pas. Je to fakt masakr. A to trenujeme za pekyho pocasi. 
Stal se ze me jeden ze dvou lodnich hasicu. Doufam, ze nezacne horet, protoze v hasicky vyzbroji, ktera je evidentne urcena na fakt husty pozary se neda prakticky hnout. Clovek jen vidi, jak mu v dejchacim pristroji ubejva vzduch a pres poskrabany plexisklo jen tusi kde jsou asi dvere, kudy pred ohnem utect. Uz chapu, proc je sklad barev a redidel uplne na pridi. Kterej genius si vsak usmyslel, ze hektolitry prumyslovejch odmastovadel, oleju, ziravin a jinejch horlavin prvni tridy bude uskladneno primo pod nasema kajutama nevim.  
Obcas to je to tady dlouhy. Neni kam utect. Neni kdy si odpocinout. Projit se. Venku videt jinou barvu nez modrou. Citit jiny vune nez ty smrady v masine. Venku to zdanlive nijak nevoni. Stejne jako treba na ledovci vysoko v horach.  Pobavila me zprava, ktera prisla jednomu namornikovi tady od nejaky zensky. Psala, ze by taky chtela k mori. Jsme ta nejpodivnejsi banda siroko daleko. Ze zeme, ktera nema more. Neco jako jamajsti bobisti. 

brazilskej brouk. Mel jsem dva mrtvy. Odnesl je vsak vitr. Snad jeste nejaky najdu

Za chvili opoustime zamrzlou Kanadu. Dva dny jsme menili pist v hlavni masine a misto vychazky ven jsme si udelali vychazku do motoru. V zalivu sv.Vavrince je prej zamrznuto trinact lodi, tak muzeme zorganizovat turnaj a do jara hrat curling. 
Mejte se krasne

A az me zavrou, tak si budu uzivat dlouhe vychazky na vezenskem dvorku...

tentokrat nemame venku moc casu, tak je to takovy narychlo zbastleny...

Mame za sebou dalsi otocku do Brazilie a zpatky. Ze statu, kde jsem sem daval posledni prispevek jsme ale nejdriv pluli do Kanady. Odjezd se zpozdil o jeden den, kvuli pocasi a cekani na priliv. Searsport ve state Maine, kam z nejakyho nepochopitelnyho duvodu vozime tuny kaolinu, je maly klidny mestecko. Takovej filmovej zapadakov, kde kdyz prijde do hospody neznama tvar prestane hrat hudba a vsichni si vas nejdriv zmeri pohledem. Mistnaci se k nam ale chovaj neuveritelne pratelsky a kdyz v desti chceme jit zpet na lod, barman vola svoji mame a ta nas v noci zadaco sveze az na molo. Lod je uz je prazdna a spolu s prilivem, kterej ji zvedl o dalsi tri metry je to po lavce na palubu pekne do kopce. Jeste nikdy jsem nevidel tak velky a rychly stridani prilivu a odlivu. Neni divu. Kousek od nas je Bay of Fundy, kde je rozdil hladin kolem 20 metru.

Na reku sv.Vavrince se dostavame o par dni pozdeji a skrz Quebeck City projizdime ve dne. Je to na pohled fakt pekny mesto. Na kopci nad rekou se tyci obrovska budova quebeckeho parlamentu a my se pomalu probouravame skrz nakupeny led. Je ho tolik, ze lodivod musi prijet na remorkeru, misto obvykleho lehkeho motoroveho clunu. Rano prisla na mustek zprava, ze nase sesterska lod Laura to pred dvema dny napalila do ledoborce, kterej ji prorazel cestu. Nestihli to dobrzdit. My cestou zadny ledoborec nepotkame. Ledu je sice hodne, ale je rozbitej a po tech krutejch mrazech, ktery tady v lednu byly uz je provoz na rece zase plne obnovenej. Stejne bych ale nechtel bejt v kapitanovo kuzi a ridit tenhle kolos v podminkach jaky tady panujou. Cela lod je ostatne pripravena na zimni rezim a vsichni doufame, ze vsechno bude fungovat jak ma.

Po dni vykladani a tankovani paliva v Trois Rivieres se odvazujeme a mirime do tepla v Brazilii. V Kanade jsme si stihli skocit do mesta. V obchodaku jsem potkal Hujera. Koupil si nejaky pocitacovy hry. Uz jsem myslel, ze to vsechno probehne v pohode, kdyz se Hujer do kramu sel vratit pro penezenku a pro ty hry. Na lodi pak zjistil, ze mu jednu z nich zapocitali dvakrat.

Jsme lod, co nikde nestavi na dlouho. Tanker, kde nikdo neni zaplacenej jak na tankeru. Udajne nejhorsi lod z cely fotily, kde neni na poradny opravy cas a kde se vsechno bastli za pochodu jak jen to jde. Nikdo si poradne neodpocine a kdyz mam moznost jit ven, tak chapu ty strasi, ze na to kaslou a jdou radsi spat...

Kazda jina lod by na vetsi opravu zustala stat v pristavu par dni. K nam prijeli v Brazilii dva polaci, ktery se pustili do totalni genralky pomocnyho generatoru. Motor velkej jak dodavka. Maj na to tejden, nez se dostaneme do statu. Zvladli bychom to sami, ale to uz bychom, nemeli dost lidi na beznej chod lodi. Maka na tom skoro cela strojovna a vsichni se modlime aby ty dalsi dva pomocnaky, ktery nam vyrabeji elektrinu nechciply. Vsichni makame jak cinani. Kazdej den porad do kola. Ma to jednu vyhodu. Nikdo nedrzkuje ze zejtra je zas pondeli a v patek vas po praci nikdo netaha do hospody. Kdyby kuchar nevyrabel jidelni listek, kde byl mimo jine chsopnej v lednu napocitat 33 dni, tak bych uz davno nevedel co je za den.

Po par dnech nam mizi brehy reky z dohledu a pozdeji i brehy Kanady. Vsude kolem nas uz je zas jen voda a led. Obcasne pasy plujiciho ledu, vetsi i mensi kry, skrz ktery si bez problemu razime cestu. Rano je to nadheran podivana. Hladina jak na rybniku, mlha par metru nad hladinou, nadherne cista voda a v ni plujici bile desky. Je strasna zima. Co chvili to vypada, ze dalsi oblast ledu uz nebude, ze uz jsme ji nadobro opustili a za par hodin zas slysim jak jsme zase do nejaky kry pridi narazili. Snazim si predstavit, jaky silenci asi museli bejt v posadce Johna Franklina, kterej se snazil najit cestu z atlantiku do pacifiku na sever od kanady. Na dreveny plachetnici, bez motoru, elektriny, zasob... Zustali v ledu uvezneni 6 let a ten posledni pas ledu, za kterym byla uz jen volna voda a cesta domu, nikdy uz nevideli. Vypada to tady presne jak jsem si to predstavoval pri cteni knizek od Amundsena, Welzla... A i tak mam ted pocit, ze se to proste slovy neda popsat. Jdu se radsi schovat do tepla do masiny.

Aneta rychlosti 12 uzlu uhani na jih a sotva co vjedeme do Golfskyho proudu se konecne otepluje. Behem dvou, tri dnu teplota more leti vzhuru z peti, sesti stupnu na dvacettri. Bohuzel stoupa i teoplota vzduchu v masine.

Po trinacti dnech celkem poklidne plavby se konecne blizime k delte amazonky. Voda postupne postupne meni barvu z tmave modry na kakaove hnedou.

Ve tri rano tahame kotvu a po rece plujeme k pristavu.

Vychody a zapady slunce jsou kolem rovniku neskutecne rychly. Behem ctvrt hodiny je po vsem. Ta chvilka, kdy se slunce rychle vyhouplo nad zamlzenej obzor byl nadhernej. Vzduch syte voni pralesem, ve vode plavou roztodivny listy, klacky, orechy... Kolem Anety krouzi zvlastni rackove a mury velky jak motyli se rychle snazi najit ukryt. Vzpominam na okamzik, kdy jsem na tenhle prales koukal z vrcholu Huayna Potosi v Bolivii. Jeho pritomnost tehdy prozrazovala jen souvisla perina vodou nacucanejch mraku. Ted o sest kilometru niz a par tisic kilaku na zapad je zase videt jen pas stromu na pobrezi. Ale ta dzungle tam proste nekde musi bejt.

Odpoledne, po kratkym tropickym lijaku, kdy nebylo videt na prid nas jde par ven.Kuchar, kapitan, dva palubaci a ja. Stojime celkem daleko od brehu, tak nas mistnaci vezou na svoji dreveny lodce na plaz. Kapitan je nesmirnej pohodar a myslim, ze ten borec co nas veze ani nevi ze jeden z nas se za tu kratkou plavbu proste nesmi utopit. Skaceme do vody a po pas ve vode se brodime na pisek.

Konecne pevna puda pod nohama. Je nadherny vlhko a teplo. Vsechno je krasne zeleny, mokry a vonavy.

Jdeme si vymenit prachy. Kdybych nestravil tech par mesicu v jizni americe, tak by me zdejsi mesto asi trochu vydesilo. Vsude bordel, chatrce jak nekde v zahradkarsky kolonii, rozbitej asfalt plnej kaluzi... Chaos a pritom nesmirna pohoda. Chlapik v obchode se smisenym zbozim nam prodava umasteny brazilsky Realy za umasteny amricky dolary a jdeme si sednout na pivo. Kluci to tady uz znaji a tak vybirame podnik U Francesky. Starsi madam nam vytahne plastovej stul a zidle na chodnik a prinese nam velky lahvace. Netrva to ani deset minut a prisedaji si mistni devcata. "Aneta is here" volaj na kamosku...

Tak jako my zname jmena fotbalistu a hokejistu ony znaji jmena lodi, ktery tady kotvi. Tohle bude asi jeste hodne zajimavej vecer. Nevim proc, ale snazim se od nich zjistit i neco jinyho, nez jmena tech vraku co sem plujou.

Kolik tu zije lidi?

Nevim. Hodne asi

Tak treba sto?

Hmm asi sto..

Kolik Ti je?

23

Kolik mas deti?

Jedno... sedm let

A kde je papa?

Zadnej papa...

ajaj. Zase nejakej zazrak...

Na ruce ma vytetovano Kuba a nejakej datum. Ptam se kdo je Kuba. Prej nejakej cech z nasi dalsi lodi. To bude asi velka laska. Premejslim, ze bych ji rekl, ze se jmenuju Hujer a zaplatil ji tetovani..

Devcata nas doprovazeji do obchodu, kde mame za ukol nakoupit tem co zustali na lodi chlast a Francesca vytahuje gril, na kterym nam chysta veceri. Pri pomysleni, ze maso nakoupila v tom samym obchode by se mi asi mel zvedat zaludek. Ale tady asi neni zvykem skladovat maso v chladu. Kdyz se vracime z nakupu tak se celou ulici vali kour a smrad z grilu, kterej snad nikdo nikdy nemyl. Trochu mi to pripomina smrad z komina na Anete, ale spizy, ktery na nem pripravi jsou vyborny. Kuchar si samozrejme vyslechne par poznamek o tom jak se ma varit a ten na oplatku vyhrozuje zitrejsim obedem.

Devcata, rikejte jim treba kurvy, do sebe ladujou piva a maso a vypada to, ze je nase pritomnost bavi.

Francesca nosi dalsi a dalsi jidlo a za mnou na chodniku sedi malej kluk a uz po tme kouka do nejaky ucebnice. Kouka na nas jak na zjeveni. Na rozdil od nekterejch mistnich. Je mi jasny, ze namornici tady asi dobrou povest nemaji.

Na chvilku se mi udela z toho kluka smutno. Kam se asi v zivote podiva on. Co bude v mym veku delat a o cem snit. Rychle se na to snazim zapomenout a predstiram sam pred sebou, ze co clovek nezna, mu nechybi.

Jdeme zpatky na plaz do baru. Je ticha tepla noc. Cestou jedna z holek zastavuje pred poborenou barabiznou. Z okna vyhledne polonahe devce a devce cislo jedna ho pokrikem "Aneta is here" taha ven. Za pet minut sedi s nama u stolu. Hrajeme kulecnik, a ja se nesmirne bavim. Konecne na chvili vypadnout z ty trestanecky kolonie a videt jiny ksichty. Ty zabomysi valky, pomluvy a donaseni na jiny, kterejma se nekteri lidi na lodi bavi, mi ted prijdou obzvlast pitomy a zbytecny. Jak psani do pisku v priboji. Ale co chtit po blaznech, ktery se nechaj dobrovolne zavrit na lod a neopousteji ji ani v pristavu. Ne nadarmo je v anglii namornik po dvaceti letech sluzby prohlasenej za nesvepravnyho a zcela podle zakona povazovanej za polomagora.

Holky se nas snazi odtahnout do nejakejch kabin, co pripominaj chlevky. Umiram smichy.

Kamos hlasi... "Hosi, ja chodil po bordelech, to byl exlusiv. Ale tohle. Tam je vole sud, v kterym se jako oplachnes a tomu rikaj hygiena. Ja tady ani radsi nefotim. Kamosi by si mysleli, ze sem chlastal s cikankama nekde v Usti."

Devcatum to nevadi. Chlastaj s nama a asi se opravdu bavi. Hezky zpivaj... S kapitanem a kuchtou do sebe kopneme panaka fakt dobryho rumu. Zahreje stejne jako myslenka na to, kde to zase jsem... Kde to zase kurva jsem a co tady sakra delam?

Kuchar uz je v opileckem komatu a kolem pulnoci pro nas prijizdi barka, ktera nas veze domu. Jeste daleko od brehu slysime duneni cumbie z repraku pod bambusovou chysi, kterou jsme pred chvili opustili.

Vyhruzky o tom jak bude vypadat obed se bohuzel druhej den vyplnily.

Celej nasledujici den v masine je strasnej. Vsak on ten nekdo, kdo k tabulce schodiste dopsal "DO PEKLA" vedel proc to dela. Tresti mi hlava, ale v ni je porad veselo. Sice nevim, co budu delat s ubrouskem, na kterym je napsany telefoni cislo na jakousi Florianu a lamanou anglictinou prosba abych na ni nezapomnel, ale cert to vem.

Tech par hodin na pevnine stal za to. Nasat pohodu, ktera se na prvni pohled skryva za nesmirou chudobou mistnaku stala za to. Kdo chce se muze smat porad. A oni nedelaj nic jinyho.

Druhej den rano odplouvame. "Skoda, ze tu nemuzem bejt dyl, vid Venco... To je jak u blbejch"

"No a kde myslis, ze jsme?... Ja aspon nemusim tam do ty vasi kotelny"

A priste treba napisu vic o lidech na lodi, o tom jak se tady meni cas a jak na to pri prvni ceste kolem sveta malem zaplatili zivotem. Nebo treba nejaky odposlouchany hisorky o pruserech na mori? Kdo vi co voda prinese.

No time to edit or make a separate english and czech version.. Look for pictures below in the czech text... 

Its has beem almost a month since I got on board a merchant vessel Anette. This ship will be my home and work for another half a year. Unfortunately, there is no internet here, so Ill try to post some photos and stories here as often as we reach ports and get the chance to leave the boat and find internet on land.

It has been almost a month since I stared at this steel giant crushing its way through the ice covered waters in the port of Trois Rivieres in Canada. Its rusty, scratched bow covered with ice and snow, which slowly reached the lights on the pier sure looked like a picture from a different planet. It was freezing like in Canada that night. Guys on the deck were pulling heavy thick frozen ropes, tug boats pushing and pulling Anette back and forth until it was safely moored. Ok. Now there is no way back. Im taking my bag and walking up the gangway to the snow covered deck. Let this adventure begin.

Anette is a bulk carrier, which has been partly remodeled to a tanker a couple of years ago. It carries clay(whatever plates and coffe mugs are made of) from the delta of Amazon in Brazil in a form of powder and kind of liquid mud, which is stored at the bottom of the cargo holds. We take this clay to Searsport in Maine and to Trois Rivieres in Canada. Its a pretty decent size ship, but with its 180m its nothing compare to the biggest panamax size vessels. It sure takes a while to walk all the way to the front and realize that you forgot something in the engine room.

The first days passed like in a dream. I kept my eyes opened so I didnt have to ask any stupid questions. I recieved my new working outfit, helmet, ear plugs and gloves and was sent to the engine room. I noticed on the STAIRWAY sign on the hallway, that someone used a black marker and added ''TO HELL'' Well the reality is pretty close. Its crazy in here. Felling like a proper engineer, I recognize the main engine and congratulate myself. Well its not that hard in the end. It is 4 stories tall and Im trying to find the ear plugs I just had 5 minutes ago in my hand. Pipes, vlaves, compressors, pumps, more pipes, steep staircases which lead to different floors of the engine room. Its a crazy yet fascinating place. I start working right away. As a proper wiper(which is my official job description) i start wiping. Well what did I expect. At least they didnt want me to do any engineering here. I have a feeling that its gonna take a while to understand this whole machine. No wonder the chief engineer is getting payed ten grant a month. And suposively this is a bad paying company.

As we are getting fuel the next day, the deck crew is busy with unloading the remaining clay. To my surprise they load the entire excavator to the cargo hold using the crane to scoop up whats left. Its hard to meet the new people here since everybody on the deck is wearing a ski mask and thick overall to be protected from the freezing wind and snow. I recognize one face though. Old Venca guy. I met him in september when I was going through some safety training. How do you like your first day on your first ship? He asks me. I love it man. Its crazy and awesome.... It will pass Petr. Dont worry... My question why is he on a boat for 33 years is overheard and his ice covered bearded face dissapears inside.

We leave at night and navigate through the ice down the river. Huge ice plates, large as ice rinks crack like nothing as the heavy ship hits them full speed.

The promise, that we wil be working only 8 hours a day is broken the very first day, when we all go to bed after almost 20 hours. Later I found out its only when we are in ports. Loading and unloading the cargo is more important than anything. On the open ocean we really do work from 8 to 5. Almost.

Next day we found out that some smart ass forgott to close one of the million of the valves on board and water reached a certain pipe, where should be steam. Water froze and cracked the whole thing. Roughly half of a mile of pipes. Every other one is ripped, every gasket is done. So we start dissasembling, cutting, welding, assembling. For a week we walk into the tunnels which lead from the back all the way to the front and try to fix this pipeline. As we do so, we break almost every thinkable safety regulation. None of us has a welding certificate for high pressure pipes, the sign on the door we walk through millions of times a day says KEEP CLOSED AT SEA. None of the deck crew guys has a certificate to operate a crane, but what the hell... Im not carrying the excavator on my back. I better work and shut up I think to myself. Just watch out and be careful not to weld or cut a hole in the ships hull and it will be ok. Being careful is my biggest concern. Getting hurt out here can as well be the end. I dont want to see some deck or engineering officer going throug some medical books, trying to figure out how to stitch up a wound. No there is no doctor here. But yes, third deck officer has a first aid training:)

As we sail south the temperature rises. The ice on the inside of our windows sdissapeared one night. Sun gets higher every day and the temperature in the engine room rises and rises. It was around 50C when I stopped worrying. Unfortunately shit breaks down there as well and working in this heat is unbearable. I think to myself just shut up and do it. When its done, you can go and také a cold shower.

Just before we reached Brazil an important pump broke down and it took 14 hours straight to replace the broken shaft inside. Fuel pipe broke and it took two days to clean up the leaked fuel. Perfect job for a wiper. The fuel though is closer to asphalt then diesel fuel. Black, thick and if you just imagine any image of an oil spill disaster, you got the picture.

Exhaust valve on the main angine failed and we needed a small crane to just lift it out from the engine head. You can easily hide the one from your car in your hand. No wonder things break down here. As I walk around the engine room, I notice the information plate on the engine room, which gives you all kinds of information about the power and so on... At the bottom it says PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA... Ok. Good to know. The whole ship was designed and built in China, because it was way cheaper to build it there than in lets say Finland or South Korea. 15 million dollars is supposively a good price for a ship like this. But after 10 years in service its almost at the end of its journey.

A couple of days ago as we were getting closer to the coast of the United States, pretty big storm hit us strong. Waves as big as houses were hitting us for more than 12 hours. Noone got any sleep that night. Not because of fear, but because it was impossible. We were rolling in our beds like crazy. The ship was heeling up to 30-35 degrees, which is quite a lot, considering the fact that we dont have a sailboat style keel:)

Tons of water was flowing across the deck and the whole ship was vibrating, shaking.. In the tunnels inside, where you can see throuh almost the entire ship, I saw how the entire construction bends and twists. I felt a strange calm and undescribable feeling of trust. Eventhough I remember from university something called fatigue failure and the fact that this ship was built by chinese engineers I felt no fear. I was staring at the giant ship out the window on the bridge deck and thinking to myself that this sure must be on a different planet.

Anette is a german owned vessel, operating under a Liberian flag with czech captain and slovakians, czechs russians and some ukranians as the crew. No good filipinos on board unfortunately. I kinda expected some kind of a social life here, but honestly everyone is dead tired and goes pretty much to sleep after work. Its nice though to sit outside sometimes on the deck, drink beer and talk. The only time we see each other is breakfast, lunch and dinner. Most of the guys are fun and hard working dudes. Old, young, all with interesting life stories.. Some though have some issues and if they werent officers they would be thrown overboard for sure. Its hard to deal with an idiot in normal life, but here you cant run away from him. Im the only first contracter here and pretty much noone understand why I took this job and how can I like this. Why I laugh all the time, joke around and dont care how hard some of the work is. I dont know. Maybe I wanted to see this crazy world up close, escape from the day-to-day routine of life on shore, make money, have some adventure, understand the ocean a bit more...

As I sit on the deck and stare at the sea I cant think of anything else, but the fact that the surface of the ocean looks the same for millions of years. Mountains grow and fall, forests burn down, deserts spread and move around... not the ocean. It will always be here with its enourmous power and huge horizon. Sitting on this floating island called Anette I feel so free, eventhough this world we live on right now shrunk to the dimensions of a small clay carrier. As I stare to the water I hear behind myself „Pedro, you know what they say about the people who look into the water?... that they are crazy“ It was just good old bosun passing by. And he is right.

Po mesici v civilizaci...

Mesic na mori za nama a porad se nestacim divit co vsechno se da na lodi zazit. Za cestu do Brazilie a zpet jsme tu měli arktickou zimu, kdy jsme měli na kabinach centak ledu na oknech, tropicky vedra a i něco cemu by se dalo rikat jaro, nebo podzim. Drsnou praci i pohodu, srandu i smutek... prusery v masine i první konflikty mezi lidma. Hejna litacich ryb, delfiny i velryby, svitici plankton, lijaky a bourky, krasny teplo a opalovacku na zadni palube.

Po zamrzly rece Sv. Vavrince se v noci proti proudu konecne ledem prolamala zasnezena Aneta k molu v pristavu Three Rivers. Ten pohled na ledem pokrytou a odrapanou orezlou prid mi zustane v hlave hodne dlouho. Po palube se pohybujou zasnezeny postavy v kombinezach a kuklach a ve trech, ctyrech tahaj zmrzly lana tlusty jako ja v pase. Kdyz je lod konecne bezpecne uvazana muzeme nalodit. Neni cas ptat se kdo je kdo a jdeme rovnou spat na takovou jednu kajutu pro vic lidi. Asi abychom měli cerstvej vzduch tak Jozo uleha v hadrech v kterejch v Praze sednul do letadla. Ze se s nama nikdo srat nebude, to jsem cekal. Ale ze ve 3 rano prijde nejakej blazen a vzbudi Lubose, kterej ani nenafasoval zadny pracovni hadry a vyzene ho ven do -25 na palubu makat...

Druhej den rano jsme dostali krasny oranzovy monterky a hura do strojovny. Ok, hlavni motor poznavam. Tvarit se u tohoto triumfalniho zjisteni jako inzenyr nemá smysl. Je to tady ta nejvetsi věc. Ma 4 patra a vykon 13 000 koni a sezere pres tunu paliva za hodinu. Proc se ještě porad někdo obtezuje udavat vykon v konich nechapu. Az se nam asi tahle masina, která jede skoro nonstop 10 let rozbije, tak asi zavolame do staji. „Potrebovali bychom par tisíc koni, který ale musí umet plavat.“ No to je jedno. Na vyrobnim stitku se dale docitam, ze byl vyroben v People's republic of China. Skvela zprava.

Cela Aneta byla vyrobena v Cine před 10 lety a podle nekterych ma před sebou uz jen par let zivota.

Je tu pekelnej hluk a horko. Vsude samy trubky, ventily, motory, kompresory, cerpadla a ja nevim co vsechno. Prvni dojem neuveritelnej. U auta je motor mensi nez ja, Tady jsme v nem.

Odpoledne bereme palivo a ještě stále vykladame kaolin. Vsechno je pro me novy a neskutecne zajimavy. Nejak nevnimam, ze je -20. Mam na sobe zimni bundu, která vypada, ze jsem ji vytahnul z popelnice a ohrivam se o hadici s mazutem, kterej je predehratej na 35 stupnu, aby vubec tekl. Kdyz uz je poslední ladovna(prostor na sypkej kaolin) skoro prazdna, povesi jerab na lano bagr a spusti nam ho do lode. Ten nabere zbytky kaolinu, který by odhadem stacili tak na sto tisíc taliru. No proste blazinec. Prijde Venca, kteryho znam z bezecnostnich kurzu z podzimu a pta se me, jak se mi libi první den na první lodi. Kdyz mu se srirokym usmevem odpovim, ze je to bomba a ze to je pecka, tak se zasmeje, odplivne dlouhym plochym obloukem a rekne, ze me to prejde...Venco, ty jses tady ale uz 33 let. Dela, ze neslysi a jeho zamrzlej fousatej oblicej zmizi kdesi v podpalubi.

Iluze, ze budeme makat osm hodin denne se rozplyva hned první den, kdy jdeme spat po bezmala 20 hodinach. Nastesti se dozvidam, ze tohle se deje jen na manevrech. Tzn opousteni pristavu, nebo vjizdeni do nich. Po rece svatyho Vavrince nas vyvadi lodivod a za jeho pritomnosti na mustku musí bejt ve strojovne sluzba. Od ty doby jsme makali opravdu jen do peti. Skoro...

Jdeme spat uplne hotovi. Dalsi dobra zprava je, ze bydlim s Hujerem na kabine, která je trochu mensi nez strahovskej pokoj. Toho kdo na strahac nadaval chapu. Nebyl tam vyhled na ocean. A mame svoji koupelnu:)

Dalsi dny ubihaj tak nejak podobne. Makame od osmi do peti. Je tu ovšem ceska posadka, takze nekdo dela vic, někdo min. Za tech par dni jsem stacil prolezt celou strojovnu. Ve skutecnosti to ma asi 7, nebo osm pater a pak ještě zebriky kolem komina. Je tu vazne horko a neskutecnej hluk. Kdyz mi někdo něco povida, nebo vysvetluje tak si vzpomenu na ruzny cvika ze strojarny, kdy nas pustili do dilen, borec zapnul buchar nebo nejakou podobne tichou masinu a zacal něco vysvetlovat. Po zoufale dlouhejch dvaceti minutach stroj vypnul a se slovy „Tohle si pamatujte, na tohle se ptaj u zkousek“ jsme sli domu. Hned první den zjistujeme, ze nejakej odbornik, kteryho jsme stridali vypnul paru v potrubi co vede takovym tunelem ze strojovny po levoboku na prid a pak po pravy strane zpet. Zhruba 400m trubek. Zkondenzovala v nem voda, zmrzla a cely potrubi totalne rozsvihala. Kazda druha trubka praskla, vsechny tesneni v prdeli. Tak jsme celou cestu do Brazilie rozebirali, rezali, svarovali a skladali...Musime to stihnout, pac bez ty pary se do Kanady vratit nemuzeme. Nejdriv by nam zatuhlo palivo, a pak bychom zatuhli i my. Vsichni porad něco montujeme, rozebirame, skladame. Porad se něco sere. Neni hodina, aby se ve strojovne nespustil alarm. Prvni alarm me celkem vydesil. Reakce ostatnich v masine byla asi jako vase, když slysite auto alarm na parkovisti před Teskem. Nastesti jsou to ale malickosti, který se rychle vyresi.

Jen pro predstavu jak se věci mají na deset let stare cinske lodi. Nez jsme se vratili do Kanady tak nam zacal zlobit vyfukovej ventil na hlavi masine(v aute věc co schovate do dlane, tady jsme to menili 5 hodin ve trech lidech a potrebovali jsme jerab), prasklo palivovy potrubi k pomocnymu generatoru(dva dny jsme umejvali rozlitej mazut) odeslo palivovy cerpadlo (jeden den práce), prestal fungovat kotel na paru a horkou vodu(asi 4 dny hledani problemu). Ukroutil se hridel tlustej jako moje noha na Balastovym cerpadle, kterym regulujeme hloubku ponoru(14 hodin práce). A spousta dalsich věci, který ani nestoji za rec. Ve strojovne je nas 9 a kazdej ma co delat kazdej den.

Je to zvlastni život tady uprostred atlantiku. Ackoliv jsme vsichni na jedny lodi, tak jsme tady celkem striktne rozdeleni na nas co makaj ve strojovne, palubaky a dustojniky. Zadny spolecny traveni veceru, nikdo z palubaku nechodi pomahat dolu do masiny, ani my nechodime nahoru. Jen Vanoce a silvetr byla vyjimka. Ovsem zase oddelene. Posadka a dustojnici zvlast. Me je to celkem jedno a bavim se se vsema. Kdyz je po praci cas a nepadame unavou na drzku, tak chvili posedime na palube, nebo na kabine, pokecame, popijeme. Kdo je starsi tomu vykam, kapitanovi obcas s usmevem zasalutuju, stejne tak jako nasemu prvnimu inzenyrovi ve strojovne. Jsou tu vsak lidi, který moje vysmata drzka drazdi a ze si tu praci uzivam asi nechapou. Musim si dat bacha. Na druhou stranu jako by si vsichni uvedomovali fakt, ze jsme na jedny lodi a jsme tady sami. Co se rozbije se musí opravit, Od motoru po susicku na pradlo(uz se oboji rozbilo a opravilo). Kazdej tady ma svoje povinnosti a když clovek něco pokazi tak si to tady vyzere pekne do dna. Nikdo se tady s nikym nemazli. Nikoho nezajima, ze je ve strojovne pres padesat stupnu. Proste se maka, dokud se to neopravi. Nikoho nezajima, ze mas doma problemy se zenskou, nebo ze jsi se včera ozral a je Ti blbe.

Jsme plovouci ostrov, kterej je naprosto samostatnej a zaroven uplne samotnej. Tohle je ted nas svet. Svet s jasne ohranicenejma hranicema. Konci tam, kde konci nase cervene natrena paluba.

Je to neskutecny dobrodruzstvi. Par dni před Kanadou nas chytla bourka. Uz pres dvanact hodin do nas mlati vlny jak baraky. Od tri rano nikdo prakticky nespal. Ne strachy, ale neda se to. Lod se nakladni do stran chvilema az o 35 stupnu. Sjizdime obrovsky vlny jak na surfovym prkne a pak se zase splhame do kopce na jehož konci ceka velka dira. Masina rve na plnej vykon a když se sroub dostane z vody ven tak uz tak hlucna turbina vylitne do neskutecnejch otacek a motor malem zhasina. Pri obede jezdime na zidlich od stolu a zpet, kdo sedi na kraji je nemilosrdne primacknut svejma sousedama ke zdi. To vse za hlasityho smichu a s pubertalni skodolibosti magoru jak tricetiletejch, tak sedesatiletejch. Naklani se to fakt poradne. Polevka se podava v miskach. Kdo byl na plachetnici tak vi, ze to je ten pocit, kdy někdo zacina mit strach a někdo zacina do vetru rvat něco o hustym kotli, parade a shani se po vetsich plachtach. Veci na kabine hledame jen s obtizemi, protože Mr.Hujer je ještě vic poradkumilovnej nez ja. Dela se mu blbe a hulaka cosi o tom, ze „ten sofer je kurva najebany.“

Neptun svým trojzubcem triska do hladiny tak, ze nam voda zaleva palubu skoro do pulky. (mame 180m) Okenka na hlavni palube se obcas promeni v akvarko. Dole v tunelech co vedou pres celou lod je krasne videt, jak se cela lod na vlnach prohyba a krouti. Vsechno ocelove vrze, skripe. Houpe se to uplne jinak nez jsem cekal. Lod se cela trese, vibruje a je to i videt jak se nam klepe prid. Ackoliv mi ze skoly v hlave zustalo něco o unave materialu a vim, ze se nachazim na cinskem plavidle tak strach nemam. Kdyby se něco stalo, tak se nezachrani nikdo. Nema cenu resit veci nad kteryma nemam kontrolu. Starsi namornici mi ovšem radi, ze při opusteni lodi si mam z kuchyne vzit sekacek na maso a utikat na prid, kde je jeden zachranej vor. Jsem zvedavej kolik rezniku by se nas tam seslo.

Ta ohromna sila oceanu, když se vzedme je nepopsatelna a fascinujici. Stejne jako fakt, ze to co kolem sebe vidime kazdej den, tu nekonecnou vodni plochu... Ta jedina je po miliony let na zemi stejna. Hory, lesy, pouste, reky. To vsechno se na rozdil od oceanu porad meni. Musim se smat při pomysleni, ze stejnej vyhled mel z paluby Kolumbus. V noci, kdy není videt horizont si pripadam jak ve vanocni skleneny kouli s polystyrenovym snehem. Cela obloha je v jednom pomalem pravidelnem pohybu. Souhvezdi u rovniku vypadaji uplne jinak nez v nasich sirkach. Orion lezi, mesic dela O a U a spousta hvezd nad jiznim obzorem vubec nedava smysl. V Peru jsem se dozvedel, ze Inkove nespojovali hvezdy do souhvezdi jako my, ale hledali obrazce v tmavych polich mezi nima. Zkuste to nekdy. Je to zabava.

Pohled na hladinu je však pokazde jiny. Jednou je sediva, jindy tmave modra, zelena. Ziram na tu plochu sirokou jak lidska duse a snazim se z ni pochopit alespon kousicek. Mota se mi hlava pri predstave o kolik vice vody je pod nama nez kolem nas. Kolik lidi na tenhle ocean koukalo a pritom nikdo nevidel to co ja.

„Pedro, vis co se rika o lidech co cumi do vody... ze jsou blazni“ slysim pak za sebou. To jde kolem bocman Palo. Starej chlapik co vypada jak kapitan z pohadky. Sibalsky se smeje a vravoravym krokem, vyrovnavajic houpani lode kraci nekam dal na predni palubu.

Blazni jsme vsichni.