Land of the Setting Sun
5/18/2007 - Captain Ganbaatar
"I trust Dr. Blythe's evaluation, and plus, might do us some good to live like the crew for the ride there, build some character." I added. Captain Ganbaatar grinned, and patted me on the back.
"And here I thought the boy with the button-up and fanny pack on his hip would be the biggest pussy in your group!" Itaki glared at me, but Dr. Blythe looked fairly pleased.
"Excellent," he spoke, "I'll pay up front, Gantaabar."
"Damn right, you will."
Captain Ganbaatar seemed eager to leave immediately, whipping his hungover crew into shape by beating the head of a shovel against the railing of the ship. They stumbled to life like a fleet of zombies, spreading across the deck. The tugboat was ready to leave within the hour, food and supplies having been lugged aboard. Captain Ganbaatar gave us an extremely short tour, which consisted only of the deck, which was also to be our living quarters.
"You've got to be kidding, we're sleeping on deck? Like next to the ocean?" Itaki stuttered.
"We've only had three ever roll off the railings into the ocean, and we found two of them! You'll be fine," Ganbaatar mused, with a toothy grin. He was a bit crude, but he wasn't lying about being practiced. His crew ran like a well oiled machine, the reliable old truck your family had owned since you were a kid, that sputtered and argued but still did its job in the end. The shipping district of Taipei faded quickly in the distance, and I realized I was now the cargo. Accordingly, the crew was pretty mute and rude, I tried questioning a few of them for some flavor text in my eventual article, but I was greeted with grunts and people feigning being asleep. Can't say I blamed them. Most of them were practically old men, in their thirties and forties.
Captain Ganbaatar retreated into his cabin, which doubled as the lookout for the tugboat, after he was done showing us around. From what I could see, only the captain was allowed in the cabin. Occasionally, a glass bottle would soar out of the cabin and into the ocean, usually followed or preceded by an exasperated yell. Sometimes those bottles would hit the railing instead, shattering and showering the deck, which the morose crew would then sweep up. In one instance, the bottle shattered directly over a spot where one of the crew had decided to take a nap, bathing him in tiny shards. He kept sleeping, undisturbed; perhaps Aubrey would fit in here.
It wasn't long before the crew began drinking again, separated into small groups that were strewn across the deck. I noticed quickly that these tiny groups followed a pattern: there was one obnoxious, loud drunk, followed by two or three relatively mellow drunks, followed by one or two that sat silently and laughed at the others like an audience. I had my own little drunk circle in a way. Ogasawara was the belligerent drunk, shouting over the waves of the sea like a lion, eager to be heard. Dr. Blythe and I interjected sometimes if we felt like we added anything to the conversation, and then for the most part, Qara and Itaki sat relatively silently. Aubrey was fast asleep, having already tied a rope around his waist to the railing. It was how all the sailors slept, precariously wedging themselves between the railing and the deck.
I would come to wish I hadn't followed their example the next morning.
----------
I awoke to the screams of sailors echoing off stormy seas, and being tossed from side to side on the boat's slippery deck, as the first few water particulates broke the grey sky. My body was still trying to wake up, and I was jerked towards the railing, smacking my head into it with a hollow ring. The grey sky went dark for a few seconds, breaking into black spots like coal was raining down. I desperately grasped for the side of the ship but got nothing, and was thrown over the edge.
"I trust Dr. Blythe's evaluation, and plus, might do us some good to live like the crew for the ride there, build some character." I added. Captain Ganbaatar grinned, and patted me on the back.
"And here I thought the boy with the button-up and fanny pack on his hip would be the biggest pussy in your group!" Itaki glared at me, but Dr. Blythe looked fairly pleased.
"Excellent," he spoke, "I'll pay up front, Gantaabar."
"Damn right, you will."
Captain Ganbaatar seemed eager to leave immediately, whipping his hungover crew into shape by beating the head of a shovel against the railing of the ship. They stumbled to life like a fleet of zombies, spreading across the deck. The tugboat was ready to leave within the hour, food and supplies having been lugged aboard. Captain Ganbaatar gave us an extremely short tour, which consisted only of the deck, which was also to be our living quarters.
"You've got to be kidding, we're sleeping on deck? Like next to the ocean?" Itaki stuttered.
"We've only had three ever roll off the railings into the ocean, and we found two of them! You'll be fine," Ganbaatar mused, with a toothy grin. He was a bit crude, but he wasn't lying about being practiced. His crew ran like a well oiled machine, the reliable old truck your family had owned since you were a kid, that sputtered and argued but still did its job in the end. The shipping district of Taipei faded quickly in the distance, and I realized I was now the cargo. Accordingly, the crew was pretty mute and rude, I tried questioning a few of them for some flavor text in my eventual article, but I was greeted with grunts and people feigning being asleep. Can't say I blamed them. Most of them were practically old men, in their thirties and forties.
Captain Ganbaatar retreated into his cabin, which doubled as the lookout for the tugboat, after he was done showing us around. From what I could see, only the captain was allowed in the cabin. Occasionally, a glass bottle would soar out of the cabin and into the ocean, usually followed or preceded by an exasperated yell. Sometimes those bottles would hit the railing instead, shattering and showering the deck, which the morose crew would then sweep up. In one instance, the bottle shattered directly over a spot where one of the crew had decided to take a nap, bathing him in tiny shards. He kept sleeping, undisturbed; perhaps Aubrey would fit in here.
It wasn't long before the crew began drinking again, separated into small groups that were strewn across the deck. I noticed quickly that these tiny groups followed a pattern: there was one obnoxious, loud drunk, followed by two or three relatively mellow drunks, followed by one or two that sat silently and laughed at the others like an audience. I had my own little drunk circle in a way. Ogasawara was the belligerent drunk, shouting over the waves of the sea like a lion, eager to be heard. Dr. Blythe and I interjected sometimes if we felt like we added anything to the conversation, and then for the most part, Qara and Itaki sat relatively silently. Aubrey was fast asleep, having already tied a rope around his waist to the railing. It was how all the sailors slept, precariously wedging themselves between the railing and the deck.
I would come to wish I hadn't followed their example the next morning.
----------
I awoke to the screams of sailors echoing off stormy seas, and being tossed from side to side on the boat's slippery deck, as the first few water particulates broke the grey sky. My body was still trying to wake up, and I was jerked towards the railing, smacking my head into it with a hollow ring. The grey sky went dark for a few seconds, breaking into black spots like coal was raining down. I desperately grasped for the side of the ship but got nothing, and was thrown over the edge.