Sickness spreading

After a long couple of weeks being sick, my 25th birthday, parents visiting and trying to juggle work and friends; I'm here to say I'm happier than I've ever been and so thankful to have everything I have.

The small things are what make me happy. For example, it's Monday, February 2, 2015...The crew all just got new bath towels and pillows. Random, I know, but just because we fought we needed new ones we all got together and decided that's something we wanted.

We now have a new first mate on board and his girlfriend is the new 4th stew. When I first joined the boat (Carpe Diem) he was on right after the crossing and she was our crew chef. The yard period is coming to an end and we are now starting to see everyone come back from their courses that they were taking and new people coming in to fill the old places. Eating lunch today was a mad house having 10 people in there eating at once when we've had only about five or six the past four weeks. People running into each other, asking for napkins while they are already sitting down, cutlery dropping on the floor, drinks spilling. We all were laughing, as if we have never all sat in a crew mess together before.

The first day my parents arrived in Fort Lauderdale, I was becoming achy and feeling like I had a horrible hangover when I hadn't had anything to drink in weeks. Family friends came all the way over from Naples and we were able to watch the last Colts game of the year all together. Monday morning came along and I felt as if a train had hit me. I was super sick and couldn't hardly work. Few more days went on and I was sent to the doctor ASAP when my parents saw me after work one day. Influenza A (worst flu you can get) and was highly contagious. Asian mask was a must then I spread it to my dad real quick. Sorry dad! Gareth was the first to spread the sickness. He didn't seem to get hit too hard but suddenly everyone starting feeling a little ill then all of a sudden EVERYONE was sick. Down for the count, the flu infected all of us real quick.

Gareth my first mate originally is leaving to go onto Perry's other 150' yacht to try to become captain which is cool. He's an amazing person and I always hope to stay in touch with him. Hey maybe a future job will come out of it if we are on the same page at the same time. As weird as it sounds, it's actually hard to find loyal people in this industry so coming across the few that I have, I'm able to say I'm going to be friends with these few people probably for the rest of my life. So many crew come and go unfortunately but I hope to stay in touch with him long after he's gone.


We've got a few more weeks here in Fort Lauderdale in the yard and once we are done here we go straight to Miami for the International boat show. Rumor has it Pitbull is coming on board to promote Carpe Diem and help us get charters for the Med season.

I was sick for over two weeks, flu one week, right when my parents got here of course. I was too sick for my parents to function so they sent me to the doctor. Ebola epidemic scared everyone so I have to wear this asian mask everywhere I went. 

This was one of the first weekends in Fort lauderdale. I was able to see one of my best friends, Daniella, from South Africa. Her boat is docked here most of the year so i've been spending most of my time with her. She's the blonde. Another stew on her boat is in the black. 

I was lucky enough to spend my birthday with my closest friends and all my crew. We went for sushi and then margaritas and tequila at Rocco's Tacos. Aino and Kali were the only ones who actually was into taking pictures. 

This is Carpe Diem on the dock in the yard. Nothing like Rybo but it's still weekends off and a lot more down time then we are used to so there's not many complaints here. 

"Good friends are hard to find, harder to leave, and hardest to forget"

These two girls are amazing friends I was lucky enough to meet through my few years in yachting. They are real and true. I'm very lucky to call them my friends. 

New Year Update

Here's just a few pictures to keep y'all in the loop. Sorry I've been so busy with work, parents visiting and being down and out with the flu. 

This is the interior crew on Christmas Eve on charter. (Me, Jen- American, Nat- Aussie, Kali- Aussie, Aino- Finnish) As you can tell we are all blonde. This boat on hires blondes, for reasons unknown. hahahhaha

 Carpe Diem at anchor in Europe.

 This is where I spent my Christmas Day - Carpe Diem Beach set up with everything you can think of to do and all the guests did was play a card game at the table in the shade all day long.

This contraption is called a jet-o-vator. Pretty fun, acts like you are flying.

At the moment we are in the Yard at Dania Beach, just outside Fort Lauderdale. We are here from Mid January until February 11, then straight back to Miami for the Miami boat show. We are having Pitbull on board to perform and get people to charter us for the Med season. No limit on how much we can spend as long as we are as busy as possible when we get to Europe that's all that matters. I'll try to upload more pictures soon and explain where else I am in my life. Trying to find time for myself is hard enough, let alone trying to sit down and accomplish a well thought out blog that makes sense. 

Peace&Love

Welcome back!

Hello!

I know it's been forever and I will try to keep y'all in the loop as I now have started a new(er) journey. I have to keep these short a sweet but I'll try to post more often.

So since I wrote last, I was in Europe, with a boyfriend, without a job, and looking for my next chapter in life. I now am back in America, South Carolina to be exact, I am single, working on a new boat, 60 meter M/Y Carpe Diem. http://www.charterbrochure.com/carpediem#.VG4SQL7vld0

Loving my boat and crew. So much different from my last boat. Unfortunately I can't say much about the new boat, the owners or the charters, but just so you know it's completely 100% different from Big Eagle, in amazing ways. Still blows my mind on how much money these people have. Growing up around money I feel like I've lived like a peasant my whole life hahaaha. Don't worry mom and dad, I don't blame you ;) Money really does grow on trees for these people. The owners are American and right now we are on charter with a group of Russians. This charter is booked for three weeks, starting in South Carolina and ending in Miami...going everywhere in between during this trip. Another big change about this boat compared to the last is the price to charter per week. Last boat was $185,000 per week and this one is $500,000. Meaning it will be $1.5 million to charter for three weeks. Wrap your head around that one!! That's not including food, fuel, and TIPPPPP.

After coming home from Europe, I spent about a month in Fort Lauderdale, meeting more amazing people as well as catching up with old friends. So good to see everyone but makes me miss being in a solid place for longer amounts of time and having a "normal" schedule. Moved onto the boat in Miami right at the end of October and had about three solid weeks (with the owner on and off) to learn the boat and get ready for this long charter. We have an American (male) captain, first mate from Bequia, Bosun South African, 2 engineers one from the U.S. another South African, chef Aussie, chief stew Aussie, deck hand South African, 2nd Stew from Finland, American stew, and another stew Aussie. Really good mix of people but this is such a heavy charter boat we haven't had much time to go out and really get to know each other. I'm sure once we get more time off I will be able to learn more about them individually.

I will try to write more often about my next adventures to come!

Cheers,
E

Euro Trip Photos

 At the Louvre in Paris

Dave & I can't even remember where we were at this point in our trip we both seem to think it's on the way to Interlaken, Switzerland. Somewhere in the Swiss Alps

At the "Disney Castle" We took a tour of inside and got to see where the king slept. Pretty cool inside and was only built a little more than 100 years ago. (Southern Germany)

Munich, Germany at Oktoberfest with our new friends from Canada, one of the best nights on our trip. They had beer as big as my HEAD and couldn't ever have pictured it being any different such an amazing experience. Everyone should see it one day! I got drunk pretty much off one beer. 1 liter of beer for just one beer and I had....I don't remember.

Paragliding off Mount Blanc

Before we took the plunge off Mount Blanc the tallest mountain in Europe.

This was where we landed the paraglide once we were finished. Such a beautiful place, Chamonix, France.

Euro trip

Eurotrip: 2014

Cornwall, England is where my month long journey started. I met up with Dave in London.  We were going to stay the night in London to see the Lion King show live and to explore London but as soon as I got into London we worked out the prices and it was going to end up to be a big chunk of money we didn’t really want to spend. London is such a high travelled place we thought that we would be back in no time and be able to make a trip out of it another time. (As time goes on you’ll see how much I’ve influenced Dave into NOT spending any money at all.) Before I met him, he was keen on spending every penny he had on stupid shit. Not being careful of his bills (which he has very few of) and not caring about spending money on food, drinks, or where he stayed. We didn’t go to London because we were going to spend a lot of money staying a night and gas money getting into the city which was only 40 minutes away. So after arriving at the airport we started our way down to Cornwall. London to Cornwall is about four hours. You also will learn Dave came sometimes be worse than a growing child, except he can speak. Every hour he has to eat something and has the smallest bladder for a grown man I’ve ever seen. I can’t talk really because I have the worlds smallest bladder as well but he will have a sip of something to drink and about 10 minutes later he will have to go to the bathroom. Needless to say we haven’t got too far on our trip to Cornwall before he has to stop to eat and go to the bathroom. We stop only one other time in four hours which must be a record thus far on our trip. 

Seeing Cornwall for the first time; having this picture in my head with small villages and sheep everywhere is exactly what it was! Rolling hills plush with bright green trees inland and huge cliffs overlooking the ocean. Cows and sheep everywhere you looked, eating the fine green grass, all with amazing views of the ocean pretty much everywhere you looked. All of the roads a villages were so tiny and when I mean the roads are tiny, I mean that my eyes were closed half of the time because I was so scared we were going to side swipe the car coming towards us or the eight foot hedge on the other side of us. Reminder: the English drive on the wrong side of the road, so scary coming around corners and thinking you are going to go one way then the car and driver do the opposite. I screamed a few times and normally I’m not a screamer. Rock, Cornwall is where Dave lives and its a small quant village about six minutes away from the nearest town. First day we went out to have a “full english breakfast” eggs, bacon, sausage, tomato, beans, and toast. Nothing like a big Bob Evans breakfast or anything, you think that sounds like a lot of food but I’m used to “American” sized food plates and it was a very small amount of food, but that’s just how Europe is in general. I was in Cornwall five days total, we went out to dinner a few times, met his mom, brother and sister, they invited us over for dinner at her house. His sister goes to college in Bristol and his brother works there in Cornwall. His dad lives in France but was in Cornwall working so was staying at Dave’s house so I met him the first night. His family is all really cool, easy to talk to and very English! Met many of his friends, one night we went to Saint Kew which was just another village but there was a festival there where all his friends went to listen to the bands and have a good time. For sure had an eventful drinking evening, the next morning another couple, Dave and I went to the strawberry farm and picked strawberries and acted like little kids on the slides and in the meadows, frolicking like idiots all while pushing through our hangovers. After the strawberry farm we went for a hike along the Cornish coastline along with a jump off one of the stunning cliffs into the Titanic-like ocean. We wore full wet suits but still was breath taking because it was so cold. A few nights here and there in all the tiny villages around Cornwall it was time to set off into our real vacation! We took the drive back up towards London and to the Eurotunnel. It’s a train that carries cargo and cars under the english channel and to Northern France. 22 minutes later we are in France; heading straight to Paris.

First stop PARIS!! —

Driving into Paris was a treat. The cars in Europe are about five times smaller than any car in America and there are about ten times more of them on the roads. We saw all of the touristy things on the first day we were there; Arc de Triomphe, Champs-Elysees, Notre Dame De Paris, Eiffel Tower, The Louvre, and so much more. Amazing how many people just in the day we were there seeing all the same sites. I was more impressed with the Eiffel Tower then expected but not really with anything else. For the amount of people always around and the prices I wouldn’t book a trip there again. If I happened to go back on a whim I wouldn’t mind but it wasn’t particularly my cup of tea. 

Next stop was Dijon, France…Dijon is a small French village, wasn’t expecting much to be there but I was presently surprised. We sat down for a beer and decided to walk down and explore and came upon a small market going on. Found some local food and just took in the different cultures. 

Dijon was still pretty flat and next stop was Val d’Isere which is a small ski village in the French Alps. Beautiful little village but because there’s no snow yet everything was shut. It was almost like a ghost town so we spent the night there outside the village and woke up to the brisk mountain air and headed to Chambery, which was just another ski village but a little bigger. Pretty much the same thing there, only one lift open and couldn’t find much to do so we headed to Chamonix which was unreal. Mont-Blanc is the tallest mountain range in Europe and I went hiking on top of it and then paragliding off the top. We had to wear our full ski outfits, rent hiking boats and crampons (big metal spikes) to be able to go on top of the mountain. We had a mountain guide who we were harnessed to and then wore helmets and walking sticks. We walked down the biggest ridge of the mountain. Sept. 16 had at least 2 feet of snow on it. 80 degrees in the valley and still that much snow on the mountain. We had to walk foot in front of the other to stay on this ridge it was so thin. The guide told us if someone slips to one side, no matter what you have to jump to the other side or else we were all connected and we would all slip…and DIE! (He didn’t say the die part but he was very serious.) Once we walked down the ridge we then got all strapped in and took off in our paraglides over the French Alps. Stunning views of the entire mountain range and into the Chamonix Valley. We were up in the air for 35 mins or so and just landed softly in a big grassy patch next to a cow. Paraglide just softly landed behind us and he put it in his backpack. Amazing journey and will probably be the highlight of my trip. We stayed three nights in Chamonix and then started working our way into Switzerland. 

Being in Switzerland three days now my view of it has completely changed. I imagined perfectly cut hedges, posh people walking around in european driving moccasins, designer sunglasses and white pants. Smelling of flowers and bentleys rolling around the streets, but that’s not the case yet. I must have missed that part of Switzerland. They are lots of open grassy fields with ringing bells because all the cows have them around there necks and what comes with cows is the poop smell. Warm sun beating down on my face as we traveling across the meadows and then WHAMMM; shit smell stuck in the car for five miles. We first stopped in Interlaken which I don’t remember what I had heard about the city but I knew I have heard about it quite a few times, but all I can say is if you aren’t asian…don’t go there. We were pretty much the only white people there. Asians and their cameras = Interlaken, Switzerland. More beautiful mountain ranges but not much else to see and I felt as if I was in an asian country instead. We took our mouton bikes up to the next village by train and thought it would be an easy ride down…We thought wrong. I had to walk my bike half the way (over an hour) and then at one point thought my brakes were going to catch on fire because I was using them so much. Downhill mountain biking was no joke in Grinwald/Interlaken. Once that little adventure turned bad, we knew Interlaken wasn’t for us. We headed for Zurich.

Current location is Zurich and it’s Saturday night…

Another charter closed

It’s been awhile since I’ve had enough time to sit down and actually make my brain work enough to put together a few sentences. I am currently sitting in the Zurich airport (Switzerland). After a interesting, exciting, and long nine months I have decided it’s time to move boats and allow myself a little R&R before I’m off again for another year or so. This time I won’t go nine months of work and no vacation time. The “rules” on the boat I was on were a little skewed. 

Going from Fort Lauderdale - Azores, Portugal - Gibraltar, UK - San Remo, Italy - Morocco, Africa - Monaco - Genova, Italy - Corsica, France - Naples, Italy plus a lot more small cities all down the Italian coast and then over to Sardinia, Italy for the past five months, I’ve learn all of about six solid words of Italian, working a little more on my French and I feel as if I know more Spanish than I thought. 

We just came off two back to back one day turn around charters. First trip was all Italian ladies who were supposed to come for five days and ended up staying nine. One day in between trips and then another trip with 11 guests for ten days. Giving my notice and knowing the date I was leaving was brutal. Even though all my crew was very supportive in my choice of leaving I was sad to go because they were such an amazing crew. For reasons I can’t really put out on the internet I only left for one reason and that reason seemed little by little to drive me to insanity. I’m happy with my choices so far and headed to Palma, Spain to see my boyfriend and travel around Europe with him. After i have some relaxation I will return to Palma for the new job search and see where the wind takes me. 

(As the sun was setting, I was taken ashore and leaving behind Big Eagle - Porto Cervo, Sardinia, Italy)

As I sit here thinking about my journey so far, just today I don’t understand why I like travel so much. I have been super stressed out just trying to get from point A to point B. I started off by getting off Big Eagle and into the tender with all my crew for a small booze cruise and my sending off. We docked the tender right in the heart of the town and turned up the music and all had to shotgun and beer in memory of me. (As an American, I taught a lot of my crew what that is) We then opened a bottle of wine and sipped away as we waited for my cab to arrive. I came to the boat with a large rolling bag and a small duffle. I left with the same two plus an oversized purse/bag, a backpack and a trash bag full of stuff. I don’t know how I acquired so much stuff (well you can guess) but I had to get rid of some stuff unfortunately just to be able for the tender to stay afloat. After trying to get a taxi and get to my hotel for the night, I was able to get into my room and was expecting a nice big comfy bed and AC. I got neither of those two things. It was two cot sized beds that flipped up like a beach chair when I sat on the end of it and an AC that blew out warm air. The shower was smaller than the size of the one I had on the boat and I had to turn off the shower to shave properly and had to step OVER the toilet to get into the shower. To top it all off, I was trying to look pretty before seeing Dave and curl my hair…I don’t have an Italian converter, so that was a no go and I left my toiletries bag on the boat. No tooth brush, tooth paste, deodorant etc. Just a great start to my vacation so far.  No wifi in the room and they didn’t give me my ID back. Thus far my travels have been not so good. I wake up and go to the airport and the line is out the door but not to worry I am there in plenty of time. I get up to the front of the line and they say I haven’t paid for a 2nd piece of baggage. I have to get out of line to go pay an extra 85 euros just to check another bag then get back in line. By this point, I’m very hangry (hungry and angry). Somehow I make my flight in time and now in Zurich, but my flight is the only flight delayed an hour. I just want to get to my destination and have no responsibilities for at least a solid 24 hours. 

Made it to Palma…Dave picked me up at the airport and went back to his flat and just explored around old town the first day. Second day we got a cute little hostel in Daia which is north of the city in the mountains. Small town, not a lot around but has such a cute Spanish influence. Before we came to Daia we looked around and had lunch in Sollere which is another town north of the city in the mountains but a lot more touristy and crowded. The town was right on a port and had a lot of small boats and a few beaches. After a winding 30 minute drive to Daia we found our hostel at the tip top of the peak of a mountain. Covered in ivy and a spanish style roof, we had a room with a tiny little balcony and kept the room cool with the breeze coming through and we could look out into the valley of the entire town of Daia. The chickens were talking in the wee hours of the morning along with the birds singing and the enormous drops of rain hitting the roof. It was like I was dreaming. Laying in bed listening to all the amazing sounds early in the morning was exactly what the doctor ordered. We now are heading back to the city of Palma and going to go for a spa day because the weather hasn’t been good since I’ve been here. I’m ok with that because I’ve been in the sunshine and amazing weather for pretty much the past nine months and the cool mountain air is perfect. 

This photo is in old town Palma. Amazing old buildings and architecture.

Hostel in Daia, Spain

Famous Roman Catholic church in Palma. 

More than half way there

Current location: Sanremo, Italy

Sanremo is a small town on the northern coastline of Italy, closest big city is Nice, France. Right at the French/Italian boarder on the Italian Riviera. I am only about a ten minute train ride away from Nice, France; five away from Monte Carlo and Monaco and my old stomping grounds - Antibes is about a 45 minute train ride. Though we have been docked in Sanremo for about three weeks now I haven't made it back to Antibes yet. I'm dying to go and reminisce on my life changing study abroad spots and experiences.

While August is slowly approaching, we still have not had a charter this season. Hard to believe coming from a very busy Caribbean season with nine charters, two boss trips and countless amounts of tips....to nothing at all, I'm going a bit stir crazy. I love seeing money flow into my bank account and now that it's not flowing as much as I would like it, I'm ready to move on and ready for a change. I know what I want and I'm going to try my hardest to get it.

We have had a very interesting last few months though, two new chefs, new chef stew, new stew, two new deckies and the list goes on. People are on and off all the time, doesn't seem to bother me much anymore. When the first crew member said they were leaving I was shocked and didn't want them to go but now that I've been on Big Eagle for eight months nothing is a surprise. People in and out isn't always a bad thing, getting to meet new people, making connections here and there in the industry isn't always a bad thing. Having three chefs in an eight month period is somewhat impressive because everyone cooks so differently. My palate has opened tremendously since arriving on Big Eagle. Willing to sample and try most anything that is put in front of me. Which actually isn't working in my favor. I'm going to see Dave for the first time in almost four months and I want to look fit, but "trying out my new recipe" is my enemy one liner right now. But the great thing about getting new crew is that I now have another stew, Cara, who loves to work out as much as I do so we will do all types of workouts together, morning and night on some days. She's so tiny and english, I love her! We work well together and have a lot of the same interests but are able to do things on our own.

So fun being able to be in all these small towns all over the world, it really opens my eyes to what I had my whole life, what I want in the future, and also what I don't want later on down the road.

Spain was less thrilling and entertaining than Gibraltar and Italy but Italy has been an experience just enough to know that I would only want to visit here. Breath taking coast line, enthusiastic people every corner you turn, and the typical city scene; narrow corridors, colorful laundry hanging on the lines outside a little flat, and people up all night talking in the echoing streets. But as I age, I seem to find the little things I can or cannot live without. Being so far away from home and only being able to speak to my family a few hours of the day is very frustrating. Not being able to jump on a "quick" and "cheap" flight home is tough. Even though a flight from Salt Lake City was never really quick or cheap it was better than my situation now if I really needed to just go home and recharge, which is what I'm thinking I need right about now. I think being almost completely shut off from my life at home so quick has really opened my eyes and made me realize all I have at home. I am in love with my job and know this is the perfect place to be in life at this moment, but I have matured vastly in these last ten months of being far away and need a small holiday to be able to stand back and see all that I have.

Today, Saturday July 19 and Sunday July 20 will be the last few days of freedom for me. We are headed to Pisa, Italy (leaning tower of Pisa) on Tuesday to pick up for a charter on Wednesday.  Right after that charter finishes we will have a two day turn over and right into the next 10 day charter which will leave me mid to late August and Big Eagle will maybe have only one more boss trip before they cross back over to the States.

Days off are very rare but I am so thankful each and day we get one. Hopefully I'll be able to blog again soon.

Cheers to a great rest of the Med season!