The Journey(s) of Ian

From Fremantle to Phuket  via the Indian Ocean, the Sunda Straights, Port Klang, and Penang. Fremantle harbour, from the stern of the 'Athena'. Another cruise ship in port.      Herman Melville’s character Ishmael told of how he felt the sea to exert a strange and compelling fascination upon himself. How for hours, while supposedly searching for whale, aloft his ship’s crows nest, he would gaze happily and contentedly, free of worldly cares out onto the ocean. Such a claim might seem strange to those who have never journeyed onto the ocean, but to those who have, most will have found, that even the most tortured soul or worldly mien will find a measure of solace and respite upon the ocean’s watery embrace. Myself, having completed a goodly number, though not enough to boast of, ocean voyages, I can only echo the fascination of Melville’s protagonist with that which covers three quarters of the Earth’s surface. Me on the rear deck, saying goodb...

Ian in Command !! "Full speed ahead" Entering Port Klang The Ship Crossing the equator! The engines and the chief engineer. Looking down at the 7 levels of the central stairwell from the Bridge. Everywhere there are signs like this. From Fremantle to Singapore via Port Klang on the MV Theodor Storm! Again I decided to turn the five hour plane journey between Perth and Singapore into a five day trip on a freighter, only this time it would take eight days as the ship detoured to Port Klang in Malaysia, and only then onto Singapore. My reasons for making this trip were similar to those of my first nautical excursion. Essentially, I thought that a few days at sea would be a few pleasant days of peace and quiet, untrammelled by the demands of a noisy and intrusive world. This, fortunately, did prove to be the case. The vessel I travelled on was the ‘Theodor Storm’, a 34,0...