<p>Ok OK -- sorry we just returned from a 14 hour drive from NH to PA and return.</p>
<p>Just as we walked in the door she called and I had to tell everyone. Sorry that I did not check the forum.</p>
<p>I talked with her again and she said she is almost done with her entire sea project (Down side -- It had to be completely handwritten as her computer died the big microsoft death -- to which they replied === Reload it completely) She said she has hand cramps from so much writing.</p>
<p>They leave Portland today then it is back to Long Beach for 2 days and then back to Japan.</p>
<p>She hit the Barnes and Noble for Japanese phrase books, a kanjii translator for her palm and Foders Guide to Japan with maps. She is now all set. Then to the drug store for shampoo, and other necessary supplies.</p>
<p>She said she "LOVES SEA YEAR" and will shout it from the ship top that the experience teaches you so much you can not imagine. She said that now she is absolutely sure she made the right career decision.</p>
<p>Another Middie from KP was on the Maersk Carolina and left the port in the ME that was attacked 3 days prior.</p>
<p>Thanks for starting a new thread for this! LOL Posting in the other could lead to bad karma & it was just creeping me out. :) </p>
<p>Uggg...The things that I've never considered! What happens when your laptop goes down being one of them... What a shame! Life with computers when working on sea projects seems like a must. She'll have to organize all that paper- BLAH! She must be over her head busy with it, poor thing. Soooo glad to hear that she's doing well and is loving this trip. Keep us informed on whats happening!</p>
<p>Can you tell us more about the Maersk Carolina? Hadn't heard about it.</p>
<p>The Maersk Carolina is a Cargo Ship (Large Crates on low bottom ship) that haul supplies to and from regions. The area that it was shipping to on this evolution was the Middle East. It had dropped off a shipment at that port and had left the port 3 days prior for its return to the Eastern US. It was minimally (~600 nautical miles) north of the port when the attack on the Naval vessels occurred. The Navy has moved all ships out of the port to open water. I doubt they will let in any more cargo ships until there is resolution.</p>
<p>You can track any ship you want by name or callsign at:</p>
<p>Here you can visually see ship traffic worldwide. This is an eye opener and It is always amazing for parents to see this first. </p>
<p>On the top bar you will find Ship Search. On this drop down menu you click on find a specific ship by either name or callsign. Enter the ship name or call sign and then You can zoom out to see where they have come from. It gives a 10 day history (240 hours) that includes mileage, speed, wind speed and direction, air and water temperature as well as location. If you want to see more data change the track history number of hours (20 days = 480 hours etc.)</p>
<p>For instance the Maersk Carolina is call sign WBDS. My daughters ship is the Green Lake call sign WDDI. </p>
<p>This is how we know where they are and what is going on === we can track storms etc at this site also.</p>
<p>Helps with the nerves when you can check their progress.</p>
<p>Isn't that the neatest site!? I had been tracking the Eagle for two weeks on that thing. I'll have to track your daughter now. Its really too fun to do. How did you hear about the Maersk Carolina? Was it on the news or in an article somewhere?</p>
<p>Yikes! Bet they were happy to hear that their son's ship had moved on. Sailwx is down again. Seems like it was down more than up over the last few weeks. Any more news?</p>
<p>Besides the Israeli warship off Lebanon hit by an Iranian-made, radar-guided C-102 missile, an Egyptian merchant ship carrying concrete to Syria was also hit by a Hezbollah rocket at about the same time.
Is anybody in the Middle East area? If so, what's going on?</p>
<p>I know of two 08 "B" cadets on the M/V Sisler and two on the M/V Advantage Both ships are bound for Kuwait. </p>
<p>I know the MSC M/V Sisler left Charleston, SC on July 4th and was going to Spain, Crete, Oman and Kuwait.</p>
<p>The M/V Advantage left on July 6th from Moorehead City, NC and should be going thru the SUEZ Canal on Wednesday or Thursday of this week. After Kuwait it has another destination but we don't know yet. Then it is headed back to US waters before going to 8 African nations.</p>
<p>Our prayers go out to all Mariners who are headed or serving in this volitile area of the world. May God bless and be with them throughout their travels.</p>
<p>Got an email from LFWB. Alliance New York just passed through the Strait of Hormuz on the way to Japan.</p>
<p>He said the longshoremen in Umm Qasr he talked to seemed happy. "Iraqi's" and "happy" in the same sentence I take as a good thing. </p>
<p>He said after they return they will make another run there and back and that he should have at least 130 days under his belt when he starts class in November.</p>
<p>Thank goodness for email from difficult places! This should be one of those "interesting" years with many prayers going out to all those who are suddenly in potentially dangerous situations. ....Fair winds and following seas.....</p>
<p>My son is a 1/c, and I thought I would share my experiences with email as he traveled the world during both Sea Duties. During his first time at sea, he travelled from Spain, Gibraltar, the Med route. He went through the Suez Canal, and I guess that gets old after three or four times. At one port, he and his shipmate were advised not to get off, due to being hostile area. Yet, from my end, my husband and I were able to keep in touch with our son with daily emails. They were never a problem. We were told NOT to send pictures, as that cost the shipping company money to download from the satellites. I saved all the incoming and outgoing mail, and printed them up in the order they were sent. This way, my son has a record of where he was, what he did and funny things that happened along the way. When he went out the second time, he was on the West Coast, travelling to the Far East. Again, emails were frequent. Mom was happy. Then things changed when my son changed ships. He ended up on the East Coast, travelling the NJ-Jacksonville-PR route. The captain on that ship frowned on daily emails. I found it hard not to look for news each day. But the up side was, the cell phone became the main means of communication. Just wanted to give the new parents a heads up on how different shipping companies have their own policies concerning emails. Even with the liberal email policy on the West Coast trip, the cell phone bills managed to test our BP rate and expose us to a severe form of stress test!</p>
<p>Adding to MountaineerMom - our son found that getting access to the couple computers available for ship email was difficult on his ships since he was low man on the totem pole. On one ship, all emails were printed out and handed to crew - so don't include graphics, pix or anything that would embarass your dear cadet. SO it very much depends on the particular ship's practices. Thank goodness for cell phones and phone cards!</p>
<p>E-mail has been sporadic at best for our mid. Going back and forth from west coast to Japan we got a few emails from her but she could not receive from us. Then when she did the San Diego-Panama-Southern US ship. It was non-existant but she was able to call on her cell phone whenever she reached port and keep us up on what was going on. Now on the East Coast-Med-Big Sandbox trip she called us before leaving and said she would not have email access and we would hear from her in 50+ days. Thank goodness for sailwx.info (now set as my homepage) to watch her progress.</p>
<p>LFWB... So glad that you heard from your son & that hes fine. When I read that Hezbollah had launched a drone missile at an Israeli naval vessel, I too was concerned, knowing that he was on a military sea-lift in that general area. (Not sure of all the geography in that region, still scary times!)</p>
<p>From "Eternal Father, Strong to Save" the Mariners Verse, a prayer for our midshipmen and mariners at sea:
Lord, stand besdide all those who sail
Our merchant ships in storm and gale.
In peace and war their watch they keep
On every sea, on thy vast deep.
Be with them, Lord, by night and day,
For Merchant Mariners we pray.</p>
<p>From "Eternal Father, Strong to Save" the Mariners Verse, a prayer for our midshipmen and mariners at sea:
Lord, stand beside all those who sail
Our merchant ships in storm and gale.
In peace and war their watch they keep
On every sea, on thy vast deep.
Be with them, Lord, by night and day,
For Merchant Mariners we pray.</p>
<p>When my husband and I were at ACCEPTANCE WEEKEND in '03, there was a newspaper article about 2 cadets on a ship that was near Iraq during the second Persian Gulf War. The article mentioned that the cadets were given the option of leaving the ship, rather than be in 'harm's way.' Both boys chose to stay. I wonder if that would be the situation in this case.</p>