I fell on the basement steps earlier that day so my ass, arm and back hurt. I was still gonna party though. Before we left for Harold’s, I told OldWolv two drinks for me, that?s it. Hah!
Just so you don?t totally miss out on the report Bandit sent, I pulled what I felt was the most important issue and here you have it.
?Make your News Year’s a killer one, but don’t get killed, go down or get busted for drunk riding. It’s not worth it. I’ll tell you what to do though, make a woman smile.
Ride forever, Bandit.?
There?s your damn Sunday Post for Dec. 29. Yes, my ass feels better now and the bruise is almost gone. That freekin? Bandit should have flown home to kiss it. Now here?s your Sunday Post for this week.
Layla
SUNDAY POST – EASYRIDERS BIKE SHOW ROCKS THE POMONA FAIRGROUNDS
How the hell would I know? I wasn’t there. I’m in the goddamn English Channel again heading out into the North Atlantic where we will hang a port (left) and sway south around the face of France, past Gibraltar, through the narrow passage and into the Mediterranean. There’s one tiny caveat to that portion of the news: We’re facing a storm that’s bearing down on us with a force 10 winds. I recently picked up a book off the bridge that contains scientific-like photographs of the various levels of storms. Force 10 is shit to avoid at all costs.
It’s a new year and the world is on its terrorist toes. Generally I believe that there is a new world awareness, and it might just bring a great number of countries together in a common bond for freedom, improved human rights and opportunities for many people. Very philosophical, right? How the hell do I know? I’m on a ship with three women and 25 crewmen and we can’t make it four days without a war, a fight or criminal activity. The cops were back on board a couple of times after the thievery before New Year’s Eve.
Day before yesterday, the small young Filipino steward, Clemet, was cleaning the guest head and discovered the blonde’s purse, and only her wallet was still missing. Of course that occurred after we went on a major shopping spree to find a replacement purse, gloves, umbrella and rain slickers. Now she has almost two of everything. I’ve been sworn to withhold the latest developments regarding the investigation until Thursday’s news column, just about the time we float into the Genoa, Italy, harbor. The terror peaked the morning before we pulled out. Let’s get to the news.
Easyriders Bike Show 2002 No, Bandit didn?t attend, but I did. I took my daughter, Karley, with me and we met up with Brenda Fox. Karley doesn?t share the same enthusiasm for motorcycles as I do. She was more impressed with this bug. It was kinda cute.
It seemed much busier than last year, which I?m sure made Easyriders happy. There were some of the most beautiful bikes I have ever seen. I didn?t hang around for the bike contest winners but here are some of the bikes I was most impressed with.
The Kentucky Headhunters rocked the place and everyone seemed to have a great time. We found our new sponsor, Aeromach, and introduced ourselves. Their stuff is even more impressive in person.
I had a great time and didn?t drink at all last night. Yippee!!!!!! You get a Sunday Post today!
Layla
Sunday Post Special “Section”
Since it is our stern policy to give the members of the Cantina something that no one else will see, it gives me great pleasure to share with you some historic artifacts. Bikers have bad luck objects and taboos such as green paint. Well, I took a stroll through a Schelde River castle two days before I left Antwerp. The castle has since been turned into a maritime museum and since I’m doing ships, I’ve been checking out the maritime museums along the way. (If you’re in Savannah, Georgia, go see the maritime museum there. It’s unbelievable.) This one contained boat relics and artifacts back to the Dark Ages.
During the tour I came across 13 taboos and omens regarding sailing and going to sea. I immediately noted that we were breaking two as we left the harbor. I hope they won’t reflect on this voyage:
1.If a crewman was to kill an albatross, it is bad luck.
2. It’s no wonder that the crew stays on board because to run into a cat, woman, nun or priest before embarking is a bad omen. That makes three strikes against us.
3. Unfortunately we didn’t meet a military man before leaving since that’s good luck. Do cops count?
4. Wishing a fisherman a happy journey is not appreciated.
5. Never sail on Friday! (That’s number 2.)
6. Never spill salt while sailing. They didn’t mention the over-the-shoulder routine.
7. Always carry salt.
8. Whistling is not allowed or the wind will fail. If that’s the case, I’m whistling constantly.
9. Don’t mend clothes at sea or the wind will mend (?).
10. No throwing burning embers or ashes overboard.
11. You can buy some wind in doldrums by throwing coins overboard. Suppose Neptune can use the change.
12. A coin under the mast during construction of a sailboat is good luck.
13. Finally, and our number one failure is that a ship’s name is never to change. This ship has had three names. I take that back, four names: Nacional Vitoria, Sonora, Gina Luisa and Leon. We’re in trouble now!
As it turns out, we only loaded 3,000 tons of cargo in Hamburg, Germany, but by the time we pulled out of Antwerp we had upped the assorted cargo in the five dark holds to 16,000 tons in Antwerp and should load another 2,000 tons in Genoa for a total of 18,000 metric tons. The maximum the ship will carry is around 21,000 tons based on the destinations of the ship and the season. It varies from 21 to 23. The ship will hold approximately 29,000 cubic meters of cargo.
Sometime soon I will try to get my spy camera over the ship’s manifest so you will have some notion of what we are hauling to China. I know presently that there are parts for ships’ cranes strapped to the deck along with about 20 containers. In the holds we have a number of I-beams that must be a foot high and 20 feet long. In addition we loaded stands of pipe about the size for drilling oil wells. We loaded pipe for nearly two days straight. We have two pumping trucks on board, but I’ll find out more about them, and there’s a crane boom or something humongous strapped to the deck and completely covered in tarps.
Capt. Dierk Meier, the cargo superintendent, is responsible for loading and unloading the cargo from a management standpoint. He will meet us in each port and supervise the cargo. His responsibility ends with the stevedore unions, and he informed us that much of the cargo will be unloaded again in Genoa and reloaded after the new payload is hauled aboard. With each time a crate is unloaded and loaded (shifted) there is an additional charge. I’m discovering that this is a dicey business. I’ll pump more to you on Thursday. I’m up to 16 chapters on the first Chance book and the second. I’m sending Chapter 16 to HORSE in a week. You should see a new chapter in the Cantina before too long.
That’s enough for the Sunday Post. You guys wanna go for a ride, right?– Bandit
