And thus the old problem arises.

The last day in the Tivoli Hotel in Portimao, Portugal, everyone wants to go out, and I want to go out, but do my colleagues want me to go out with them? I donīt know.

We are about to cross the atlantic ocean, while we are doing this, we will need to handle sails, during that time, they will like the fact that Iīm there, an extra hand is always needed when pulling lines, sailing is never easy.

But do they want me to go out with them?
I do not know, and it is pissing me off.

Yep, Greetings from Southern Portugal, Portimoa to be exact!
At this very moment Iīm hogging one of the PCs in the lobby of Hotel Tivoli, where the entire crew of my ship is staying, which makes for a change, rebuilds/repairs/maintenance are being performed all over the ship, so at the moment itīs not a very fit place to live.

The Hotel is really nice though, great food and hospitality, though one has to observe they donīt cater too well to people that do night watches on board the ship. (SOMEONE has to make sure things do not catch fire or some other horrible thing).

My dayīs rest was rudely interrupted by the cleaning lady at least 5 times, despite the īDNDīsign on my door!
But yeah, one more (early) night watch this evening, from 18:30 ītill 1:30, and Iīve done my share for the week!

Work on the ship is progressing steadily, and we expect to be ready leave for the Caribean somewhere in early January, setting all sails and crossing the south Atlantic by way of the Canary Islands.
Which makes for a nice change of scenery, never been to that part of the world before.

Until then we can keep ourself amused with listening to the chief engineer complaining about stuff springing all sorts of leaks, while dutifully sanding/chipping/grinding away at all sorts of rust and other tarnsishes that are taboo on a big sailing ship, resting assured the people working on our new crew quarters are doing a fine job.

So, 2 more weeks in this hotel (at most), and we set sail towards the horizon once more!

Marius Hollenga
Ordinary Sailor
On Board (ish) Clipper Stad Amsterdam
Portimao, Portugal

So, today, after 6 months at sea, with some intervals, ofcourse, the company I work for called me and said that everyone on board has been very happy with me, and they decided to change my contract from 'apprentice' to 'ordinary sailor'.

This means that from today I can call myself a professional mariner on all sailing ships, a fine day to be sure.
The only formality to be concluded is me completing a course in firefighting and first aid, which is going to be a piece of cake, since I've already completed it a few years ago.

So, the story goes something like this:
In February I was your average unemployed school dropout, willing to work, but unable to find work, I was in a program that enabled me to sort of work for a welfare cheque, far from ideal, but you have to do SOMETHING.

Then an advert on a job-site caught my eye: 'Sailing vessel 'Stad Amsterdam' seeking trainee, no experience required'.
Bloody excellent, I had no experience at all, so that would be just fine!
So I wrote them a letter, heard nothing for a week, then I received a letter from them, 'come 'round for an interview please!'
Sure thing!
So, a few weeks passed, and I got a phonecall:
'You still want to work for us?'
'Ofcourse!'
'Good man, you fly for West Palm Beach, Florida on the 7th of April, first working day is on the 8th'
'WOOOOOOH!'

After quickly arranging a US work permit and the such, and applying for a seaman's book, the wait was on.
On the 7th I was supposed to fly, Didnt get any sleep (me being somewhat shy by nature does not help when starting a new job.)
So the 7th arrived, I was driven to the airport by my parents, mum being very emotional. :).
I checked in, and after a while I met the people I was going to travel with, the captain and a fellow newcomer named Floris, coming from another sailing ship.

After a 15 hour journey from Amsterdam to Newark, and then Newark to West Palm Beach, with a shitload of delays, we took a cab to the ship at 3 am on the 8th of April...and there she was, the first ship I ever saw up close...and what a sight she was...80 metres long, the tallest of her 3 masts over 45 metres high, 28 sails, truely a lovely vessel, a true credit to the age of sail...a ship you fall in love with.

So here we are, 6 months later, and I am offered a contract for 3 years, the happiest day of my life so far!
Onwards to the horizon! I will be greeting it from the truck of the mainmast!
Fair winds me lads!

Marius
Professional Mariner.

After an absence of more than a year we've decided to bring SADNA back to life in the form of a CPMA CPM 1v1 tournament. This will be happening on Saturday the 23rd of September 2006 (this Saturday) and will be a one day tournament.

Previous tournaments were OSP VQ3 1v1 and featured players such as czm, chance, cl0ck and bondjr. However everyone is welcome and signups are first come first served.

The map-list will be the one currently being used in the CPM Masterscup XL (cpm1a, cpm3a, cpm15, cpm22, cpm23), with the addition of cpm28.

Signups will be opened at 08:30 CST. On saturday. And will continue 'til we reach 32 players.

As stated previously, this is a one day tournament, you must be in the channel to sign up on the day, anyone not in the channel will be removed.

Good luck and have fun :).

Website
Rules
IRC: #SADNA-EU on Quakenet

And another period at my great job came to an end, sadly.
This time the ship I work on travelled to La Coruna in Spain to compete in a leg of the annual Tall Ship's Races, for me it was the first time I came to such a festival, and it really is something different, the entire port of La Coruna was filled to the brim with the great sailing ships of the world.
From little yachts to the big square rigged ships, nearly all of them were there. :)

And then on to the race itsself! wow!
The race course ran from La Coruna to Antwerp (That's in Belgium, yes), and was roughly 1000 nautical miles in Length (which is roughly 1852 kilometres).
The Spanish navy was nice enough to provide a big cannon to see us off, and it succeeded in blowing us well awake, since most of us were still recovering from the ravages of the crew party 2 days before (free drinks, what can I say?).

So the game was afoot! the start was truly spectacular, with all ships setting sail at the same time, and a dozen big square rigged sailing ships flying off with some big force 7 winds in the sail, truely magnificent!

Anyway, after 7/8 days of sailing, it turns out we came third! :)

Result Class A:

1. Mir (Three masted full rigged ship, Russia)
2. Christian Radich (Three masted full rigged ship, Norway)
3. Stad Amsterdam (Three masted full rigged ship, the Netherlands)
4. Sagres (Three masted barque, Portugal)
5. Swan fan Makkum (Three masted brigantine, the Netherlands)

So in the end, the Russians win again.

Oh dear...
In 4 days I'll be getting on some dodgy contraption called an 'Aeroplane', it will bring me from Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport to West Palm Beach in Florida.
Where I will board a ship called the Stad Amsterdam.



Said ship will then be my home for the upcoming few years (with occasional short stays at home).

I say: Yay! Hurrah!
Can't wait to get started on this new job =]

Winners Bracket 4th round match of the #quake3.pl 1v1 Cup.
I'm not going to give away the scores for people that have not seen the match yet, all I can tell you: Its an epic battle.

The Polish superstar GaD takes on the Croatian enfant terrible bloodlike in a threemapper that showcases the amazing talent both players have.

Gametype: Team Game
Map: Various Maps
Mod: Capture The Flag
Viewpoint: Various
Version info: 1.32 / OSP 1.03a
How to play back Q3 demos


GotMilk? Quake 3 CTF League Week 1 Action:

European Side /// taking on Team Area 51 in a rather one sided clash.

First Demo: OSPCTF2 (Coachdemo)
Lineups: Area 51: Tavis/OldScool/Krid/UrToasted
Clan ///: Keymaster/Twiz(Kurwa)/Eri/Green

Second Demo: Q3WCP9 (Ineyes MARIUS/// )
Lineups: Area 51: Tavis/OldScool/Krid/UrToasted
Clan ///: Marius/Twiz(Kurwa)/Eri/Green

Gametype: N/A
Map: N/A
Mod: Capture The Flag
Viewpoint: [44]KKS
Version info: 1.32 / OSP1.03a
How to play back Q3 demos


Week 4 match of the GotMilk Quake 3 CTF Tournament.
Teams in this match are True Force ([44]) and Samurai Dairy Farmers (sdf) in a clash that might not be as close as expected, but this demo is very enjoyable, and since the map is rather unusual (OSPCTF1 - White Noise) I thought it worthy of upload.

Enjoy!