Master
Captain Magnus Halvorsen
Bergen, Norway
Speaks in three word sentences. Refuses orange food.
Forty years at sea and, by his own count, forty years of being asked how many times he has circumnavigated. He stopped counting after Rotterdam. Runs the ship on the principle that if you cannot say it in three words, you probably do not need to say it. Rumoured to have a wife in Bergen who has never seen him for a full calendar month.
Portrait is a comic book invention. Under the conditions of my passage, no likeness of the working crew may appear here, names have been changed and faces drawn from memory.
Thursday, 29 October 2026Landfall at Long Beach
California out of the dawn haze, a pilot boat, an orchestra of tugs, customs officers who do not like jokes, and the strange feeling of solid ground.
Sunday, 25 October 2026Container Takes the Watch
A blue Sunday, the clocks going forward yet again, Big Kev winding her up for California, and a cat who has decided the bridge wing is hers.
Friday, 23 October 2026After the Gale
A grey morning on deck with Tiny and his crew, checking every lashing on a ship the length of four football pitches. My arms will never be the same.
Saturday, 17 October 2026Saturday, Twice
We crossed the date line in the night and were handed the same Saturday again. I spent the first one becoming a Golden Dragon and the second one wondering what to do with a free day.
Thursday, 15 October 2026A Detour for a Sailing Boat
A distress call, a change of course, a bridge full of quiet professionals, and the strange relief of being beaten to it.
16 August 2026The Canal Transit
A 400 metre ship moving through a ditch in the desert at walking pace, with sand on both sides and a pilot who talked continuously for six hours.
15 August 2026Port Said Anchorage
Anchored in a queue of ships waiting for a convoy slot, watching a city glow on the horizon that I am not permitted to visit.
12 August 2026The Floating Container
A rusted box in the water off the port bow, a very short period of genuine alarm, and a lesson in how routinely the sea eats cargo.
7 August 2026Off the Spanish Coast
Warm air for the first time since the Atlantic, and a conversation with the Captain that lasted three sentences and contained more than most meetings I have sat through.