Fifteen years ago, I decided to chart my own path and that was to sail for a living. A kid growing up on the outskirts of Wichita, Kansas, pursuing a career path into the maritime industry was fairly uncommon. There wasn't a navigable waterway within a two hour drive. The usual career prospects at that time in the area such as manufacturing planes, healthcare, or other various trades did not interest me. I knew I wanted to do something on the water and there was simply no avenue to pursue that type of career in the middle of a landlocked state.
I decided I wanted to be a Merchant Mariner. I packed my bags and headed to New York for school. A year later, I joined my first vessel right here in Norfolk, Virginia as a Deck Cadet. Zero experience and barely any knowledge of how to even navigate around a container ship within hours of getting underway. One full trip consisted of 72 days and went as far east as Sri Lanka before heading back west. The port time was quick. Unload and load boxes and within a blink of the eye, you were letting go of all lines, back out to sea. One of the best sights was making it back to the USA. Seeing that coastline emerge on the horizon was a great feeling. Channel fever as they call it ensued as we transited inbound from Cape Henry to Thimble Shoal Light before we were securely moored about an hour later at the terminal to start cargo operations.
A year later, I joined a tanker and shuttled crude oil up and down the northwest and west coast of the United States. It was a fairly straightforward route. Most days consisted of working on the tank deck such as cleaning tanks for the next load or ballasting. Towards the end of my time onboard, the ship went into a five year shipyard period in Singapore. We great circled over the Pacific Ocean for 28 days and conducted tank cleaning in preparation for the shipyard. As we transited the Strait, I recall the countless hours of heavy traffic in the Approaches to Sembawang Terminal. Fishing boats, ferries, junk boats, cargo ships, warships, you name it. Maneuvering through the sea of traffic, we eventually made it to the shipyard.
A month later, I joined a car carrier or 'roll-on roll-off' (Ro/Ro). I flew into Egypt to meet the ship. From there, we headed east trans-shipping military cargo into Middle Eastern ports and some commercial vehicles. I'll never forget transiting into the UAE for the first time. The Approach to Mina' Jabal 'Ali and to firsthand see the artificial archipelago, the Palm. What an incredible sight! The city of Dubai was nothing I had ever seen before. A sea of nothing but desert sand, but with countless skyscrapers that outlined the skyline.
After three years of undergraduate studies and a year at sea, I finally graduated, with a US Coast Guard License in hand. I applied with a shipping company, and a few months later I was back out to sea. I joined an oiler out in the Middle East. The next two months were filled with non-stop replenishments with other ships before heading back west to the United States. Once we returned, the workload was more or less the same. From Cape Hatteras to Straits of Florida, we were called to replenish other ships in the area during exercises.
A few months later, I transitioned to another platform of ships. One of my favorite times was heading south to the Caribbean and transporting equipment to different Central American countries. I remember the inbound transit into Puerto Castilla. It was a clear, but incredibly hot and humid day. All that could be seen for miles on the approach was jungle. It wasn't until we made the final turn around the vegetated spit, into the bay that the port emerge in front of us and a small town tucked to the south. With a little time off, I was able to explore the nearby town and beaches. In the evening, locals would congregate and play pick up futbol on the airstrip until nightfall.
A year later, I joined another ship as a plankowner. After over a year of going through the standard tests and inspections of a delivered ship, it was time to head across the pond to where the ship would spend the rest of it's life - the Med. I finally made the jump to Navigator and became busy researching ports that had not been visited by other US ships for sometimes decades. I remember heading north for the Baltic to conduct exercises with other ships. One moment I will never forget was transiting through the English Channel for the first time at night into the early morning. The thick fog in the channel made for virtually zero visibility. Not to mention the heavy traffic in various areas and chokepoints made for some tense watches.
Maneuvering through the traffic, we eventually made it to north of Denmark, where we picked up a pilot for the strait transit. We transited south through the straits to the Storebaelt-Southern Part, where the pilot departed and we headed into Bornholm, a small island governed by the Danish. Being so far north in the summer made for long days. I remember standing watch from midnight until eight o'clock in the morning. The sky never pitch black. It was if the sun just barely dipped under the horizon, before popping right back up around 4 AM. It felt as if you lost a general sense of time when you went outside. Noon felt like 6AM and 3AM felt like 6PM.
After spending time in the Baltic, we returned back to the Med to get a few days in port. We navigated through Nisos Andros & Dhiekplous Kafireos before making our way into Athens Greece. We had quite a bit of port time to visit the city, so I made sure to make the most of it. I visited where the first modern day Summer Olympics took place in 1896, Parthenon, Acropolis, and many other historical areas. It was an once in a lifetime experience to be at the same spot where so much history had occured.
Eventually, I took some time off and took my classes for Chief Mate. I passed the tests and was off to my next ship as a first time Chief Mate. COVID was taking it's toll throughout the world and most ships were locked down and tied to the pier. As the restrictions lifted over time, the operations picked back up. I found myself back in the Caribbean hopping from country to country. One port I recall visited was Saint George. It was a short, but windy transit through Saint Georges Harbour and Approaches. As we made the turn around the bend at Fort George, the town in the harbor appeared. It was an amazing sight to see. The vibrant and colorful homes outlining the background of the terminal, sheltered on the hills on the harbor side. Small local fishing boats lined the dock in the downtown area, while pedestrians were seen walking through the narrow and steep alleyways to get to where they needed to go.
Finally, after a few months in the Caribbean, we headed to Bahia de Santa Marta. A somewhat tourist town, that was full of energy no matter what part of the town you explored. One thing I recall was how vibrant the sunsets were here daily. After a few days, you almost took it for granted. Such a beauitful town that always had something to offer.
There are countless other great experiences I have had during these past 15 years of sailing, but I can't include them all. It's hard to fathom what I would have ended up doing if I never took that step to chart my own path, follow my intuition and pursue this career.
Now to chart your own path to finding the cache.
But there's one last item...
When the path becomes clear, and you're about to embark on your journey, you will need the code to unlock the treasure that awaits you. The code you seek can be found in the Greenland Sea.
Good luck!
You can validate your puzzle solution with
certitude.