Some photos from San Diego, CA

Three air craft carriers in the naval base as seen from the deck of air craft carrier USS Midway

The Bridge to Coronado Island. A very short distance to the Tijuana, Mexico border.

USS Midway, air craft carrier museum

San Diego skyline by day and parking for cruise ships!

San Diego skyline as viewed from the roof terrace of the crew house.

Click on the photos for full sizes, and don't forget to read my newest blog post just below here.

Weekend in San Diego and Temecula 24/10-2010

I have started training in a gym called Undisputed. I like it. They have a completely different way of doing things, than in Denmark. The training is a lot more technical than in Denmark, and I feel that I can really learn some things about how to teach boxing. Useful for when I return to Brønderslev Bokseklub. Aside from that, it helps me burn some of the fat consumed during lunches in the always present fast food restaurants over here. I have been here for 12 days now and I already feel like a much more unhealthy person. No wonder why the Americans are so obese! They litterally serve chips/crisps with sandwiches here, as a substitution for e.g. french fries or potatoes.
That said, I must say that people truly are more beautiful here in California compared to the people on the East coast. I remember people in Washington D.C. to be extremely fat, and worst of all, there were no hot girls.

Anyway, Saturday I worked on board and did nothing special but visit a gigantic electronics warehouse called Frys. Got to discuss the newest 3D and google tv televisions with a Sony representative and got to test the new Sony Alpha STL 55 camera. A dangerous place to go, but I did not give in to temptation of buying....yet.

Sunday was a good day. I took the crew car and went the 1½ hour drive up to Temecula to visit Flemming and Grethe, who are my former employers and good friends. They have an olive farm there in a wine district valley and use it as a summer house. It was extremely interesting to walk around on the farm and see how they have made that dry, stony and hilled terrain into a lucrative little olive plantation. On top of that, we had real black bread and frikadeller. Two things I know I won't taste again for a very long time. What a nice sunday excursion.

Flemming and Grethe's farm on top of the hill

A view of the "farm"
The pool on the "farm"

19/10-2010 San Diego

From now on, I will try to maintain this blog a little better than I have done in the past. Not only for interested people to be able to follow my life and accomplishments, but even more for myself to record some of the experiences, thoughts and impressions I get in my daily life. Information that would otherwise be forgotten or neglected.

Anyways. I am in San Diego, California, USA.
I am currently the 2nd Engineer on the motor yacht Apogee. Here are some pictures of the ship:
http://www.yachtmati.com/apogee/index.htm
It is a lot bigger than my last yacht, and so is the engine compartment, which makes the working experience here, much more similar to working on a "real" commercial ship.
We are in San Diego at the Driscoll ship yard for preparations for the next season.

Today I saw something interesting. As I walked around on board, I saw some large animals in the water. It turned out to be a couple of sea lions that were "tanning", holding their fins out of the water, apparently to heat up the blood. What I dont get, is why they didnt realize that the sun wasnt shining and it was raining. I always find it interesting to see animals in the sea. Regarding the sea lions, it got me thinking that I never knew before where these magnificent creatures actually lived. Well, now I know: California.

By the way, who said "It never rains in southern California"? Not true. Its been raining all day, and actually its been over clouded ever since I got here last wednesday.

So do I like being here? I dont want to admit it, cause im not impressed by americans and what they stand for. On top of that, everyone, except themselves, know that they are kind of stupid (and obese). But yes, I like it here. Let me explain: Not only did I have a fantastic weekend seeing the USS Midway aircraft carrier museum, some submarines and sailing ships, but I also went to one of those college parties that you normally see in college comedies. Complete with punch in paper cups, booze in brown paper bags, young kids smoking weed on the roof terrace, drunk kids thinking that its ok to drunk drive and lots of good looking- easy to talk to-girls. A weekend like that makes me feel like Im in the right place at this time. Further enhancing this good feeling was last nights activities. I went with one of the chief engineers to a proper boxing/martial arts gym called undisputed. After 2 hours hard workout (more on the boxing training in a future blog) it was 2130 and I hadnt had dinner. No problem in the US: I just went out on the street and after walking 3 minutes I had a choice of 3 cafes that were all open and serving food at that time on a monday night. I chose the first one in my path and although a little pricey compared to american prices, it was a good meal. I guess its just the vicinity and simplicity of getting everything that you might need at any time, that appeals to me.