/travel/freighter/More Photos
I've finally posted the rest of the
photos from the rest of my time on the MSC Malaga. I thought I'd done this
a while ago, but apparently not. My bad.
I've told lots of stories about it to lots of people, so I sorta forget what I wrote about. After the last (truncated) entry, I basically spent the last day hanging out with the various pilots that came on board to guide us through the St. Lawrence Seaway. We got into port at about 3am, and I was told I'd have to wait 'til 9am for customs to come onboard to clear me.
At 9am, I was told a cruise ship had come in, and they got priority. I was stuck on a boat, moored in a port of my own country, and I wasn't allowed to hop off onto the land. Weird feeling.
Finally, they came onboard. Two women, one in tough boots and generally tough looking, one rather more dolled up. Very good-cop, bad-cop. They asked me a lot of detailed questions, about why I took a frieghter, etc. They asked if I had obscene material on my laptop. They searched my stuff really thoroughly, but didn't pat me down, presumably 'cause they'd have had to call in a guy to do that. Finally, they decided I was clear, and pointed me at how to get out. They sat in their van, running the swabs that they took of my stuff, and then made certain I left the port area, and had the guy at the little entrance booth place call me a cab, and off I went.
I watched the finals (IIRC) of the World Cup while eating a pizza in the Montreal bus station, and caught a bus to Ottawa to visit Kathleen.
