11 days at sea (soundtrack: Mr Scruff - Shanty town)

On our first evening we had to speak to the chef to inform him of our meatless dietary requirements. He nodded an unconvincing nod of understanding, and retreated to the kitchen to put our meal together. 5 Minutes later we were each presented with a plate of canned mushrooms, sweetcorn & French fries, in three separate piles which formed a pattern not dissimilar to the radiation symbol. Hmmm, could be in for an interesting 11 day diet, we thought. However, this appeared to be a one off, and we were pleasantly surprised with the food for the rest of the passage. Obviously we made it known to him how much we appreciated the extra effort of having to prepare something different for us (a common source of veggie guilt!). Meals consisted of nice French bread and fresh salad, followed by a great soup, a main which could be anything from chinese style fried vegetables, to veggie bolognaise, to omelettes, with fruit or ice cream for desert. Breakfast consisted of fresh fruit salad, yogurt, honey and a few cornflakes thrown on top. Not sure how well vegans would do. We dined in the officers´ mess room, so ate with the Croatian Captain and other officers, and the only other passenger; a french lady called Ana. She was doing the full 7 week loop from France-St Martin-Trinidad-French Guyana-Brazil-France.


Our days slipped into a relaxing routine. Get up at 8ish for breakfast, go to up to the bridge or bow (the very front of the ship, as seen in ´Titanic´) to sit in the sun and read for a few hours, get too sweaty to sit in sun any longer, eat lunch, study Spanish, go back into sun to read/stare at sea in hope of spotting marine life, do some exercise, have doze.....
Anytime when inside the bridge, whoever was on duty was only too happy to show us how everything worked, and we could see our exact location on the screens. We passed by the Azores, and crossed the mid-Atlantic ridge.

As the days went by, it got hotter and hotter, and we gradually adapted as we moved further south-a nice change from being picked up in chilly England and dumped into the steaming tropics 8 hours later in a tsunami of perspiration. On our first full day of steaming, I stared into the sea in the hope of seeing a whale or any form of marine life, and amazingly, literally only a few minutes later I saw.....a whale! Not sure what species, but it must have been a few hundred meters ahead of us, its huge black back back emerging from the water and glittering in the sun. Followed it for a little while before it disappeared with one final blow. Couldn´t believe my luck! That turned out to be he only whale I spotted, though I did see a pod of dolphins. Frustratingly, Colette missed them all. To top it off, I saw three shooting stars one night as we approached the Caribbean, and she missed each one in turn! In the end I think she thought I was making it up. Or hallucinating.


In the evenings, we generally went to hang out and drink with either the Croatian crew or the Fillipino crew (they had separate recreation rooms, and didnt really integrate much, which is a shame). The Croatians would show us music videos - anything from Barry White live, to their undisputed favourite - a live performance by a 60´s Solvakian rock band ´White Button´, whose lead man looked disconcertingly like my Dad in skin tight leathers and various flambouyant garments which I´m sure must have looked good in the 60´s. When we visited the Filipino crew we were in for a surprise. ¨You like to dance? Later, when drink more beer, we dance! This is disco¨! And sure enough, after a couple more beers, they began to warm up. I cant remember the last time I laughed so much! Those guys have energy! We had an assortment of styles, from attempted break dancing, to random shuffles, to a few dances that one could only describe as homo-erotic. They are at sea for a long time I suppose...... Anyway, it was clearly a novelty to have girls on board, and they lined up to have a dance with either Colette or Ana. It wasn't long before I grabbed my Drum n Bass and breaks CD´s, and party picked up a notch. Everyone was going crazy......I´d expected many things of this ship, but never that we´d be raving the night away with the Fillipino Massive!

Both crews were all absolutely lovely guys, and they all went out of their way to make us feel welcome for the duration. I think it was novel to have young passengers traveling on board, for some reason its usually elderly couples that travel on cargo ships.











On day 10, we had the bonus of being able to disembark in the Caribbean island of St Martin for a full day. Had a wander around, chilled on a beach, and bought gifts for both crews; Huge bottles of duty free Mt Gay rum. And, I mean huge!








By this point, the water in the sea was warm enough for us to fill up the swimming pool (yes, there was a pool!). On our last day, it was the crew´s half-day holiday, so they brought out the Filipino sound system, beer and rum, and we had a pool party (with more Filipino dancing).
12hours later, we were docked at the Port of Spain, Trinidad. It was time to leave our beloved Platon! I´d grown quite used to life on board, and couldn´t really be arsed with this whole backpacking malarkey anymore! We´d made good friends, not least our steward, Malvin, who was just a great guy all round.


We got our backpacks together, said some heart-felt goodbyes, and prepared to leave the ship.

Photos: Onboard the Platon

Embarkation - Enter the Platon

After one night in a hotel in Le Harve (France) we took a taxi to the docks, as you´re not permitted to enter on foot. The taxi firm we used was meant to be the only firm who´re allowed into the part of the port where the cargo ships dock. Our excitement was quickly dashed upon arriving at the passport control box at the docks´ main entrance, where after much paper shuffling and concerned looks it emerged that only Colette´s name was on the passenger list, and not my own! After a phone call and more paper shuffling we were waved through, and the taxi driver drove us through an alien world of stacked containers, cranes and crazy container-picking-up vehicles which zoomed around resembling giant metallic tables on wheels with the driver hung 30 feet high in a tiny cockpit, not unlike the tiny gold men who drive Zoids (this will make no sense to those who were not lucky enough to own Zoids as children). He drove us to the edge of the dock and said "this is it", or the French equivalent. But the boat was nowhere to be seen. In fact, there was no one around at all, just dangerous looking cranes and Zoid table vehicles flying about the place. It seemed like we shouldn't be there at all. In fact, a few security cars drove by, the drivers eying us cautiously, and we were sure we would be picked up by immigration control at any moment. Eventually, one car did approach us. Its occupants informed us that the ship was late, but was due to arrive in 40 minutes and that we were in the right place after all. Relief! We got the portable soundsystem out and had a little dance, much to the amusement of the dockers who were gathering to await the ship.

Sure enough, 40ish minutes later, CMG CMA PLATON appeared on the horizon, and slowly but surely made her way towards us. What a beauty! After an hour or so, we were able to embark, and after climbing the 60 + narrow steps to the bridge (control floor at top of the actual building bit of the ship, for those who aren´t down with shipping lingo). We were shown to our cabin (one floor below the bridge) by one of the Croatian crew. And what a cabin! A spacious, light, airy room with a double bed, onsuite shower/toilet, sitting area, writing desk & 2 windows (or portholes). Luxury! The days of roughing it in a filthy, diesel coated container for 11 days must be over. For those privileged enough to be able to pay for their passage that is. The sad truth is that some desperate people in the world do still attempt to flea to better lives by becoming stow-aways on these ships.....often with tragic consequences. After settling in we were taken on a tour of the boat, and met the Croatian and Filipino crew. The next day, the ship was ready to ´up anchor´, and we were away!