Читать книгу The Captain's Log - Hans Psy.D. Mateboer - Страница 2

Writing is a very fascinating process, but playing with words and sentences in such a way that they fit together, is not an easy task at all, I found out. Numerous books have been written about the sea and those who sail on her, but extremely rare is a book written by a seaman himself.

Our minds are not trained to sit behind a computer and endlessly toy with words. Instead, they are shaped by North Atlantic storms, by hurricanes, and by shifting cargos. In our dealings with people from all over the world, the English we use is often severely compromised and would be seriously frowned upon by any self respecting kindergarten teacher. Seamen in general are experts in expressing themselves clearly and in very few and very simple words and often a plain gesture is deemed sufficient. Thus the sea has prepared us to deal with all kinds of situations fast and effectively. A high degree of bluntness is not uncommon.

That writing is not a quality associated with us shows in the fact that I can think of very few captains who have written a book like this. I know very well from my own experience, that a lack of material can not be the reason for not writing. I believe that every person has his own fantasy world in which he achieves fantastic if not impossible goals. It is the same with me. During my numerous night shifts being alone on a dark ocean, my imagination often would run wild. I would start shipping companies, I would write books ….

A few times I actually made an attempt to do the last, but never got much further than the title. After all what would I write about …?

Then, some years ago, it occurred to me that I didn’t have to torture my brain to find ideas for a book. The book was happening right around me, in plain sight and on my own ship, almost every day— enough to fill many volumes. This then would imply that every story is a true one. My answer to that can only be “yes.”

Everything you will read has truly happened. Of course certain changes were necessary to fit episodes together. Every now and then a chapter will consist of more than one story combined, and in virtually all cases I altered the names of those involved.

I do hope that you will derive as much enjoyment from reading this book, as I got from writing it and reliving these experiences.