The Tropical Moon

The Tropical Moon - in Port

The year is 1979. The place: Montevideo, Uruguay. To be more precise - the port of Montevideo.

The Tropical Moon is a gleaming white reefer ship, new, and German built. Her mission is to move bananas from Ecuador to Uruguay, a transit that involves navigating half the coastline of South America and taking a route through the iceberg-laden waters of the Chilean fjords, then swing up via. the Straits of Magellan to Uruguay.

In order to go back to Ecuador to load up again with bananas it makes good economic sense to ship a cargo of prime Uruguayan beef to Ecuador. It’s a win-win.

Meeting The Captain

Enter the protagonist. A young traveller from New Zealand. This young man has already ventured down the Andean spine of South America on a 8-months’ long travel adventure. Having crossed the Andes and made his way to Uruguay via Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina, Lindsey is now checking out the port of Montevideo.

He spies a gleaming white ship tied up on the wharf. Lindsey has always dreamed of travelling by sea, possibly on a cargo vessel, so he climbs the gangplank to the Tropical Moon and asks the crew for directions to the captain’s cabin.

Captain Hans Meeg is receptive to a chat with this young traveller. Lindsey asks where the ship is next sailing to. It so happens that the cargo vessel will leave the next day for Ecuador. This destination happens to fit perfectly with where Lindsey wishes to travel to next. Asking Hans directly whether it’s possible for the ship to carry him to Ecuador, to Lindsey’s surprise, captain Hans says yes.

Lindsey’s travel adventure now shifts to a new level. Formalities taken care of, courtesy of Hans, Lindsey is now enroute to Ecuador. It’s his dream come true.

The backload cargo of meat didn’t eventuate so the ship sails with its cargo holds empty. Unladen, the journey from port to port takes a quick 10 days.

Working a Passage

Officially Lindsey is classified as O.S. - Ordinary Seaman. Of course, he’s never been a sailor or seaman in his life. Lindsey is a 23-year-old-Kiwi with a work history thus far as a biology technician and as a costing clerk. The arrangement is for this young traveller to work his passage on the ship so the journey will in fact be gratis.

Hans offers Lindsey a private cabin, one which would normally be used by one of the ship’s engineers but is vacant at the time.

With a pot of paint and paint brush in hand, Lindsey’s job is to paint around some of the ship’s window frames. Ships need a lot a painting to keep them trim and proper.

El Estrecho de Magallanes

The ship travels south to the Magellan Strait. The tip of South of America is on the right-hand side and on the left is the icy land of Tierra de Fuego (Land of Fire). The Tropical Moon heads across the strait bracing snow and sleet. Lindsey by this stage has ditched the painting job in order to witness the ship’s navigation from the bridge. He’s transitioned from ordinary seaman to a VIP tourist on board.

The Tropical Moon swings north to navigate the fjords of Chile enroute to the port of Valparaiso. A Chilean pilot who had come on board at the entrance to el Estrecho de Magallanes takes responsibility for safely navigating the ship through the fjords.

Icebergs

All on board help in keeping a keen eye out for icebergs that tend to carve off from the glaciers lining the fiords. Icebergs in the channel are a hidden danger because most of their bulk is hiding underwater and, if you are lucky, just the tip of the iceberg is visible. Ships pass in the opposite direction. Night falls. Day breaks.

Valpo

Valparaiso is a safe harbour. The Tropical Moon anchors in the bay and a little boat comes out to pick up the pilot. Meanwhile the crew take advantage of anchoring in the harbour to do an exchange - a box of bananas in exchange for a crate of Chilean wine. It’s a good deal.

Shipboard meals are punctual. Lunch is at 12 on the dot and similarly dinner is at 6 - again, on the dot. The ship’s crew comprise the Norwegian captain, German officers and the deck hands, who are from the Philippines. A chef prepares the meals which are served to the table. Hans invites the young traveller to dine at the Captain’s table, in the company of the officers. There is a daily printed menu from which to choose one’s breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Gin Rummy

Like clockwork, evening time - at precisely 8 pm - is the scheduled time for relaxing with a few drinks and a game of cards. The captain, the officers and the invited guest play gin rummy every night. The rummy rules are those of how the game is played in Uruguay, which makes sense, in a way.

Heading north up the western coast of South America, each morning reveals that the days are getting warmer. From the icy realms of the Magellan Strait the air feels sweeter and more humid.

The Dream

Lindsey is living the dream. Hans made it possible. It almost feels that an impossibility has converted into a reality. Prior to the voyage this traveller had literally put out to the Universe his desire to travel by sea. It didn’t really matter about the destination. It was simply a longing. It was an idea - a fantasy even. Something that even in 1979 was almost unobtainable. The traveller discovered that shipping companies espoused a variety of reasons why it was not possible to work a passage.

For example, in Asuncion, Paraguay there was the possibility of working a passage on board a ship that was soon to depart for New York. However, it turned out that in Paraguay vessels could only take on Paraguayan nationals. So, that idea didn’t work out.

The traveller had previously tried to travel by sea from ports in Mexico and Ecuador - and Lyttelton in New Zealand - but all to no avail. So, in his mind, Lindsey had finally resolved to let go of this idea. What happened in Montevideo was entirely unexpected. Just when the traveller had let go of this desire - and only because the Tropical Moon looked gleaming and enticing, did he decide to give it one last try. Such is fate.

From Ecuador Lindsey flies to Miami and eventually back to his home “port” of Christchurch, NZ. It culminates 8 months exploring California, Mexico, Central and South America. It was a dream journey; one with adventures, excitement and learning. Lindsey met fellow travellers on the road. He would share hotel rooms with them to share in the accommodation costs.

The Aucas

The traveller ventured into the Ecuadorian selva - the cold part of the Amazonas. On that adventure the destination was to know of the Auca tribe, who lived in a traditional way in the jungle. They hunted monkeys and parrots using long and heavy blowpipes.

On the journey trying to return from the Auca village, Lindsey was in a canoe with four others paddling a canoe upstream against a river that had become a raging torrent overnight. Midstream the canoe pivoted on logs and the canoe became swamped. Chest high in the middle of the river, the five managed to not only hold onto the canoe, but also their packs. They baled the water out of the canoe using a gumboot. Instead of fighting the river, they then returned to the village downstream, and later hiked out.

Galapagos

The Galapagos Islands beckoned - an otherworldly domain teeming in blue-footed boobies, giant tortoises, iguana, sea lions and sharks.

Machu Picchu

Peru saw the traveller climb up the steep slopes of Machu Picchu - the Peruvian Lost City of the Incas - in the pre-dawn, from the Urubamba River Valley below.

El Lago Titicaca

Lake Titicaca drew the traveller as if this was a place of mystery and spirituality. Lindsey had called his travel diary “Pilgrimage to Lake Titicaca”. He stayed couple of nights on Isla de Taquile in the middle of Lake Titicaca. On the opposite side of the lake, huge snow-capped mountains glimmered. They sat on the Bolivian side.

Introspection

Years and years later Lindsey looks back on his unique travel experience of working a passage on the Tropical Moon. He learns more about the person who made it all possible. Hans went on command some of the largest ocean liners in the world and became a very liked and respected sea captain. Lindsey learns that by 2025, sadly, Hans had passed away - at the age of 84.

Lindsey, at the time, in 1979, was a young adventurer backpacking his way through South America, a budget traveller. Therefore, a free ride on a ship, going from A to B, was a bonus and helped in saving some transport pennies. There was a much greater bonus however. The journey represented much more than just a journey. It instilled in Lindsey an intuitive understanding on how a dream is created and manifested. This life lesson, learned inadvertently while on the road has stayed with him his entire life. He had in fact stumbled across the mechanism of manifestation - one with its foundation in taking actions and having intent. This is the opposite of sitting cross-legged and meditating.

The Alchemist

Life becomes a series of dreams to be realised. Having ticked one off, another dream awaits. They become new challenges, new aspirations. Fifteen years after his seaborne adventure from the Atlantic to Pacific Lindsey is recommended by travellers he meets in Medan, Sumatra, to read a special book called The Alchemist.

From here on the jigsaw pieces start to fall into place.

Paulo Coelho wrote that when you really want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it. In Coelho’s world, a "Personal Legend" is discovered through signs and the kindness of strangers. The personal legend that Coelho describes is what you have always wanted to accomplish. The Tropical Moon - a gleaming new white ship moored in the port of Montevideo was a sign - an omen. The journey to Ecuador wasn’t just A to B transportation - it was the unfolding of intent. The coincidences of Lindsey being in the right place at the right time were very strong coincidences - of meeting the one man who could pull strings and make it possible - and that the exit from Uruguay, passport officially stamped out, all in the space of a day - were in fact a minor miracle. It is written, says Coelho.

Hans acted out of love. He didn’t have to do what he did. But in his heart, he demonstrated the purest form of love.

That young man is I.