Migrating To The U.S.

2008 was a memorable year for my family and I. I wrote and published my first novel - Through Deep Waters - on April 7th 2008. Incidentally, this was the same day my father passed away in 1989. I sailed again, from May to August that year. We had great news that we had been selected for migration to the US. In December 2008, we left Sri Lanka and came to New York. Friends of ours were very helpful in finding an apartment. It was a safe location and only twenty minutes travel by subway to Times Square. 

Taking A Break From Sea

After sailing for four months with the Australian company, I signed off the ship and returned home. Thereafter, I sailed on a bulk carrier that was trading between Indonesia, Malaysia and Sri Lanka. The vessel mostly carried cement clinker and Gypsum in bulk. It was great because I had the opportunity of returning home at least once a month. With a few breaks, I continued with this company till the end of 2007. Thankfully, it was plain sailing on those ships.
In November 2007, I visited Toronto and Montreal with my wife and we experienced very bad winter weather. Although the weather was not to our advantage, the holiday we spent there, travelling to various places with our relations and friends was rather welcome. I found in Toronto, there were so many Sri Lankans that you could get anything you need and more.
In December, we returned to Sri Lanka via London. We stayed two weeks in London and I was able to take my wife to show her my old college - Sir John Cass - where I did Maritime Studies. It was a great trip - memories to last a lifetime.

Going Back To Sea

In the year 2004, my family and I decided to seek options of migrating. We submitted our applications in 2005. Following the submission, I decided to close down my company in stages and resume sailing. In May 2005, I joined a small shipping company based in Australia, even though the ships were registered in Papua New Guinea. The first ship I joined in June was in a city called Townsville, Australia. All other officers, except the Chief Engineer, and crew on the ship were from Papua New Guinea. The Chief Engineer was also from Sri Lanka. About two hours after taking over command, I went with the Chief Officer to check the lashings of all the heavy motor vehicles which were loaded on deck. I was not happy with the lashings, especially considering the weather that we were expected to encounter during the sea passage to Port Moresby. The Chief Officer did not seem to be happy to get the crew and do the lashings again, but I made sure it was done. That night the ship sailed out of Townsville and we experienced very heavy weather after having cleared the Great Barrier Reef. If not for the additional lashings, we would certainly have lost part or all of the heavy vehicles loaded on-deck.