(Top) The M/V TARAGO. (Bottom) Neil in his beautiful stateroom aboard Wallenius Wilhelmsen vessel M/V TARAGO.

Journal and photos by Adam Burgess

One idle summer of future-searching, I walked into the Coast Guard office on Stevens Creek Boulevard to inquire about the officer’s academy. The thought of being in the high seas saving little crafts and stopping smugglers sounded intriguing that day. That evening I received a call from Captain something-or-other on my message machine that confirmed, “Yes, indeed, your missing finger DQ’s you from entering the Coast Guard.” I suppose holding back that I couldn’t smell either was futile. The lust to be drifting around in the ocean never really died, because I bought a sailboat a few years later. But now, as I lay on my stomach vibrating and swaying on the top bunk in my room, I realise I have finally got a taste of the real thing.

We successfully finished running the Gunbarrel Highway on Friday after burning 80 gallons of leaded 105 octane aviator fuel in the Land Rovers. I managed to survive on a diet of peanut butter on bread, Marmite on bread, mueslie bars, beans on toast, and packets of noodles. I have never eaten so much peanut butter in my life, and I may actually hate the stuff by now. When we arrived in Perth, Neil and I went south for the weekend to surf in Margaret River and returned for the big day. Monday. Once again the cars must ship. This time from Perth to Singapore in order to link us up to the Asia stretch of the journey. The only difference this time is that we join the cars on the ship. Some of us were dreading the idea of six days at sea with the cars on a freighter. We’ve spent nights on ferries and had to sleep in the tents on the cars as they sway on the deck; some of us had opted to sleep on the deck where I woke up to a Chilean man hawking phlegm into a puddle he had created next to my head. So the images of sea travel were very grim. As we pulled up to the ridiculously large orange Willaneus Wilhelmson cargo freighter, the images of steel and ocean dew crept into my bones. We met with the captain and first officer and confirmed that I could film the crew driving our cars onto the ship a few times and several tours of the vessel. Fortunately Nick had set it up with WW (our shipping sponsor) ahead of time with countless phone calls. It just so happens that we made it into their monthly publication with a large article that showed photos of us driving and how their “sponsoring a philanthropic cause goes hand-in-hand with WW’s business model…”. The article and the presence of film cameras has led the Captain and his crew to believe that we are very important individuals, and so during our tour we quickly learnt that each of us will be staying in a berth that rivals any cruiseliner’s, complete with bedside lamps and artwork. We have access to a small gymnasium complete with weights, squash, basketball and, of course, a ping pong table and three cooked meals a day, including beer. It’s all absolutely luxurious after having spent seven months in cars and hostels. The tour of the ship included climbing inside the escape pod on the stern of the ship and chilling out with the captain in the wheelhouse at the top. It’s been great filming the crew on board as they slowly sway back and forth and walk into walls. Chanda has “figured out her sealegs” by leaning against one wall and walking the entire corridor without leaving it. Rather amusing.

On the first night Neil and I were informed that down in the engine room, the head mechanic and his crew were working on a piston. Apparently we were supposed to leave at 2 p.m. but they had to replace a piston. I grabbed the camera and Neil joined me for a little venture down under. We jumped into the elevator with Rudy and headed five stories down. We stepped out into the engine room that seemed like a well-lit version of an “Aliens” film or some submarine action flick. The generators roared at deafening levels and hydraulics ran all over the place. Rudy led us to the culprit of our delay. There it lay on the walkway. A steel, carbon-fouled piston the size of a wine barrel accompanied by a rather jovial mechanic. He screamed over the roar “Peeston wings! They are bwoken!” and he pointed at a massive 5-inch chunk that was missing from the ring. (For reference, one of a car’s pistons is about the size of a coffee cup, and the rings are millimeters thick) The MS Tarago has five of these suckers. From there we stepped into the Control Room to meet the head Engineer and mechanic. According to the mechanic, the damaged rings also scored and ruined the piston, and so they both had to be replaced. If you can imagine the size of the cylinder that housed this wine-barrel-sized piston then you’d realise what sort of work he had ahead of him when they pulled into port. Covered in grease and quite excited, he explained that he replaced another piston and new cylinder loaded on by a crane in nine hours! I told him it takes three days for a shop to repair a car’s, and he laughed in agreement. I was pretty stunned. The ship’s size is impressive. It houses eight decks, or stories, grosses 67,000 megatons, and its 27-foot propeller whips around with 28,480 Bhorse power.

Logbook for May 18th, Day 200
Start: Indian Ocean
Time: N/A
S: N/A
E: N/A
Finish Indian Ocean
Time: N/A
S: N/A
E: N/A
Mileage: 000
Notes: Sailed up West Coast of Australia, between Java and Sumatra, to Singapore. Team sailed as guests aboard Wallenius Wilhelmsen vessel M/V TARAGO. Team settled into a routine with meals at 7:30 a.m., 12:00 p.m., and 5:30 p.m., dining with the captain and senior officers. Tonight, the team was invited to share two bottles of Aquavit with the officers and a karaoke party with the Philippino crew. Program work continued with time spent on the bridge and swimming in a pool on the top deck that was filled with water piped in from the ocean. With the ship under a pirate watch, the team crossed the equator again.
(N.O.)

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. 100% of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.