[Lukeskywalker]

Everybody has just expressed what I too felt on reading this, words fail me, Deky, glad you are still with us, what a traumatic experience, thrilling for us readers, excellently expressed.

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

About the ship:-

SS Galileo Galilei - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It was known as the SS Galileo Galilei

[Thad E Ginathom]

It's really amazing how clear the events are in Deky's mind, even before he applies the narrative skill.

If this had happened to me, I'm fairly sure that, even if I did succeed in remaining level-headed during the events, it would become a nightmarish blur in my head soon afterwards.

Maybe for some it's the opposite, and every detail gets engraved in their memory.

Apart from the story, Deky's clarity makes me think he must be a good man to have around in a real emergency.

[autoenthusiast]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Apart from the story, Deky's clarity makes me think he must be a good man to have around in a real emergency.

I second that Thad, the chappie has an incredible memory and very good narrative skills too. Deky, do you also run a Blog ?

[Jaguar]

I agree with everyone on Deky's narrative skills. I am glued to the thread and eagerly waiting for the final part. This was the last thread I checked before I went to sleep last night and this the first thread I am checking after logging in this morning.
Will keep refreshing the page from time to time for the final part

- Jag

[rex_varghese]

Great write-up!
Must be like re-living the moment, for you.

Are you writing this now for tbhp or you've already written this down in the last 9 years?

Regards
Rex

[sudev]

Real glad to have you with us and reporting decky.

[autoenthusiast]

Looks like "Decky" has hit the "deck" at the moment and steering his ship :-)
Cheers Decky, we are all waiting for the sequel.

[deky]

@deky, what an experience.. a cold chill ran down my spine just at the thought of the incident and here you are reminiscing that horrible incident again. Hope you have recovered from the shock. We are waiting eagerly for the rest of the story...

Yes i do agree that It did take some time time to recover from the shock. The quote "baptism by fire" is totally apt to the situation here, this has definately made me a stronger and a more practical human being.

Sam, you have competition. Very nice narration deky.

No, i am not competeing with anyone, i so just wanted to write about this incident in detail before the grey cells start detiriotaing and i forget with age. But thanks neverthless, i am glad this has come out well.

Sorry to be a spoilsport, but after reading your excellent prologue, I couldn't stop myself and asked my friend G.
Waiting for your POV.

???, sorry but i did not understand this post. If POV means "point of view' on what exactly am i to give my POV?

Geeeeeeeeeeez man.. to have to go through all that ... Gives me chills to think of the situation you were in ...
Waiting for part 2 as others ... How many survived out of 472?

There were total number of 1104 lives on board. 632 ships crew+ 472 guests.

think this is one of the best written real life stories I have ever read and believe me I do read a lot. You should seriously consider writing film scripts and also talk to Reader's Digest. You certainly know how to keep your readers gripped - a rare quality in a writer. And deservedly it got five stars - the only five star travelogue in a long time on tbhp that doesn't talk about a road trip to the mighty Himalayas (the last four five travelogues on t-bhp are all about Himalaya only).
However, I wonder if this can be called a travelogue and whether it should be in the travel section - of course it deals with a tourist vessel and talks about tourists. But is it really a travelogue? It is a lot beyond that.

Thanks for the five star rating, maybe this explains that the 2 prizes i got for story writing competitions in school were'nt a fluke. And you are right about questioning the authenticity of this being a travelogue, I did think twice about writing this here. But since i was really deperate to get this incident out of my mind I chose this section, and i am happy it has been accepted.

It's really amazing how clear the events are in Deky's mind, even before he applies the narrative skill.

If this had happened to me, I'm fairly sure that, even if I did succeed in remaining level-headed during the events, it would become a nightmarish blur in my head soon afterwards.

Maybe for some it's the opposite, and every detail gets engraved in their memory.

Apart from the story, Deky's clarity makes me think he must be a good man to have around in a real emergency.

Thanks again.

The last part is on its way soon. You guys also have links to a few websites which tell u the story about the ships sinking. My narration is my point of view about how the staff and the guests reacted in the situation. I truely believe in "all well that ends well" so i havnt gone in detail as to the things that went wrong with the equipment and the staff during the evacuation process.

[VJ_MAVRICK]

Carry On "deky" an absorbing tale certainly a different travelogue one of its kind and very well written. Keep it coming brother and as Sudipto mentioned the best real life adventure!

[deky]

Originally Posted by rex_varghese

Great write-up!
Must be like re-living the moment, for you.

Are you writing this now for tbhp or you've already written this down in the last 9 years?

Regards
Rex

No no i am writing this now for TBHP. But let me also add here that the scanned pics from all the various news papers are from a scrap book that my mom had made for me 9 years ago. So thanks to her i have a few photographs too

[whitesquall]

My god! this is out of the world experience for all of us reading this story since we are used to the common travelogues on road. . .most exciting and chilling experience. We are lucky to have some one like you narrating that horrific experience first hand and I admire your ability to re-collect the incidents as and when they happened. I also feel that you are the most luckiest guy who came off unscathed through that hell of a ride. Definately adds to one's life forever and makes them to realize the value of life. Thanks for sharing.

[Thad E Ginathom]

I truely believe in "all well that ends well" so i havnt gone in detail as to the things that went wrong with the equipment and the staff during the evacuation process.

I'm quite sure you could hold our attention even if you doubled the length of the story, but I guess that knowing what to leave out is one the top skills of a story writer. A few mishaps like the boat hanging at 20 degrees help us to realise the real seriousness of an abandon-ship routine, and a few admissions that some things could have been done better, like the mistake of free beer, also add the human touch too.

What's the evening/night temperature in that part of the world? I can imagine some of those sunbathers getting rather chilly as time went by. But hey, I'd better wait patiently for the story to continue!

[manojgautham]

This is getting very tense, please continue with rest of the story.

[deky]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

What's the evening/night temperature in that part of the world? I can imagine some of those sunbathers getting rather chilly as time went by. But hey, I'd better wait patiently for the story to continue!

The weather was luckily on our side, calm seas are a such a relief during such emergencies. The temperature must be about 30 celsius during the night which is quite pleasant.

On my next ship, whenever we crossed the Bay Of Biscay from England to Portugal the seas used to be very very rough on every crossing. Leave alone the poor passengers who used to be sick all over the ship, even we the crew who were regular sailors, always had out hearts in our mouth. If this was to happen in The Bay Of Biscay we would not have been that lucky. Touch Wood.

So in short we got lucky with the weather.