Hello #SeaWorld

My name is Ricardo Finol, I am from the Caribbean, I am 25 years old, my family is a merchant seaman, however, I finished my law career in 2016, always leaning towards the law of seafarers and especially maritime law.

I dedicated myself to sailing in the year 2017 in the Caribbean, specifically Curaçao, I started as an Able-Bodied Seaman and maritime English instructor on board. I shared with crews of different nationalities, mostly European. Also, during my free time I studied my postgraduate distance, played a musical instrument and shared experiences with those other cultures on board, outside of our daily routine: chipping and painting, greasing, cleaning, etc.

I dedicated attention to the spiritual life during my first Christmas on board, I am a Catholic. Christmas in South America has special holidays. When on my first Christmas on board, I asked myself, how to live the faith of the birth of Jesus from faith (in my region there are liturgical parties and celebrations in the temples days before December 25), as well as the silence when I was watchkeeping, and the appreciation of the stars, which reminded me of the subject of celestial navigation, because I am a nautical cadet at the Caribbean Maritime University in Venezuela. I took to know the title of Mary as Stella Maris, and the Apostleship of the Sea.

In the Caribbean, it was not easy to locate an Apostleship of the Sea center or port ministry, however, it was not until 2019 that I was able to visit a center for seafarers who treat and receive seafarers with such affection in Houston, TX.

After discovering that, that the Catholic Church is dedicated, supports and prays for seafarers, that there is a Dicastery dedicated to seafarers, I have shared it with my English students on board, and with seafarers, also with cadets. from the university, maritime lawyers and unions, and everything related to the maritime field.

Well, it is in my plans to continue supporting these works, aimed at the welfare of seafarers.

I share this photo of my baptism on board, my first time cleaning a bilge, a picture with my students in their English classes and our Christmas tree made with filter for air conditioners.