8 Ways Seafarers can make their Loved Ones Feel Special this Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day is a special for anyone in love, no matter what profession he or she is in. But the happiness of the day may be tarnished a little if you can’t be with that special someone on that day.

One of the major drawbacks of working at sea is the impossibility of being with the loved one on some of the most important occasions, Valentine’s Day being one of them. While that remains a major problem with seafarers (talk about heartache), we have a list of innovative solutions to make the Valentine’s Day special for your loved ones and to get rid of those loneliness blues while on ship.

Sculpture of a sailor's wife

1. Send a letter – Being Old School Works

Old school is the best way out, any day. Though emails have made the things easy, a hand written letter, expressing your love for that someone special will woo him or her all over again. You would need a little advance planning to make it work though.

As a seafarer, you would know your ship’s route. So, pick a port, find some good stationary and write your heart out on it. Post it whenever you can, don’t think if the letter would reach before or after time. And then, wait for it to do the magic. You would surely know it the time you talk to him/her. However, just make sure you time your letter to reach your beloved on the D day or a few days before or after it. You can always write on the letter – Open it on the Valentine’s Day.

2. Picture Postcard with a Love Note

Sometimes a picture says so much more than a thousand words can. A postcard of a place you were and a note saying ‘wish you were here’ is all that would take your valentine to know he/she was missed and thought of on the day that rightfully belonged to them.

The intimacy of a postcard is incomparable with any high-tech gadget. And once you know what an immense pleasure it was for love of your life to hold the card you wrote on, you would never under estimate it again. You can follow the same trick for sending the postcard as mentioned in the point one.

3. Plan a Skype date

While old school has its own charms, new technology brings convenience. And with internet, there’s the shrinking of world too.  This valentine’s, plan a ‘Skype’ date. But make it a little different than a usual ‘chat’. Ensure you will have a steady connection for the chosen time (and it won’t be over burdened with all the people trying to reach their spouses at one time). Let your other half know of your plans. If you are on port and can get a shore-leave, nothing like it!

However, be sure to go all the way. Look good. Dress up. Prepare of it as if you are going out for an actual dinner. Tidy up your cabin or if possible, set it out on deck with a nice starry sky.  If not, candles in your cabin can work just as fine. (This is possible only if your ship is on port and has a Wifi connection.) And remember, like any other date, you are not allowed to be late here either.

Though doing a video conference would require a lot of planning, technical support from the ship, and luck, it is one of the best way to spend a valentine day in a long distance relationship.

4. Do little radio twitching

Looking for a little creativity? Dedicate a song to your loved one through radio channels. While dedicating songs to people is an old trick, the distance between you and your love bring a new charm to every bit of it. And if it’s your girlfriend you are trying to impress, dedicating the favorite song of her will be quite a lot to make her fall in love with you all over again.

Dedicating a song can be easily done by calling the particular radio station from whatever place you are. Make sure you inform your loved one about the same.

5. Photoshop a few images

If you want to make this Valentine’s Day extra special, follow this trick, it always works.  Get a few images of yours and your beloved; use a bit of creativity and photoshop them. Don’t know how to photoshop? Just google a bit and you would get hundreds of “how-to” guides; it’s not rocket science after all!

You can also google for various ideas on how to edit pictures in the most romantic way. Then send those pictures through email with a little love note. Put in something nice and mushy (its Valentine’s Day. Mushy is allowed). Now wait for the reaction.

6.  Send Your Voice Over

One other way to totally bowl him/her over once again would be to send over a recorded message. Record a clipping of your voice with a message or a song or any jibber jabber. You know what he or she likes to hear the best. Voice messages can create wonders that would have never imagined.

7. Let them know about the places you visited and how they were missed  

Every day is really fine to let someone know they were missed and thought of. But Valentine’s Day is the day to let the romantic in you out and go that extra mile. One of the perks of a seafaring job is that you get to visit so many places. What you can do is to put together a list of places that you visited and wished to have been in with your special someone. Go creative with the way of letting them know. You could put picture of the place and describe how walk on the pretty beach you accidentally discovered reminded you of them. One way would be to send it over email. But if you want the best effect, then save it for the day. Call them up and let them know.

8. A friend in need is friend indeed 

If you are spending this Valentine’s Day away from love of your life, then now is the time to call upon all those friends you have been brining gifts for all this time. Ask your friends to help you put together the perfect set up. You can even ask him or her to buy and drop a gift of your choice at your loved one’s door.

With a bit of planning a variety of surprises can be arranged. Flower baskets along with something he or she always wanted, or background playing your favorite song while the projector running your prerecorded video message for him/her are one of the few best ways.

You can also send in a gift well in advance to your friend so that it can be brought out at the right moment. This is the best thing if you don’t have to worry about getting your timings right. While this might make your love miss you at the moment, it would be definitely better than letting the day of love go without confessing your love once again.

Do you know any other creative and feasible way of making you loved one feel special this Valentine’s day?

You may also like to read – The History of Sailor’s Valentine

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About Author

An ardent sailor and a techie, Anish Wankhede has voyaged on a number of ships as a marine engineer officer. He loves multitasking, networking, and troubleshooting. He is the one behind the unique creativity and aesthetics at Marine Insight.

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