The Ship departed from Fort Schuyler in the Bronx at exactly 10:00am on Monday May 18. The departure was spectacular with throngs of loved ones lining the sea wall near the Maritime dock to wish all their sailors Bon Voyage. My daughter Lisa and her boyfriend showed up to see me off but, because of security concerns, I couldn't get off to see them and they couldn't get on to see me. Thank God for cell phones and binoculars.
I had spent the night before on the ship to insure that I would be there. The cabin that I'm sharing for part of the cruise with an agent of NOAA was meat locker COLD.
The tugs that would pull us out under the Throgs Neck Bridge arrived about 9:30 as did a NY Fire Dept. rescue boat with an honorary spraying salute to our departure. By about 10:30, we were underway sailing east through the Long Island Sound. We had to anchor off Montauk Point to dispatch some inspectors and College personnel not doing the cruise. But, we discovered, we would be there a while awaiting a part for the Ship's email system that had to be flown up from Miami to the College, configured at Maritime, driven out to Montauk and delivered to us by launch! Luckily the Captain found a sheltered spot to anchor making for a pleasant night's sleep (in a refrigerator).
LOL! "Meat locker COLD" those were the same words my son used when he described his living quarters! Said he now knows what it's like to live in a refridgerator! He later went on to say how there's no happy medium. Either too cold or too hot!
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