various drills and maintenance during the days. There is lots of
activity and its accompanying noise all day around the ship. At night
we've been anchoring in Majorca harbor. What a magnificent view of the
bright city we have at night.
The ship has been a beehive of activity. Yesterday was the man overboard
drill in which an unwitting cadet was thrown overboard and had to be
rescued. Just kidding. We use a dummy made out of old clothes and a
life vest. The ship can't just stop. We have to do a figure 8 turn to
come back and get the victim.
Also on deck, some cadets were practicing the valuable art of plugging
leaks. They do this on a special jig made of a steel plate with various
size holes in it through which is forced sea water from a high pressure
fire hose. They shove various objects in until they get the leaks under
control. In the process they also get soaked which may be enjoyable in
the hot, Mediterranean sun, but probably not so much if we were sailing in
the Arctic.
This morning I was awoken from my sleep by a God awful noise and shaking
of my cabin. Jumping up and looking out my window I discovered they were
lowering the lifeboat right outside. At first I thought again that they
were abandoning ship without me when I realized that I had heard no
lifeboat alarm. It was only cadets practicing lowering and launching the
boat. They took it a little away from the ship, then returned and raised
it back up.
We're going to steam some more around Majorca this afternoon, then head
southwest and west to the Straits of Gibraltar and the open ocean. We
should be there by Monday morning ready for the voyage north up the
Atlantic coast of Europe to Brest. I'm hoping that the cool Atlantic
waters bring some relief to the sweltering heat in the library.
Tomorrow is Sunday at Sea, our last in the Med. We're all praying for
good weather for the barbecue and day of rest. So far, the weather has
been spectacular. Let's hope it holds for one more day.
No comments:
Post a Comment