Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Almost Home

It's been over a week and a half since any of us has stepped on dry land.  The mini city that is the Empire State VI keeps humming along towards home. As finals draw near, everyone is getting anxious. Supposedly we are to reach Montauk on Saturday
afternoon and anchor there for some last minute drills.  On Sunday, we will move south and west along Long Island to sandy Hook where we will anchor again overnight. Monday morning we will take the pilot on board and begin the last part of the
voyage through New York harbor and up the East River. The ship is scheduled to dock at 10 AM to be greeted by loved ones welcoming their sailors home.  The adventure that was the Summer Sea Term 2015 will be over.
I can't wait.

Thursday, July 30, 2015

It's a Beautiful Day

 I can't fault the weather on this cruise, it has been spectacular.  Other than a few sprinkles in Belfast and some cloudy days sailing to the Mediterranean, it has been nothing but sunshine.  Today in the mid-Atlantic, it is absolutely gorgeous.
Light seas, warm temperatures and an unlimited view to the horizon. Days like this make me regret being stuck in the bowels of the ship for eight hours a day, but this is a job not a pleasure cruise.   No deck chairs with a waiter delivering cold
drinks.  No pool with a water slide.  No shuffleboard.  But the few minutes I can sit on the deck enjoying a good cigar make it all worthwhile.   

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

The Azores

We haven't seen land since leaving the coast of Spain behind us on Saturday morning.  The seas were a little choppy that night, nothing too bad for me.  I just has to make sure everything was secured so it didn't fly around my cabin. Some cadets
didn't take it so well and the sick bay had a run on seasick medicine. Today when I woke up, we were in sight of land.  Sao Miguel in the Azores was off our starboard side.  I learned we had to drop off a cadet who was ill and needed more medical
attention than the sick bay could provide. So we stopped off at  the island and a boat took him to shore to be treated. After sailing around a bit, we received word that the cadet was going to have to be left there so we continued on westward
toward home. 

Saturday, July 25, 2015

Cadiz

 We've left our last port, Cadiz, and it was a memorable one. When we docked Tuesday, we looked for the buses to take us to town and we were told none were needed because the main part of Cadiz was at the end of the dock. Right they were.  The old
city, the best part, was right at our doorstep.  This city was amazing.  Its history stretches back 3500 years to the Phoenicians who made a trading port here.  It has also been ruled by the Romans, the Visigoths, the  Moors and the present-day
Spanish. Columbus sailed two of his four journeys to the New World from this port. It has been attacked by the English, Dutch, French and Barbary pirates over the years.  Huge walls remain around much of the old city as testament to those ancient
battles. The old city is a warren of alleys and squares dating from the 1500's.  Cadiz had the monopoly on Spanish new world trade from 1700 and the fortunes brought in built this city as it is today.  The magnificent cathedral in the center is
testament to the wealth of this trade.  The streets are filled with shops, cafes and restaurants. There was plenty for everyone to do in the old city alone.  I went to a great Flamenco performance at the cafe La Cava on Friday night

But present-day Cadiz is much larger.  The new city to the east, also has a trove of attractions.  There are two gorgeous beaches there that were in walking distance of the pier.  I spent Friday afternoon at one, La Playa de la Victoria, 
swimming and soaking in the sun.
 
The College, as usual, arranged some great trips.   I went on a jeep safari that took us east along the beautiful coast as far as Trafalgar, visiting cliffs, a fishing village and some fun beach towns. In addition, I took a day long  trip to
Seville, 100 miles to the North. We got to visit the Spanish Square, the Cathedral, the Alcazar Palace and many of the other sites of this great city. The tomb of Christopher Columbus is located in the cathedral.

With everyone back on the ship and accounted for, we departed on Saturday morning, heading west to return home.  We have 16 days of sailing and lots of work ahead of us, with no more rest, until the end of this voyage.  On to New York.

Monday, July 20, 2015

Bunkering

Ships need fuel and the Empire State VI is no exception.  After travelling thousands of miles, it was time to gas up for the journey home.  This is known as "bunkering" in nautical terminology. The bunkering services at Gibratar are well known to
sailors for their price and convenience.  It is located at the convergence of two great continents, Europe and Africa, and the meeting point of the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. It is probably the busiest area in the world for shipping.

The techniques of bunkering are essential for mariners to learn.  On Monday morning we anchored off the coast of Gibralar.  The bunkering tanker pulled up aside and connected its hoses and began pumping.  Smoking and cell phone use were banned
from the ship for the duration of the process as the smell of petroleum filled the air.  The process took 9 hours as we took on tons of fuel. Filled up by 2000 (8 PM), we raised anchor and headed out to the Atlantic and our last port of Cadiz. We
are scheduled to arrive Tuesday evening, July 21, for 4 days of rest and relaxation before crossing the ocean and returning back to New York.

Sunday, July 19, 2015

Hot, hot, hot!

 Since the Captain decided to stay in the Med for an extra few days, we've been sailing in extremely warm waters, about 85 degrees.  Because the ship derives its cooling from the water around us, the air conditioning has not been working very
well.  My cabin and the library are tolerable, but the halls of the ship are like a sauna. Hopefully, when we reach the cooler waters of the Atlantic, things will improve.  One thing that may contradict this is that we are expecting to bunker
(take on fuel) in Gibraltar on the way out of the Med. This fuel is stored in tanks directly below the library and is so thick that it has to be heated to 150 degrees to flow.  Despite an insulated floor, much of this heat rises into the library. 
On other cruises, it has gotten so hot, that I've had to shut the library because it was unhealthy to work there.  We will see.

 We are expecting to dock in Cadiz, Spain sometime Tuesday evening the 21st. This is the last port of the cruise. I am looking forward to explore the city which is supposed to be the oldest continually occupied city in western Europe.  I am going
on a side trip to Seville, about 40 miles away on Thursday. This should be an enjoyable port.  After that, it's 2+ weeks of solid work until we arrive home.

Thursday, July 16, 2015

Sailing the Strait of Messina

 The Captain decided that the distance from Mallorca to Cadiz was a little too short for us to enjoy the beautiful Mediterranean.  He took us on a detour east so that those of us who joined the 'B" cruise could get a glimpse of Italy.  This
morning we entered the Strait of Messina, the narrow channel between Sicily and the "toe" of the Italian mainland. At its narrowest, the Strait is only 2.5 miles wide and only 12 miles at its widest.  We're so close you feel that you could swim to
Italy. We should get through by this evening, then swing around to the east and sail a few more days on the calm Mediterranean to Cadiz.

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Sailing Around Aimlessly

 Since we departed Mallorca harbor last Saturday, we haven't gotten very far. Actually only about two miles or so away, still in sight of Palma.  The Captain decided to take advantage of the calm seas around
here to have 3 days of practical seamanship ship drills.  These include damage control exercises, boat drills, equipment operation and man-overboard manouvers. We anchored for 2 of the nights, but otherwise
we've been just leisurely sailing around in circles at a very slow pace. The cadets love the fact that we are still in cell phone range and the decks have been full of them calling and texting home in their
spare time.  Sometimes, when they are supposed to be working.  We started moving west this morning toward our next destination which we think is Cadiz, Spain on the Atlantic coast. On the way, we are scheduled to stop for fuel at Gibraltar at the
mouth of the Mediterranean.

 I'm looking forward to the cooler seas of the Atlantic. The ship's air conditioning is dependant on the water around us and the Med is too warm for the AC to work very well. Also, if we take on fuel, the tanks are directly below the library.  The
thick oil has to be heated to 150 degrees to flow and much of that heat, despite an insulated floor, rises into the library. If the air conditioning is not working at its maximum, I suffer badly.  On previous voyages, I've had to shut the library
for excessive temperatures.

Thursday, July 9, 2015

Palma, Mallorca

After trials and tribulations of international diplomacy, we finally reached a port that welcomed us;

Palma, Mallorca. The largest of Spain's Baleric Islands, Mallorca is a tropical paradise in the

Mediterranean.  Having cruised the Mediterranean for what seemed forever and viewing islands that we

could not dock at, everyone aboard was ready to set foot on dry land. We entered Palma harbor Tuesday

evening passing a half dozen of the largest cruise ships afloat already in port. The marinas are also

full with private boats and yachts, one almost the size of the Empire State. The city is full of tourists

from around the world.

The Empire State docked around 18:00 at the furthest dock in the harbor.  When the ship was secured,

leave was granted and the some of the cadets and crew were off to enjoy themselves in this cosmopolitan

city. It is a pictuesque town with an ancient history reflected in its architecture.  Everyone is enjoying

the variety of food available at the hundreds of resturants and cafes.The food is reasonable and delicious.   Shopping is everywhere, from

Cartier jewelry to cheap souveniers.  Pearls are a speciality of Mallorca.  It seems that every other

store is a pearl shop.

The College arranged several tours and activities to keep everyone occupied.  The most popular was a tour

of the Caves of Dracht (Dragon Caves), about 50 miles east of Palma.  These caves are chock full of

stalagtites and stalagmites formed through millions of years of erosion.  There is also a large

underground lake at the bottom and we were treated to a short classical music concert by musicians

sailing on a lighted rowboat in the darkened cave. It was an amazing exprience.  There were also

snorkeling and scuba tours as well as a deep sea fishing expedition.  I chose not to do any of those.   The

beaches have also been popular.  There is a small, rocky beach that is in walking distance from the ship, a nude beach!

 The busses that take us to town also stop at the large town beach just east of the city. The

Mediterranean is the perfect temperature for swimming.

We ship out again on the morning of July 11 and it is back to work for 10 days or so until our next port.


Sorry I haven't uploaded any pics.  I couldn't get to wifi yet in port.  These updates are done through simple email.  I have sent pics to the Maritime College and you can view them on my official college version of this blog.  I don't have the
URL, but you can Google SUNY Maritime College Luce Library blog to find it.

Sunday, July 5, 2015

Independence Day at Sea

 Because everyone on board has to stick to the schedule, the 4th of July was no holiday from work on the Empire State VI.  Regular Saturday work and class schedules were in effect. That doesn't mean we didn't get to celebrate.  The crew from
Chartwell's food service set up big barbeque grills on the sun deck, grilling burgers, franks and chicken breasts. There were plenty of salads to go along with the meats and ice cream sundaes for dessert.  They even set up a cotton candy machine.
Many cadets got into the spirit decking themselves out out in red, white and blue.  Flags were everywhere. For dinner, Chartwells broke out steaks and baked potatoes as well as a huge American flag cake.  No fireworks at sea though. Even barring
local laws, fireworks could be misconstrued as emergency flares.

The Mediterranean has been beautiful since we entered it. Sunny and hot. We're slowly steaming around in calm waters awaiting final confirmation that Palma, Majorca (Mallorca) will be our next port on July 7. Although there is some disappointment
about missing Split, cadets and crew are anxious to hit dry land somewhere.

Thursday, July 2, 2015

Sailing to Split..err, Somewhere Else

 There has been no land in sight since Sunday.  The seas South of Belfast have been mildly active.  There

has been constant rolling, but nothing too bad other than one or two rough jolts.  The food locker in the

Officer's Mess was more than a little messy Wednesday morning when all of the salad dressings and yougurt

spilled. I haven't heard of anything worse.  The sun eluded us the whole way until it finally showed

itself on Wednesday afternoon. Thursday remains sunny as we near the Mediterranean.

The cadets and crew have settled into a busy routine of classes, work and some rest and relaxation where

they can get it. The Library has been busy in the evenings.  

Everyone was looking foreward to arriving at Split, Croatia next week.  That is until Wednesday

afternoon.  The Captain informed us that, despite months of planning, Croatia doesn't want us.  There has

been some disagreement between the U.S State Department and Croatia over our berthing rights.  Captain

Smith, resourceful as usual, has been scrambling to find us another port to keep us on schedule. It looks

 (about 99% certain) that we will be going to Majorca, Spain instead. This means our last two ports will

both be in Spain.  At least we won't have to deal with any leftover Croatian Kunas (money) and as we will

have the Euro in both ports. I'm sure the cadets won't be disappointed with Majorca as it is a lively,

cosmopolitan island with lots of entertainment and great beaches. So as we push on toward the Strait of

Gibraltar, we have to remember that it is all about the journey, not the destination.

Monday, June 29, 2015

Underway

 Underway

I spent Friday at Belfast's newly created Titanic Quarter, once the center of shipbuilding in the city. Today, the area that was desolate six years ago when I last visited, has been transformed into a vibrant entertainment and living district
centered around the ultra modern Titanic Museum. The building is at the location of the defunct Harland and Wolf shipyard where the Titanic was built. It is surrounded by the refurbished remnants of the shipbuilding industry including two gigantic
cranes named Samson and Goliath that are today only occasionally used to assemble windmills to power Europe. The museum is a state-of-the-art facility that concentrates on the history of Belfast shipbuilding, particularly the building of the
Titanic.  While it doesn't gloss over the sinking, it minimizes it.  After all, the unofficial motto of Belfast is "she was floating when she left here". To burn off the rest of my English money, I went back to the central city and took in a movie
in a beautiful, modern multiplex cinema equal to any at home.  I returned to the ship by curfew, saying goodbye to a great city and resting up for departure and work.

We shoved off about 09:00 on Sunday, mooring for training at the mouth of Belfast harbor until about 19:00.  We are now underway, heading south through the Irish Sea to the Mediterranean and our next port
of Split, Croatia.

Rich Delbango
Ship's Librarian

Saturday, June 27, 2015

We arrived in Belfast, Northen Ireland after midnight on Thursday and didn't get to the ship until about 1:30 AM. Exhausted, we all settled in, got some food and hit our bunks. Unfortunately, my cabin is a little less luxurious this year, located on a lower and noisier deck. To make matters worse, most of the cabins on my deck got flooded on Thursday afternoon due to a plumbing problem. Thank God all of my posessions were off the floor. Some others were not so lucky. Everything got cleaned up while I went into town for the day. Most of Thursday was spent getting acclimated to the ship and trying to traack down the keys to the Library. I finally found them on Friday and got to check things out a bit. The Library will be opening on Sunday evening after we get underway. On Friday, I and about 20 cadets took a tour of the northern coast on which we visited the Giant's Causeway and the Carrick a Reid rope bridge. New for this year were stops at locations used in the TV show Game of Thrones. Despite rain all day, we had a great time. Today, after some shopping in town, I'm touring the Titanic museum located on the next pier from our ship. This newly built complex really enhances the dock area that was so run down on my last visit here 6 years ago. Many of the cadets have already been there and loved it. On Sunday we cast off at high tide sometime late morning heading for Croatia.

Sunday, June 21, 2015

For the fourth time I will be heading out to sea for the summer as the Ship's Librarian for the SUNY Maritime College's Summer Sea Term. I will be working on board the training ship Empire State VI and sailing the Mediterranean, Adriatic and Atlantic from June 24 to August 10. Ports include Belfast, Northern Ireland, Split Croatia and Cadiz, Spain. Follow my journey here. I will be posting pics here as well when I'm in port. I can be reached by email at Richard.Delbango@ts-empirestate.com

Disclaimer

This blog documents my travels working on the Training Ship Empire State VI for the State University of New York Maritime College. The comments and views expressed here are solely my own and do not reflect anything to do with the Maritime College.

Thursday, April 2, 2015

Test

Testing to see if this still works