We all met on the bridge and it was a beautiful night as there was a new moon and plenty of stars. The bridge officer then started asking for volunteers as the OOD (Officer On Deck) change was announced. They asked for Engine Room volunteers and no hands went up. Why be stuck in the bowels of the ship when the fun stuff was happening on deck? The bridge officer then picked two people to head to Engineering. OC Bruce and myself volunteered for Helm. They set the rotation to change once per hour from Helm, to plotting the Charts, to Bow Lookout and then to Engineering. OC Bruce officially relieved the Helm on duty and I took the wheel on starboard.
Now this job I was intimately familiar with from my experience with Friendship again. As I stated earlier, this is where I found out that the Eagle only works on traditional ships steering. We worked initially with a bridge officer to coordinate with the bridge what course to steer and to double check our steering against the GPS magnetic reading and the gyroscopic repeater. Eventually they let us try our hands steering the course. We actually did much better keeping the ships course true than when we were directed. When we got there they gave us up to a ten-degree deviation and then they reduced it to five degrees. You steered on the true course and double-checked it on the magnetic compass. Three points on the steering equaled about one degree on the rudder angle. I found I could better track our movement by aligning stars on port with some of the rigging and could see when we hit a big wave a sudden jump in our course.
Our hour was up quick and we were relieved to go to plotting. I might not have mentioned yet but the OC's were constantly looking to get "sign offs" on training for every subject. In the case of helm for instance, OC Bruce easily answered questions from the helm lead who happily signed off on his completion of the helm qualifications. The same applied to plotting (much to my relief) as OC Bruce first had to calculate the direction of the "true wind" through a series of speed over ground (SOG), ship location etc. I remember having to do a similar calculation a couple of years back but there's no way I was ready to do it off the cuff now. OC Bruce did very well but only accidentally reversed the last location calculation. A quick double check by the deck officer found the mistake and OC Bruce corrected it immediately which got him his sign off.
I took our GPS position and added it to the log and OC Bruce calculated our position on the chart. This is something I'm sure I could have done but not without a little help. OC Bruce needed the sign off anyway, not me.
Anytime the bridge ordered a course correction, our section logged it and double checked our position to see how far off track we were from our prescribed course. If we found we were far off from our position, then it was our duty to alert the captain. I had little doubt that the bridge crews working together would ever let that happen.
After our next hour was up, we proceeded to Bow Watch. Bow Watches duty was to report the position and distance of any objects on the horizon. There was a tanker reported earlier that did not answer any hails so bow watch kept an eye on it and the bridge lit up the Eagle to make sure that they could see us. They turned off most of the lights when they perceived the tanker was a safe distance past us. We had only one other contact and that ship was safely on the aft horizon and almost out of site. With so little to track, we talked with the boson who identified many of the stars in the constellations for us and we just did some normal chit chat. Here I found out Sundays are considered a "holiday" and no work was issued except for normal watches.
When our next hour was up and we were due to go to engineering, OC Bruce and I headed to the mess deck and had some hot drinks to warm us up. I'm sorry to say we never made it to Engineering but I have little doubt that I'll get there on another watch. I waited until 03:15 and headed to take my first shower. You are not allowed to walk around the ship in a towel but my thermals looked like pajamas. With my sneakers on and toiletries in hand, I made my way aft to the WC. I noticed from the night before that the WC is normally deserted at this time so I could have a nice relaxed visit.
Before you get aboard, you are drilled to please conserve water whenever possible and are drilled about it again in your orientation. So showers were to get in, get yourself wet, soap up and then rinse off. I stupidly did this by using the shower water control knob - turning it on and hoping I got the right spot to get warm water and then twisting it quickly off again after I was wet. I noticed at the end of my shower that the shower nozzle itself had a flow control valve so I didn't have to keep turning the water off and on again, guessing where warm was (d'oh!). I shaved and brushed my teeth and headed back to my berth clean and happy.
I was relieved to find the temperature of our room pleasant but the ship was still rolling heavily so it felt like I never got to sleep. I discovered if I planted my back up against the wall and wedged my pillow on my chest and stomach, I would just roll back and forth with the ship without ever sliding too far. It still didn't give me an easy nights sleep. Reveille, my berth mates rising and the morning announcements woke me up at times but I managed to stay in my bunk until about noon even though I was still tired.
I got dressed and made my way to lunch. Walking the ship in the heavy rolling got to be constant exercise. I prided myself on almost always being able to keep my balance. I’ll always remember looking across the Mess deck as I was walking through and seeing people walking towards me at an almost 45 degree angle.
Even though it was past noon, I was still able to get breakfast as the Mess takes into account crewmen on late shifts. It was nice to have some scrambled eggs and sausage even though it was past noon. Eating on board in rough seas is always an adventure. Often I saw drinks fly and occasionally some plates of food. You’d watch crewmen waiting in line for drinks and suddenly careen into the opposite cabinet when the ship rolled suddenly. Of course there was the occasional crewman who would throw up right at the table that must have been fun to clean up. Happy to say that I haven't even felt slightly ill.
While I was finishing up, the PA announced that they would be starting the Sun Line class early at 13:00. I got my coat on and headed to the waist. What I didn't realize is that Captain Pulver teaches the Sun Sites class to everyone.
I took our GPS position and added it to the log and OC Bruce calculated our position on the chart. This is something I'm sure I could have done but not without a little help. OC Bruce needed the sign off anyway, not me.
Anytime the bridge ordered a course correction, our section logged it and double checked our position to see how far off track we were from our prescribed course. If we found we were far off from our position, then it was our duty to alert the captain. I had little doubt that the bridge crews working together would ever let that happen.
After our next hour was up, we proceeded to Bow Watch. Bow Watches duty was to report the position and distance of any objects on the horizon. There was a tanker reported earlier that did not answer any hails so bow watch kept an eye on it and the bridge lit up the Eagle to make sure that they could see us. They turned off most of the lights when they perceived the tanker was a safe distance past us. We had only one other contact and that ship was safely on the aft horizon and almost out of site. With so little to track, we talked with the boson who identified many of the stars in the constellations for us and we just did some normal chit chat. Here I found out Sundays are considered a "holiday" and no work was issued except for normal watches.
When our next hour was up and we were due to go to engineering, OC Bruce and I headed to the mess deck and had some hot drinks to warm us up. I'm sorry to say we never made it to Engineering but I have little doubt that I'll get there on another watch. I waited until 03:15 and headed to take my first shower. You are not allowed to walk around the ship in a towel but my thermals looked like pajamas. With my sneakers on and toiletries in hand, I made my way aft to the WC. I noticed from the night before that the WC is normally deserted at this time so I could have a nice relaxed visit.
Before you get aboard, you are drilled to please conserve water whenever possible and are drilled about it again in your orientation. So showers were to get in, get yourself wet, soap up and then rinse off. I stupidly did this by using the shower water control knob - turning it on and hoping I got the right spot to get warm water and then twisting it quickly off again after I was wet. I noticed at the end of my shower that the shower nozzle itself had a flow control valve so I didn't have to keep turning the water off and on again, guessing where warm was (d'oh!). I shaved and brushed my teeth and headed back to my berth clean and happy.
I was relieved to find the temperature of our room pleasant but the ship was still rolling heavily so it felt like I never got to sleep. I discovered if I planted my back up against the wall and wedged my pillow on my chest and stomach, I would just roll back and forth with the ship without ever sliding too far. It still didn't give me an easy nights sleep. Reveille, my berth mates rising and the morning announcements woke me up at times but I managed to stay in my bunk until about noon even though I was still tired.
I got dressed and made my way to lunch. Walking the ship in the heavy rolling got to be constant exercise. I prided myself on almost always being able to keep my balance. I’ll always remember looking across the Mess deck as I was walking through and seeing people walking towards me at an almost 45 degree angle.
Even though it was past noon, I was still able to get breakfast as the Mess takes into account crewmen on late shifts. It was nice to have some scrambled eggs and sausage even though it was past noon. Eating on board in rough seas is always an adventure. Often I saw drinks fly and occasionally some plates of food. You’d watch crewmen waiting in line for drinks and suddenly careen into the opposite cabinet when the ship rolled suddenly. Of course there was the occasional crewman who would throw up right at the table that must have been fun to clean up. Happy to say that I haven't even felt slightly ill.
While I was finishing up, the PA announced that they would be starting the Sun Line class early at 13:00. I got my coat on and headed to the waist. What I didn't realize is that Captain Pulver teaches the Sun Sites class to everyone.
Every 2-3 people got their own sextant and Almanac. The Captain has obviously done this before as he was very comfortable running through everything we needed to know. When we got to the part of the class where we had to site the sun, I had one hell of a time lining it up. I was easily the last one to try to figure it out but with some help from an old timer, I figured out what I was doing wrong and proceeded to get my readings and adjustments. I'm sorry to say I was at least 15 minutes off in my readings which equals about 240 miles. The closest a person got to our actual position was .2 miles who beat out another crewmen who had it made it to .5 miles. I'm sure if I did it again I could get much closer now that I have an inkling of what I need to do.
Instead of retiring after the class, I stayed and caught on video the Captain giving most of the next class. Mike from the Fame was scheduled for this class and he joked afterwards that he also stayed for the class after his. The Captains talk was close to the same though I note we got slightly more detail with Chief Willard assisting our earlier class. I hope to post the video after some basic editing when I get back and have it available for the crew. I know George from NPS who is our resident expert will certainly want to see it.
I moved down to the mess deck and continued writing this journal. Crew and others have gotten used to seeing me typing away on my iPad and it has offered me some time to talk to curious crewmen and TSA members though I admit it does separate me a bit from everyone. I'd rather be exploring the ship and asking more questions but one crewman helped bring it home when he said there really isn't enough guidance for us. We are added to the schedule (which I joked you needed a degree in calculus to figure out) and just expected to show up and are told what to do when you get there. Sometimes that meant having to go back to our berth and change into more appropriate clothes. So I'm hoping when I do complete this, to post it somewhere so others can learn from our experience. With any luck I'll get to come back again and reading this will help prep me. I'd at least pack less gear!
After dinner was complete, an announcement came over the loudspeaker that the time change to move one hour forward would take place at 18:30 and that the 20:00 watch would immediately relieve the current watch. As luck would have it, that was us. Of course it was 18:20 or so when they announced this so a lot of us had to scramble to get ready to go on watch.
I assumed at this point that the watch we'd being doing now was the same as the midnight watch we did previously. I went to our berth and alerted Orion of our impending watch and donned my warm gear. We met Calen on the mess deck and that's when I found out we were doing "deck watch" but we could only speculate what that entailed. We met OC Johnson who directed us to go to the waist where we found others from our watch putting on their climbing harnesses. This got both Calen and Orion very excited as they were pumped to do any climbing we could. Although I have done a lot of climbing aloft, I have never done a night climb so although I had a bit of hesitation, the group lead eased the fear as he pointed out how incredible this type of night view is from aloft.
I got into my harness though I was not used to this type. I have since seen other smaller tall ships that use them. Instead of the usual five point harness with a long dual fall protection lanyard, you were given a three point harness with a very short dual lanyard. We were told it was to keep you from falling far as these lanyards did not have fall protection. Logically it made sense but it limited your choice of clip in points since you couldn’t reach out as far.
Our watch lead showed us our emergency stations in case something were to happen on deck watch, such as MOB. I was assigned to the aft crane of the lifeboat. We were directed to throw off the lines from the Main Staysail so we could set her. We manned the lines and set her quite easily. The line leader yelled "heave" while the rest of the line yells "ho" while heaving the line to keep in pace. We do something similar no the Friendship but we use the term "2-6, Heave".
Our group went to the fore and sat down on the teak deck. We were directed to not use any rigging knifes that have a tip as the Eagles beautiful teak deck cost a lot of money to install and was insured for millions. The Boson took out the model of the Eagle to train the OC's on wearing the ship, the same training I sat through before when I couldn't sleep. I tried keeping my mouth shut so the OC's could get their sign offs without me shouting out an answer...I mostly succeeded. While this was happening, we were informed we would be doing an MOB drill sometime during our shift.
After the training and sign offs, we were given the go to do an MOB drill. We headed to our stations, donned our PFD's and awaited orders. One OC had to get into the lifeboat and release all the lines hanging from the centerline of the rig that holds the lifeboat and cast them outboard. These lines are for when you lower the boat, the crew is supposed to hang onto these with most of their weight in case a wave might throw them or worse, the cranes get stuck and they have to use them to climb to safety. While we waited to crank, we got word they were aborting the MOB drill. It was nearing the end of the shift but the bridge passed word to our watch lead that he wanted us to brace sharp. We were not doing a full wear of ship but it would definitely mean we would be there well past our shift end. The watch lead went to prep the lines for us while I collected the PFD's and stored them.
After assisting with placing some lines for the easing side of the braces, we were directed to the brace lines we would be hauling. The watch lead asked us to identify the lines if we could and I started spouting them off when I realized that again, he was really asking the OC's. After they identified the lines, we started manning the lines. Some OC's still needed sign offs on being a line lead so I offered up my spot and went to the back to haul. We had been joined by our relief crew so we suddenly had a lot of help. The bracing was done well and the lines shored up and we went to the aft to finish the other mast which went twice as fast as some officers jumped in line to help with the hauling.
Instead of retiring after the class, I stayed and caught on video the Captain giving most of the next class. Mike from the Fame was scheduled for this class and he joked afterwards that he also stayed for the class after his. The Captains talk was close to the same though I note we got slightly more detail with Chief Willard assisting our earlier class. I hope to post the video after some basic editing when I get back and have it available for the crew. I know George from NPS who is our resident expert will certainly want to see it.
I moved down to the mess deck and continued writing this journal. Crew and others have gotten used to seeing me typing away on my iPad and it has offered me some time to talk to curious crewmen and TSA members though I admit it does separate me a bit from everyone. I'd rather be exploring the ship and asking more questions but one crewman helped bring it home when he said there really isn't enough guidance for us. We are added to the schedule (which I joked you needed a degree in calculus to figure out) and just expected to show up and are told what to do when you get there. Sometimes that meant having to go back to our berth and change into more appropriate clothes. So I'm hoping when I do complete this, to post it somewhere so others can learn from our experience. With any luck I'll get to come back again and reading this will help prep me. I'd at least pack less gear!
After dinner was complete, an announcement came over the loudspeaker that the time change to move one hour forward would take place at 18:30 and that the 20:00 watch would immediately relieve the current watch. As luck would have it, that was us. Of course it was 18:20 or so when they announced this so a lot of us had to scramble to get ready to go on watch.
I assumed at this point that the watch we'd being doing now was the same as the midnight watch we did previously. I went to our berth and alerted Orion of our impending watch and donned my warm gear. We met Calen on the mess deck and that's when I found out we were doing "deck watch" but we could only speculate what that entailed. We met OC Johnson who directed us to go to the waist where we found others from our watch putting on their climbing harnesses. This got both Calen and Orion very excited as they were pumped to do any climbing we could. Although I have done a lot of climbing aloft, I have never done a night climb so although I had a bit of hesitation, the group lead eased the fear as he pointed out how incredible this type of night view is from aloft.
I got into my harness though I was not used to this type. I have since seen other smaller tall ships that use them. Instead of the usual five point harness with a long dual fall protection lanyard, you were given a three point harness with a very short dual lanyard. We were told it was to keep you from falling far as these lanyards did not have fall protection. Logically it made sense but it limited your choice of clip in points since you couldn’t reach out as far.
Our watch lead showed us our emergency stations in case something were to happen on deck watch, such as MOB. I was assigned to the aft crane of the lifeboat. We were directed to throw off the lines from the Main Staysail so we could set her. We manned the lines and set her quite easily. The line leader yelled "heave" while the rest of the line yells "ho" while heaving the line to keep in pace. We do something similar no the Friendship but we use the term "2-6, Heave".
Our group went to the fore and sat down on the teak deck. We were directed to not use any rigging knifes that have a tip as the Eagles beautiful teak deck cost a lot of money to install and was insured for millions. The Boson took out the model of the Eagle to train the OC's on wearing the ship, the same training I sat through before when I couldn't sleep. I tried keeping my mouth shut so the OC's could get their sign offs without me shouting out an answer...I mostly succeeded. While this was happening, we were informed we would be doing an MOB drill sometime during our shift.
After the training and sign offs, we were given the go to do an MOB drill. We headed to our stations, donned our PFD's and awaited orders. One OC had to get into the lifeboat and release all the lines hanging from the centerline of the rig that holds the lifeboat and cast them outboard. These lines are for when you lower the boat, the crew is supposed to hang onto these with most of their weight in case a wave might throw them or worse, the cranes get stuck and they have to use them to climb to safety. While we waited to crank, we got word they were aborting the MOB drill. It was nearing the end of the shift but the bridge passed word to our watch lead that he wanted us to brace sharp. We were not doing a full wear of ship but it would definitely mean we would be there well past our shift end. The watch lead went to prep the lines for us while I collected the PFD's and stored them.
After assisting with placing some lines for the easing side of the braces, we were directed to the brace lines we would be hauling. The watch lead asked us to identify the lines if we could and I started spouting them off when I realized that again, he was really asking the OC's. After they identified the lines, we started manning the lines. Some OC's still needed sign offs on being a line lead so I offered up my spot and went to the back to haul. We had been joined by our relief crew so we suddenly had a lot of help. The bracing was done well and the lines shored up and we went to the aft to finish the other mast which went twice as fast as some officers jumped in line to help with the hauling.
During this I introduced myself to the colorful Chief Willard. It's obvious why so many people feel comfortable around him. I thanked him for the opportunity to sail with Eagle and related the Captain of the Friendships wish to be able to communicate directly with someone on Eagle to get other crewmen aboard for training since we would be laid up for another year or more. He told me I should talk to XO Turdo. We chatted some more and I thanked him before heading back. We completed cleaning up the lines so we were released. I gave my rig over to the replacement crew since they were now suiting up.
I made my way to the aft rail of the fantail, I joined Orion and Whitney watching the screws turn up the beautifully blue water. We thought we saw some type of giant eel as it looked so solid and real in the twilight but it turned out just to be the foam twisted together from the screws underwater forming a waving pattern that moved like it was alive.
Some crew went to get some chow as the galley cooks some food for the night shifts. They had been cooking fish sandwiches and bacon but what got everyone’s mouths watering was the chocolate chip muffins being freshly cooked though a few of us would do just about anything for bacon...
I opted to get my iPad and get caught up in my writing. Tomorrow we have a 16:00 to 20:00 shift but also a morning training meeting at 09:00 to 11:00 at the waist called "Introductory DC"..whatever that is. We were scheduled originally for an evening training as well but it wasn't marked on the POD so we assume it's rescheduled. At this point my legs are starting to feel sore due to the constant rolling of the ship. As long as they still work when I go aloft, I'm happy for the extra work out.
I'd be remiss in this writing if I didn't mention how totally disconnected you feel when your aboard. Although they play DirectTV when the roll isn't too bad and some DVD movies, you really have no idea what's going on off ship. For me, this meant being out of contact with my wife Cindy for the first time since I met her. It's always been comforting to know that either of us was never more than a text or call away. I worry about her and my daughter Moira but there's nothing I can do so I have to focus on my duties here. I did manage to get a short text out yesterday when we were close to land but no reply. With any luck we'll pass near land again some time during this trip so we both know the other is safe. Time to hit my bunk or not be awake for tomorrows schedule.
Day Five:
http://emaxadventure.weebly.com/1/post/2013/05/-day-five-monday.html