Megan the Nautie Mermate
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF A LADY SAILOR
The bright blue waters of the Azores are well behind us - the Atlantic has darkened substantially in color in the last day and a half. This means one thing to my brain: we're almost to the Strait of Gibraltar. The horizon is hazier, there are more ships in the vicinity and most importantly the office has emailed asking us to increase speed. Civilization is close.
Remember the 30x30 list (if you need a refresher feel free to check it out!)? It's beginning to weigh heavily. 30 is right around the corner. Want to know which task I'm finding particularly daunting? 9. Read Anna Karenina
Maybe it's because this one is seemingly 'easy'. It confronts me everytime I open my e-book reader. I read often so this constant confrontation is becoming a bit of a bummer!
I started thinking about my list pretty hard while I was on watch today. I pulled it out and started beating myself up over the fact that I've only completed three of my assigned tasks! Then I started beating myself up for beating myself up.
Then I saw number 21. Join a book club.
Reading is something that I love. Truly love. I have always been into books - reportedly, I was even into books as a baby and, I know for certain that I was potty trained with the help of books - my parents would lure me to the john with my favorite book 'the bird book' (which I still have by the way).
The more I thought about books the less I began to beat myself up.
I started thinking about the book I'm currently reading: Wild By Cheryl Strayed. (If you'd like to read it you can find it here.) This women hiked the Pacific Crest Trail solo (hello number 3). Shes 'effin rugged and I think she may know a thing or two about beating up of ones self and how much a waste of time it is. For the record, this is hands down one of the best books I've read in awhile - everything she says I think, 'ohmygodmetoooooo!!!!'.
I decided I'm going to quit wasting time. Why join a book club when I could start a book club?
Nautie Friends! I'm pleased to invite you to join Nautie Books - the Nautie Mermate's official book club!
Here are the rules:
anyone can join. any book may be selected (although, i hope we can choose books by consensus). the book must be available in electronic format. the book doesn't have to be nautical.
Hopefully we'll be able to reach a consensus in the comments section. Here are some of my selection ideas: Open City by Teju Cole; Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson; The Paris Wife by Puala Mclain; Room by Emma Donoghue.
Does anyone have a selection idea? Would anyone like to suggest a finish date? Does anyone have any book club rule suggestions?
(note - I currently don't have a 'Nautie Books' page - in the meantime I'll categorize all related posts as Nautie Books to track our progress and make posts easier to find. If you have any questions feel free to email me at nautiemermate@gmail.com)
Any good sea story should begin with a foreboding sentence like, 'the seas were very angry that day' but sadly, this sea story simply begins by me telling you that July Fifth was the official day of my promotion to Chief Mate. The story has a decent ending. Very rarely do sailors tell of harrowing adventure only to then say that the entire crew died and were never found. Most times the entire purpose of the story is to illuminate their nautical prowess and daring spirit. This is not one of those times. July Fifth is a day I won't ever forget. My first heavy lift. While it is true that a few days prior I had witnessed a heavy lift and blogged about being a proud mama I wasn't technically calling the shots. I was aboard as an 'observer'. It turns out, being an observer and being a Chief Officer are two very different things.
We arrived into port about 4 hours later than expected. Apparently this is a big deal. When you are sailing on a tanker there aren't 30 Stevedores sitting on the dock getting paid while you make your approach.
As soon as I had my final line fast on the bow I walked back to help the crew rig the gangway. There were literally 10 people on the dock yelling questions at me. They weren't even aboard yet and they were making demands!!!
I got the hatch covers open as quickly as I could. I broke the cranes from their cradles and immediately began opening the 'tween deck to prepare for cargo.
While I was in the hold our cargo was delivered by railcar. A 215 ton generator.
I sent the wire grommets to the pier so the Stevedores could begin rigging the cargo.
Then the fun began.
We took tension on the generator with our crane. Slowly taking strain while monitoring the position of the cranes hook, the list of the ship, and the generators position on the rail car.
When it seemed like the unit would be close to lifting we stopped using the crane and began using the ships ballast to 'float the cargo'. As soon as the cargo was afloat we began to pick it up so that it would clear its welded stoppers and not hit any part of the rail car.
And then the alarm began to sound on the crane. A very loud, very insistent alarm. And then the crane wouldn't move.
No lie. The lift was literally three feet off the railcar. A twenty five million dollar piece of cargo suspended in the air.
A forklift was immediately brought around and the rail car was pushed out of the way. We used manual taglines to help guide the generator where we needed it to be and then brought the rail car back into position.
This was incredibly challenging. Because the unit weighed so much it had to be placed on the rail car perfectly. If it was even slightly off center there was a possibility that the rail car could tip over. When I say perfectly I mean we had measuring tapes out and were adjusting within half an inch accuracy. Considering that we were guiding this operation with taglines half inch accuracy is pretty darn impressive.
A team of welders was on standby at this point and as soon as the unit was down they were there weding stoppers to prevent any shifting.
The operation was put on hold overnight.
The Port Captain, Vessel Manager and Myself brainstormed for a few hours on how to best proceed the following morning.
Here is what I learned: When lifting heavy objects a crane can lift more when the object is closer to it's base. When the cargo was dropped off at the pier no one 'spotted' it meaning, it was too far away from the crane.
So begins Day Two.
A train engine comes to the pier and moves the cargo closer to the crane. Things are looking good.
Okay, hold on, I have to give some more background information....
While we were doing a single crane lift we were using our other crane to help 'stabilize' the vessel. When one crane is slewed fully over the side of the vessel it causes the ship to list about 1.5 degrees.
(I realize this doesn't sound like much.....but it is. It feels strange. In the middle of the heavy lift our vessel was listed over approximately 4.5 degrees. Consider this, we are currently in a 2 meter sea and are rolling about 3.5 degrees. To be listed over that much at the pier feels weird.)
Back to the crane. When the ship starts to list to port the other crane is slewed to starboard to help counteract the list. It is very effective. Mostly because it is fast. It takes much longer to pump the same equivalent of water during a ballast operation.
Back to the story, the cargo is closer and things look good.
We start the crane and are preparing for the lift. I send someone into the other crane to prepare to slew for list control. They start the crane and the crane connected to the cargo shuts down.
Can you believe this?! The crane connected to our 25 million dollar cargo has tripped out!!!!!!!
We continued with the lift relying solely on ballast. As we took more and more strain on our crane our ship began pulling off the pier.
As we had been troubleshooting and working on the cranes the tide had gone out. Our lines were slacker than we realized. As the ship began to list to port our lines simply 'tightened' themselves by stretching out which, pulled us off the dock.
In order to avoid parting lines and completely pulling off the pier the cargo had to be slewed back over the pier while lines were tended.
The good news?
One hour later the cargo was safely in the hold.
I can't even begin to describe the pucker factor involved in a situation like this. Manuevering rail cars with forklifts, guiding generators with taglines and pulling the ship off the pier is no fun!
I can't tell you how amazing it feels to be back at sea. Watching sunrises with a cup of coffee, seeing whale tails and oh yes, catching up on some sleep!
While I will admit that my stress levels are pretty high I will say that my shipboard happiness percentage level is higher than it has been in a very long time.
(I wanted to tell this story with a little more pizazz but sadly, by the time I hit my room in the evenings the last thing I want to do is sit down at the computer!!!! Please know that I love you all!)
I mentioned on Facebook that I'm participating in Photo A Day brought to us by the always wonderful Fat Mum Slim. The prompt for today was DRINK.
You guys know where I'm going with this right?! ORANGE GOODNESS!!! Bow Chicka Bow Bow.
I've been waiting for this one ALL week.
Since Orange Goodness has majorly been done around here I paired it up with my new favorite 'road drink'. Carrot Juice in a Mason Jar. Oh yah.
You have to love a sunny day. Especially in the Pacific NW. Whenever there is a sunny day here I always think, 'I could live here...'. Then I think, 'Bad Megan, No!' and I try to remind myself how I felt two days ago when the rain wouldn't stop and the sky was grey and the air was cold. Anyways, what is the only thing people should do on sunny days? Why, go to the beach of course!
I spent all my summers in B.C. when I was growing up. My grandparents lived on a tiny little island and had a house right on the water. I used to play non stop....looking for shells, digging holes, finding strange creatures, chasing birds.....
Yesterday took me right back! I walked the shoreline getting squirted by clams until I finally gave in and dug one up. I found some live sand dollars. I found a fluorescent green shell. I played with seaweed - talk about natures camouflage. Best of all I watched a dog have fun. Dogs really know how to have a good time.
I hope you are all enjoying sunny days wherever you may be!!!!!
I'd love to say I'm sorry for the lack of posts....but.... I've just been having too much fun!
Since I've been 'away' for awhile I figured the best way to get caught up would be to share some photos from my phone....because honestly my iPhone has been my go to girl lately - Big Bertha has been spending too much time at home.
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1. I spent a day on the couch (what? I'm on vacation!) and I decided that I'd go to my neighborhood variety store for a pizza (now you're jealous). As I was getting out of the car there was a little girl parking this sweet ride right in front of the shop. I was instantly jealous and decided that I had to take a picture.
2. Sampling my homemade toothpaste. I was thinking of saving this tidbit for a post of its own but alas, time is getting away from me. Let me just say - it was better than I thought it would be!
3. Boat shoe wearing in March? Yes, please! When I stepped off the plane in Maine (that rhymed....and made be giggle because even in my head as I was typing I was saying, 'the rain in spain'....heehee) it was over 70 degrees out! I was wearing shorts and slippers! Sadly, it was incredibly short lived. I did however; get to ride on a boat in my sassy little Sperry Topsiders with friends who are also sassy Sperry wearers.
4. Aforementioned boat. Don't be jealous.
5. I got my hair cut and colored. I sat down and said, 'you can do anything you want as long as it all goes up in a pony tail'. (Anyone who has tried to secure an anchor in the middle of the night with hair that is just slightly too short for a pony knows that they will never, ever have hair too short for a pony again!) The sylist says, 'I think we need to give you a more mature length'. To which I responded, 'You mean, you don't think I should have hair that makes me look like a sixth grader who loves horses?'.......and then she cut off six inches. (I'm still deciding if this should count as my 'something sassy' on my 30x30 list (#8). I decided I'd wait till I'm home in Hilo to run it past my Mom first.)
6. I made a Quinoa salad. With beets, oranges, almond slices and mint topped with honey goat cheese. I personally thought it was quite yummy. Please note that next to the dish of quinoa is an orange goodness. Hells yah. Funny story about the Quinoa (welll...I guess I'll let you be the judge on the funny factor). I was having trouble with the ratio of Quinoa to water - I was following the instructions of a recipe that I had found online but was modifying. My housemate walked in and I decided to ask her opinion. She was all - just do the same thing you do when you're cooking rice....and then I was all - who the hell knows how to cook rice in a pot?! Don't you have a rice cooker?! Seriously folks. Who doesn't own a rice cooker?! My Mom doesn't because she thinks cooking in aluminum is terrible.....valid enough reason. I however; bought trader joes rice in little bags that I can microwave because the thought of cooking rice in a pot makes me cringe. If you've never used a rice cooker I seriously recommend it. (I was going to write a whole post about this...aren't you glad I didn't?!)
7. The yummiest breakfast burrito ever. I thought it was so yummy that I actually emailed a photo of it to TravelBuddy.
8. This is my friends dog named Diego. As far as dogs go I like this one a lot. This is his little toy named Elmer. My friend will say, 'Diego, go get Elmer!'. I can't tell you how funny I thought this was.
9. Confession: I'm addicted to Gossip Girl. I know, right?! What's wrong with me?! This show is completely bizarre. Realizing young women around the world are watching this is frightening. The thought that some of these young women are too young to discern the show is complete fiction and grossly unrealistic is even more frightening. That being said, it's Netflix crack - don't ever, ever watch even one episode.
*I realize that this Nautie Tidbit post might be a little long but, dang! it feels great to be sorta caught up!
Sidenote: Thanks to all of you who 'liked' me on Facebook! I'm still figuring out how to more fully integrate it with my blog but, in the meantime check in every now and then for random Tidbits!