June 14, 2012

Journal notes:

• Firefighting exercise

I hit the snooze button as the alarm goes off at 0600.  I'd remembered to turn it back before I went to bed, but apparently 9.5 hours of sleep just isn't enough sometimes.  After a quick shower, I mention this to harvey at breakfast, myself passing on food, but drinking 3 or 4 cups of coffee.  I explain that I'm not a fan of the instant stuff upstairs, and I don't want to make a pot just for me.  "Yeah," he says.  "Whatever this stuff is, I'm quite fond of it myself.  You know, it's funny, you do so little as a passenger, yet you still manage to tire yourself out."  He, too, had a hard time getting up this morning.

After coffee, I head up to the bridge.  This is the first time since Panama that we've had a real rain, so I stay off the deck this morning.  The electrician comes up, explaining to the 3rd officer that the fire alarm  (which had apparently gone off before I came up) was a false alarm.  He shows the young man how to reset it, explaining that he is going to go down and disconnect the smoke detector which caused the problem, and that when he does, the alarm will go off again.

At lunch, the captain phones up to the bridge, asking the 2nd officer to make an announcement: fire instruction on the bridge at 1520.  All crew are to assemble on the bridge.  He tells us it's not required for passengers, but we're welcome to come up and watch if we'd like.  After lunch, I head up to his office to take a look at his old laptop.  I can hear the heads of the hard drive clicking as it boots - not a good sign.  Soon, a message pops up on screen: "No operating system found."  I turn off the machine and pull the drive.  It's got its own panel on the bottom, the easiest removal I've ever performed, only one screw to remove and then you can pop the drive out without opening the case.  It's an IDE drive, so I can't put it in any of my external enclosures, which are all SATA.

I go back out on the deck and read until the fire exercise, which goes a little something like this:

• 1520: roll call.  1 crewman absent (AB seaman Sarayno).  One of the crew is sent to retrieve him.  The captain instructs the bosun to hold a lighter to a sensor when it is time to start the exercise.  He walks the men through the different stations, from when the alarm sounds, to inspecting the situation and giving reports, and talks about the sprinklers coming on.
• The next item on the agenda is anchor dragging, which can occur when the ship is anchored in a current or in high winds.  This is signaled by a vibration on the chain.  The 2nd officer explains the procedure for how to handle dragging, drawing on the whiteboard.  The ship must be put within the safety margin of the buoys, and its position recorded every 30 minutes.  If dragging is detected, the captain should be informed immediately.  If you see another ship dragging, you should call them to let them know.  The procedures are documented by the company and kept in binders on the bridge.
• Next, the third officer gives a presentation on grounding.  When the ship is grounded, it should be stabilized with ballast to stop moving, otherwise the situation can get worse.  The situation should be assessed, and the water checked for pollution, oil spills, et cetera.  The propeller should be checked for obstruction before attempting to move it, and the ship should only be moved if there is no structural damage to the hull, which is more likely to happen with rocky ground than if the ground is muddy.  The chief officer adds that while inspecting the water for pollution, the men should also check to make sure nobody has been thrown overboard in the collision.
• The captain gives a pep talk.  If the drill goes well, he will throw a pizza party tomorrow.  He also mentions that the crew must be extra vigilant in port.  Ports, he explains, are much more dangerous for ships than the open sea.  Then the men are dismissed from the bridge.
• At 1618, the third officer radios to the bridge to ask if the fire alarm is active.  The captain says yes, and tells him he may now go to the muster station on B deck.  He tells the second officer (who is on the bridge with us) to record everything that happens, and take down whatever notes the captain gives him
• At 1619, the chief officer comes onto the bridge.  The captain notifies someone to sound the general alarm, and calls the other passengers' cabin phones to let them know it is only a drill.  He then radios the chief officer, who had left the bridge, to check communication over the walkie-talkie.
• At 1624, all crew are present at the muster station on B deck.  All crew are ordered to their stations, and the chief engineer to the paint room (which is where the alarm was sounded).  The captain tells the 2nd that a correction should have been made: all present except the captain and 2nd officer (who were on the bridge)
• At 1625, a helmsman arrives on the bridge, and the chief officer radios in to inform the bridge that the fire fighters are putting on their fire suits.
• At 1626, the captain orders the helmsman to turn the ship to starboard, and the 2nd to cut the engine.  This is done to position the ship with respect to the wind.
• At 1628, the captain radios to check if the paint room is closed off.  It is.
• At 1629, the captain orders the helmsman to come to a heading of 300, and hold her steady.
• At 1630, the firefighting equipment is prepared at the fire station.  The captain orders them to bring it to the starboard deck.  The chief officer gives each man's name and the pressure in his air tank.  The captain tells them since this is a drill, don't use the oxygen for real.  This will be tested later.  The captain orders the bosun to the starboard side and tells the chief officer to take two firefighters and check the door to the paint room.  If it's hot, they are not to open it.
• At 1635, he orders them to open the sprinkler valve and spray water on the walls and door to cool them so they can be opened
• At 1636, they radio back that the sprinkler valve is open.  The captain tells them to leave it open and check in a few minutes to see if the door has cooled down.
• At 1639, the chief officer radios in to say that the door is cool.  The captain orders him to check that the sprinkler valve is closed, then come up to the bridge with one breathing apparatus and two air bottles.
• At 1640, he orders the 1st firefighting team to open the doors while the 2nd firefighting team sprays down the 1st team with water to prevent burns (this I find particularly interesting)
• At 1641, they radio back that the door is open.  There is lots of smoke, and they are waiting for a moment for it to clear before they go in.  It is only smoke, no flames.
• At 1642: normally, they would keep 1 man on watch to make sure the fire doesn't start up again.  Since this is a drill, they are instructed to test the sprinklers and hoses while the fire team removes their suits, and then all report to the bridge.  They soon radio back that the sprinklers are working.
• At 1644, the captain orders the 2nd officer to send a radio message about the fire (but not to send it for real, since this is a drill)
• At 1648, all crew are back on the bridge, except for the chief cook, who is called up by the Chief Officer.  The captain asks one of the firemen if it was hot in the suit.  The man gives two thumbs up.  "Very hot."  The captain explains to them, "I wanted to do this drill for two reasons.  1: To see how you react, and 2: to see how you communicate."  While he is speaking, I step back to look at the crew list.  Some of these guys have been on the ship since December.
• At 1723, the crew are dismissed
• At 1743, Harvey comes in and makes a comment about how much paper they use, even though computers were supposed to eliminate the use of paper.  We talk for a few minutes, then I go down to check my email.

I have responses from Mom and Dad.  Charlie and Dad sent their responses to my other email account, which I don't have access to.  Dad tells me that while he was in Florida (after seeing me off in Savannah), he picked up an 11-month old Rottweiler named Roxie, so now my dog has a playmate.  He also sends me his barbecue sauce recipe, which I give to the chief cook at dinner.  I think it will go very well with their style of barbecue.  Harvey comes in as I am printing it off and laughs.  "Three sticks of butter?  There's surely no cholesterol in that!"