This afternoon we arrived at the Panama Canal. We have to wait until tomorrow night to go through, so we’re going to be hovering outside until then. We’re doing anchoring and turning drills right now, so even though we’ve arrived at our destination, the ship is still moving. Tomorrow maintenance should be easier since the ship won’t be rolling as much. I’m planning on being out on deck as much as possible while we’re going through the canal, so I can take it all in-and get tons of pictures!
Today we have Sunday at Sea, when we get some well-earned R&R. There are no musters, except for the divisions on watch and maintenance. Watch division continues on its regular schedule, and maintenance division has maintenance in the morning and the rest of the day off. Lunch and dinner are both cook-outs on the helo deck, where you’ll find hundreds of cadets covering almost every part of the helo deck and the boat deck above it.
Today we’ve had much larger waves than the past few days. The ship has done quite a bit of rolling, and we’re starting to understand much better why the tables in the mess deck have slide guards on the edges! I’ve been in MSEP training since Thursday, and today was the last day. The chairs and stools in the classrooms are not fixed to the deck in any way, so when the ship rolled we all went sliding to one side or the other.
Today was the first day of the new division rotation. On board the ship, each division has a general duty assignment that changes every three days. On any given day there’s a division on watch, a division on maintenance, a division in training (license), and an alternate division, which right now means we’re doing the training for non-license majors. Division I is currently the alternate division, and my group within the division is doing MSEP training.
As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I’ll be periodically publishing the thoughts and comments of fellow cadets on board. Tonight 4/C Buckley of 3rd Division is featured.
It’s Thursday January 17th 2008, and I just completed my first day of Engineering lab classes. We first went down to the tank top level of the stern of our Ship, which is where the Engineering Lab is. I happened to be in Group A, lucky for me.
This morning we found ourselves in much bluer, warmer water with an air temperature that goes nicely with shorts and a T-shirt. The water has been much calmer today than it was last night, which made working much easier today. Speaking of working, I have taken on a new job on board the ship. I am now Chief Laffan’s IT guy, which started immediately as I spent my time before and after watch today working on the ship’s network.
Being on board a ship with as many people as we have is similar to being in a big city. There’s always something happening, you can always get something to eat, and its never really quiet. The population density inside the holds is greater than some New York subway cars. At night, though, the ship becomes a completely different place. Most people are sleeping, and the only people who are awake are the night shift watch standers.
As I mentioned at the end of yesterday’s post, we pulled into Norfolk around lunch time yesterday. I lived in Norfolk for a few months in 2000, so it was really cool to see from the water some of the places I’d been to when I lived in the area. We anchored in Norfolk harbor not too far from the Naval base, so it’s been pretty exciting to have aircraft carriers, destroyers and the like as the scenery while we eat in the mess deck, or relax on the fantail.
After leaving Buzzards Bay, we went back to work. For Division 1, that meant resuming watches. For the other divisions, it meant maintenance. I had watch from 1530-1930, After which I spent some time relaxing on deck, and then went to bed.
The Engine Room is pretty interesting while we’re under way. It’s incredibly loud and hot, but there is a ton of cool machinery to look at. To me, the coolest part of it was watching the shaft spin.
Today at 1150 we departed the state pier in Buzzards Bay and started our incredible journey. Family and friends turned out by the hundreds to see us off, carrying banners, blowing horns, and cheering as the ship’s whistle blew to announce the beginning of our trip. There was plenty of excitement on deck, as we anxiously awaited the moment when the ship would start moving and we would finally be on our way.
