Fourth of July
Vol. 2, No. 16
AT SEA
It has been one busy week!
Almost every night and day the ship has had to cater to the needs of the military by getting underway and maneuvering in order for the good of the military personnel, onboard. This has taken a lot of my strength away and concentrating on navigation, as well as answering phone calls, sending messages over the airwaves has made for quite the busy Watch schedule. Besides, being up physically from 0700 until midnight with only an hour here or there for rest can drain the life out of any soul, after time.
A few neat things happened this past week that I was able to participate…
The Military had an afternoon of “shooting” and they devised a contraption to hurl “clay pigeons” into the air so that they could shoot them with shotguns. While out doing some preventative maintenance on some fire fighting gear, I wondered what all the loud popping noise was. Once I saw all that was going on, I was hesitant to ask if I could shoot, but after they noticed I showed any sign of interest, they practically shoved a shotgun in my hand saying, “..Go for it, Mate!”. After ten rounds of buckshot, I hit the last one after aiming and shooting it twice! I found later that you don’t “aim” at the clay disc but rather shoot in front of the moving target. I walked away with one huge grin!
Second, the chief mate actually allowed for me to practice on operating one of the two 60 ton cranes by using a “remote control” so I could get familiar with its use. This remote “box” rests on a harness that you wear on your chest, and conveniently operated by hand controls rather than having to climb all the way inside of the pedestal of the crane. These large cranes sit nearly center and forward on the weather deck- spaced far enough apart so they won’t swing into one another. The action of the long “boom” arms can pivot in any direction and they are the primary means of lowering some of the military vehicles over the side.
Anyway, the Fourth of July was just another day but I was thinking of all my family and friends. Any fire works displays- let me know how it went.
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