Tuesday 13 April 2004
I stayed at the Long Beach Motel 6. After breakfast I took a taxi to the ship at Pier 34. The driver asked what letter pier I wanted. I told her all I knew was Pier 34. After looking at the map she took me directly to the ship. As I stepped out of the taxi I was greeted by Chris, the shipping agent.
I walked up the gangplank and was greeted by name by one of the officers. I thought I knew him from my visit to the Rixta O. in Thunder Bay, but he knew my name from the passenger list. Somebody took my pack to my cabin and I was escorted to the captain's office. Chris took my passport which he had to take to the immigration people. He said he was going to classify me as a company representative, but later changed my designation to passenger. He was going to use the company representative designation to avoid problems with immigration. According to maritime law, a foreign flagged ship cannot transport US citizens between two US ports. Therefore I had to stay on board until we reached Vancouver, British Columbia.
After meeting the captain and completing the processing with the agent I was shown my cabin on the accommodations deck. The cabin has two large portholes, one facing the bow and the other starboard. It has a short couch, a desk with many drawers, chair, boombox and a bookcase. The WC and shower are all in one room. When you take a shower you pull the curtain. There is a large medicine cabinet. On the wall near the bunk is a reading light that has a rheostat built into the switch so if you need a night light while you sleep you can have one.
There are five decks from top to bottom as follows:
Navigation Bridge
Captain
accommodation
Boat
Upper
I don't know why you have to go down to get to the Upper deck. From the Upper deck you can access the gangplank and walk around the deck and look into the holds and watch unloading and loading. Today they are unloading plywood and steel coils. The cranes, operated by the stevedores, lift the plywood out of the hold and put them on the pier where forklifts pick them up and take them to the warehouse. By the time I finished paperwork with Chris and the captain it was 1130 and time for lunch.
Meals are served as follows:
Breakfast 0730 - 0900 hours
Lunch 1200 hours
Teatime 1500 - 1600 hours
Dinner 1800 hours
For lunch today we had a very nice beef with a choice of potatoes or rice, a super great salad, banana and water or a soft drink. You can have coffee or mineral water as well. I sat at the captain's table with the captain, Chief Engineer (from the Ukraine) and the Chief Mate who was also a Ukrainian. If the officers are wearing coveralls they cannot eat in the officer's mess. When they enter the mess they say either bon apetit or good apetit.
The largest meal of the day is served at noon. In the evening there is macaroni and cold cuts. Sometimes they have German pumpernickel bread, but also include terrible American white bread.
Wednesday 14 April 2004
Today after a nice sleep in my cabin and an oatmeal breakfast I walked down to the pier. The forklifts were running around the pier carrying plywood. After 1700 when the forklifts stopped running I walked along the pier for the length of the ship. I was impressed how long it was. Sailors say the Ilsabe O. at 28,000 tons is a small ship. There are other freighters that weigh 150,000 tons. Then I walked on the Upper deck for about an hour. After another nice supper I went to the Seamen's Mission which is run by the Lutheran Church. Sailors from all over the world were shooting pool or playing fussball. There was internet access for $5 an hour and telephone for the sailors to call home. On the wall were clocks showing the current time in cities all over the world. There was popcorn at every table and soft drinks were available. I met an American there who had been looking for a ship for five weeks. He said American sailors on ships to Iraq don't want to leave. He was a SUP (Sailors of the Pacific) union and thought the SIU (Seafarers International Union) was a scab union.
Thursday 15 April 2004
The weather was warm and the sea calm. We sailed today from the Port of Long Beach. I had already spent 2 nights aboard the Ilsabe and knew the ship. The stevedore foreman had told me that they would not be finished unloading plywood and steel coils until evening. The two terminal supervisors who coordinate the stevedores convinced them to work last night. So today we sailed at 1630 hours and past the Long Beach breakers and turned north toward Vancouver, BC.
I was given access to the bridge at any time day or night unless the ship was docked when the bridge was locked. I spent my first hours on the bridge today. When I got there a tiny Filipino, an able-bodied seaman, was steering this massive ship. The wheel was 8 inches across and cut in half like the wheel for a racing computer game. The captain said steering is easy in a storm because of the steering gears. I was impressed with all the technical electronic machinery.
When we were still close to Long Beach, we followed a slow speed as directed by law. I think it was 12 knots. The steering man stayed at his post until we were well on our way. Then the Ilsabe O. was put on automatic pilot. A duty officer and an able-bodied crew member stayed on the bridge in 4 hour watches until sunrise and then only the duty officer rotated a 4 hour watch.
I stayed on the bridge into the evening hours and watched a huge container ship about 20 miles behind us. She was traveling faster than us, but I did not wait to see her pass us. As the sun set below the Pacific horizon, they pulled curtains separating the map room from the navigational part of the bridge. Any lights on the bridge ruins night vision. The seamen were constantly checking radar and reading incoming messages. The coast guard radio blared the names of departing ships over the bridge radio. Most of the ships were heading south for Mexico, the Panama Canal and Central and South America.
Friday 16 April 2004
This is another beautiful, warm and calm day for sailing. The Pacific Ocean is trying for the second day to live up to her name.
I talked to the Chief Mate about walking outside on the Upper deck and her allowed it. I walked this morning in perfect weather. Ballast had overflowed the area where I walk along the five holds. They were steam cleaning the holds in preparation of loading grain in Portland. Plywood will be discharged in Vancouver WA and we will bunker in Vancouver BC. Bunker means to take on fuel.
Today we had a fire drill and when the alarm sounded I was supposed to go to my cabin and put on my hard hat and life preserver. We mustered on the port side and then went up to the life boat. Someone started the boat's engine and it sprang to life. Edmundo, the Filipino steward, was assigned to me during the drill. Everyone was there including Cookie who said "no supper tonight". He was joking that if we had to abandon ship there would be no meal for him to cook.
Edmundo serves me all my meals and cleans my cabin every day. He is 33 years old and single. He has been working on ships for three years and although he attended steward school, he says he learned more from being on the job on the ship. I would call that on-the-ship training.
At noon the captain said he had been looking for me about 0900 hours. Some whales were seen and he wanted me to see them. This evening, Dimitri, the chief officer, said he saw dolphins while he was the duty officer on the bridge. He also told me that the officers are required by the company to shoot the stars. He showed me the completed logbook and a very nice looking British sextant.
The chief engineer is a bald-headed burly man with 33 years as a seaman. Thirteen of those years have been with Egon Oldendorff. His area covers:
Fresh water
Hot water
Sewage
Engine power
Heating
Galley
Desalination
Electricity
Air conditioning
Plumbing
At 1700 they all leave the noisy engine room and put everything on automatic pilot. If there is a breakdown or malfunction the computer will notify them and they respond anytime during the night. If the ship is old like the Rixta O. or the Regina O., they never leave the engine room to the computers, but run 24/7 watches down there.
I told Dimitri that I knew our position without looking at a map. I said we were near San Jose. I asked him if he knew how I had figured that out. His one word answer was: "radio". I had been listening to national public radio in my cabin.
Saturday 17 April 2004
Since it was windier than yesterday I did not walk outside on the Upper deck as I had the last two days. I spent my time inside going from the Upper deck to the Bridge on the stairs. The sea was calm like it was yesterday. The ship has been rolling a bit, but I am suffering no discomfort. I was having lunch when the second officer came running into the mess. He said there were whales visible off the port side of the bridge. I ran as fast as I could and when I got to the bridge they were still visible. The whales were spewing geysers high in the air. They accompanied us for miles. They give the bridge watch officer something to keep him company on the lonely Pacific.
Later I saw a southbound freighter on the horizon. The officer checked the transponder and was able to tell the name and speed of the ship. I put the glasses on her when she was just about to meet us. She was a bulk tramper like us with huge cranes over the hatches.
It is 2006 hours and the crew is having a party in the day room. Edmundo just came in with a bottle of Teacher's Scotch and a glass with some lime. I am drinking it straight without water or ice. I can hear their music down the hall along with various shouts. After all it is Saturday and the men's work is done.
Sunday 18 April 2004
Saturday night after I finished writing in my journal I walked down the hall to the day room where the shouting and loud music was coming from. As I walked in a cheer went up from those assembled. Cookie was there shouting "ole" and others were doing karoke.
As the evening wore on Cookie had 4 tumblers of Scotch and passed out on the floor.I had only one Scotch and went to bed. In the morning Edmundo cooked breakfast.
