Friday, 9 JANUARY 1998
MMA Friday, 9 JANUARY 1998
The Patriot State is nearly ready to depart on the 1998 Sea Term Semester. Today the final Fire and Boat drill was conducted where the cadets demonstrated to the U.S.Coast Guard that they are familiar with the proper procedures for loading and lowering the lifeboats and fighting fires at sea. There was some last minute deliveries of fresh vegetables and milk that had to be loaded and then the cadets who are not on watch will be given liberty to go out into town to shop for the last minute things they may need or to go out to dinner with family or friends. Although the food onboard is usually great, thanks to a very dedicated food service staff from Chartwells,everyone wants to have that last Whopper or Big Mac or favorite dish of chinese food before the ship sails.

Liberty will expire early tonight because of the early departure tomorrow. Freshmen must be back by 2100 (9pm), sophomores by 2200 (10pm), juniors by 2200 (11pm) and seniors must return by midnight or they turn into pumpkins. The ship will have an early reveille tomorrow morning as everyone prepares to get underway. Departure watches will be set by 0330 (3:30am), the gear will be tested (including the steam whistle which will disturb the sleep of more than a few residents of Taylors Point), lines will be "singled up",and the gangways brought in . Finally, at 0720, the ship will be pulled backwards out into the canal by three tugboats ,turn Southwest towards New York and begin the exciting 1998 sea term.

Parents, families and friends that want to see the ship off are encouraged to come down to the campus on Saturday morning, 10 Jan. Please be advised that the cadets will not be granted liberty Saturday morning ( too much to do aboard and too hard to round up the chickens and get them back into the coop). The dining hall ashore will be open at 0600 (6am) with free coffee, donuts, and juice (courtesy of President Mitchell). The ship will depart on time... time and tide wait for no one...and the vessel must move at slack, high tide.

Cruise 98 Home | Previous Update | Next Update

Part of of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy website.
URL: http://whaynes.maritime.edu/MMA/campus/TSPS/cruises/1998/updates/010998.html   Built on Sat, Oct 2, 2004
[Macro error: Can't call the script because the name "mmaweb" hasn't been defined.]