Wednesday, 10 February 1999
As of 0800, the Empire State was located at 24 degrees and 28 minutes North latitude, 073 degrees and 44 minutes West longitude, steering a course of 309 degrees true, at a speed of 12 knots. San Salvador is 45 nm to the southwest. The air temperature is 74 degrees F. Water temperature is 76 degrees. The skies are partly cloudy with northeast winds at 5 knots, sea state 1 (4 feet). Water depth is 17, 470 feet. Barometric pressure is 1021 millibars and steady
CAPTAIN'S LOG:
We are traveling a northwesterly course off the Outer Bahamian Islands, passing the Turks and Caicos Islands, Mayuaguana Passage, and San Salvador. These are historic places that were in times past, the frequent haunts of many a Buccaneer. San Salvador is renowned as the first landfall of Christopher Columbus in 1492, but today is better known for world record bill fishing and white sand beaches. Most of these islands lack the lush tropical appearance that one would expect and many are essentially salty, little deserts. Just the same, I think we would like to stop.
Today, we have a ship full of modern day "BUCS" who gaze over the sapphire green waters much as their predecessors hundreds of years before. I am sure that these younger BUCS have enjoyed the great whales spouting high into air and silvery flying fish skipping along above the crest of the waves just as much as the sailors of a time gone by. It would be very easy for us to become terribly lazy in this environment but there is always so much to do.
The daily routine was punctuated by a moment of excitement, last evening. We set the clocks back and are now in the Eastern Time Zone again. Thrilling. But the process has potential. Unless properly done, one watch section stands an extra hour of duty and that is guaranteed to stir controversy. Prudence dictates that we do things fairly at sea. Therefore, each watch section retards the clocks only 20 minutes, those not on watch enjoy an extra hour of sleep while everyone else loses only a bit.
When the uninitiated (freshmen) first see the procedure written in the plan of the day, one of them not assigned watch that night will invariably ask "why do we have to wake up three times tonight just to set the silly clocks back 20 minutes." When I think of incidents like this, and other unique things that we do. I wonder how weird we must appear to landlubbers. For instance, earlier today a cadet asked, "Have you seen Mr. Dalton?" I was standing on the bridge at the time and automatically responded, "Yes, he is down below on the upper deck." That's dangerously close to an oxymoron.
Let's try a few shipboard terms or phrases to help you understand what you think I said.
"Bridge Watch" stands on the bridge, but does not actually watch the bridge. The bridge watch watches the sea around the bridge. "Steady rolling" may occur when the sea is continuously on the beam. The mate will order the helmsman, "Don't steer by the steering compass-- use the gyro." (The gyro is more accurate than the more reliable magnetic steering compass). "Gangway!" means, stand aside quickly but "Standby the Gangway" means stand at the top of the ship's access ladder (gangway) and don't move. We stand on ceilings, not floors. (Floors are structural members in the inner bottom and ceilings are protective wooden grates placed on the deck at the bottom of a cargo hold.) Besides, everyone understands that floors are actually decks, don't they?
And one may ask, "Why is the second mate, third in line to assume the top job, Captain? Again, "shooting the moon" out here is navigation jargon, not a clever card game strategy. I'm sure many of you chuckle when you hear us call bathrooms, "heads" and walls, "bulkheads" or ceilings, "overheads." Please don't forget; drinking fountains are really "scuttlebutts." The sea has a language of it's own and that is just another reason why being here is such fun. See You Tomorrow.