Tuesday, 16 February 1999
As of 0800, the Empire State was located at 30 degrees and 45.4 minutes North latitude, 078 degrees and 28. 8 minutes West longitude, steering a course of 033 degrees true, at a speed of 13 knots. Charleston, South Carolina is 145 nm to the northwest. The air temperature is 62 degrees F. Water temperature is 76 degrees. The skies are partly cloudy with calm winds and seas. Water depth is 2700 feet. Barometric pressure is 1026 millibars and rising
CAPTAIN'S LOG:
The weather is the surprise this morning. Poseidon (God of the Sea) giveth and he taketh away. Today is one of those truly nice days that you thank the Gods for. The temperature is warm, winds light, and seas are flat, YES FLAT. Sunrise attracted a large number of viewers and they were not disappointed. As dawn approached, the undersides of the low scud layer of fair weather cumulus clouds caught fire. At first, it was just embers smoldering at the bases of a few clouds. Their gray color resembling dirty smoke coming from hot coals. Then, as the sun exerted its power, the fire grew until the conflagration spread across the entire eastern horizon. Orange and pink, maroon and vermilion raced up the sides of the clouds, Kodaks and Cannons clicking at the scene like so many Geiger counters registering the radioactivity of the moment. Then, in silence, it was over, the sun was up and the ship's PA system began the call to the faithful: "first call to morning formation", Division I and II muster at Division Parade. Day 44 had begun for the cadets and crew of the Empire State.
It surprises me that after fourty-four days away from home, something as routine as sunrise continues to attract devotees and inspire the wish to freeze time in a picture. Maybe it's the realization that we're down to single digits left on this trip, maybe it's the excitement of heading north and home. Certainly, the calm winds and flat seas have added to the enjoyment of the ocean world, today. In fact, I think this ship moved more at anchor in St. John's Pleasant Bay than it's moving right now. But duty calls and we have miles to go before we drop the hook in Cape Cod Bay next Saturday. There are classes to teach, lessons to learn, and exams to take. Like sailors everywhere, we stopped to admire and absorb the beauty around us, but it's off to work now. Some go down into the engine room, where it is always daytime, to mine fresh water from salt and turn black oil into power and light. Some report to the weather decks to continue the never-ending battle against rust. Rust never sleeps and 18,000 tons of steel surrounded by salt water is a powerful enemy. The deck gangs attack with their amour piercing needle guns and smiles on their faces, thankful that they, unlike their shipmates in the gang who labor in the "pit", are able to see the sky.
Dr. Malcolm MacGregor, Head of the Marine Safety and Environmental Protection Department, knows how to work his people, too. Only they exercise a different muscle group than those working for the Chief Mate on Deck Maintenance or the Chief Engineer in the Engine room. Dr. MacGregor works the brain. A dozen freshmen sit on the fantail deck examining clear glass bottles fitted with glass stoppers and filled with a clear liquid. It looks like ordinary water, but is it? The instructor doesn't say. The problem is to measure the amount of dissolved oxygen in the sample and then see if after three days, the oxygen concentration has changed. Any student of biology knows that "life" needs to perform respiration to qualify, but is there any sea life in the sample of clear liquid? Is this water scooped from the sea around us? Or tap water treated with chlorine to kill all the microscopic life forms that hide from the naked eye". Maybe the sample is treated effluent from the marine sanitary discharge (MSD) system, our ship's sewage treatment plant. Does it matter? What is the effect of three days in a dark warm place? Does respiration of microbes produce oxygen or use oxygen? The questions buzz and the answers are hiding in plain sight inside the bottles. It's a puzzle for the mind and these cadets will be as tired as the maintenance crews when they break for lunch.
It's another busy day on the Empire State. Everybody has a job to do and everybody works. There are no freeloading passengers on this cruise ship but the entertainment provided by something as simple as a beautiful sunrise does have a way of lifting the spirit.
Five and a wake-up! Just two more days of training, followed by two exam days and then, home. See you tomorrow..