Captain's Log for Tuesday 11January 2000
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At 1100 EST the T/S Empire State was enroute to Funchal, Madeira and located at 34 degrees and 24 minutes north latitude and 51 degrees, 17 minutes west longitude. She was steering course 094 degrees true, at a speed of 16 knots. The weather was excellent, partly cloudy skies. Light winds out of the southwest at 4 knots. Barometric pressure was 1020 millibars of mercury. The air temperature was 70 degrees. Seas were 3 to 6 feet. Water temperature was 68 degrees. The depth of the water beneath the keel was 2816 fathoms. Captain's Log 11 January 2000 I guess you can call it meteorologically serendipitous. We have caught a high-pressure system that has the wind at our back and temperatures reaching a comfortable seventy sunny degrees. The ideal weather clearly creates perfect training conditions but, and this is a point we try to make clear to the youngies, don't get used to it. Mother Nature can turn on you faster than an eye can twitch. During our four-days at sea we have crossed nearly half of the Atlantic Ocean. Our speed is holding steady at 17-knots. The current engine speed, by the way, is very economical. Not that we need it, but the ship will usually ride better at a greater speed much like a bicycle rider appears to have better balance at high speed. One other benefit derived from the perfect weather it is helping our Youngies get their sea legs gradually. This will knock down the number of seasickness cases we could have if the sea suddenly turned violent. Meantime, the Prince of Darkness returned yesterday! Don't become alarmed, it's really our Second Mate/Navigator who lays in wait until we head east, then morphs into the Prince of Darkness, changing our circadian rhythms and sense of daylight. You see we had our first time change last night, and with the change a late sunrise at 0700. The darkness makes it tougher to roll out of the rack. Moreover, we remain under the gun to get our clocks in synch with Madeira time. Tomorrow sunrise at 0800. Mofo in the dark!
Working in the holds on Empire State. One final note, shortly after two this morning I was awakened from a deep sleep by the unmistakable sound of the ship's steam whistle which is located about twenty-feet above my rack. Alarmed, and expecting a continuance of several more short blasts indicating an emergency situation, I expected a call from the Deck Watch Officer to brief me on the situation. Still half-asleep, I began to wonder if I was dreaming. After all, I reasoned, it would not be the first time I have had nightmares about a disaster. It goes with the territory, of course. Anyway, I sat at the edge of my rack until curiosity took over and I headed to the bridge. I was greeted not by the peripatetic activity of crewmen responding to an emergency what greeted me was, as Paul Simon wrote, The Sound of Silence. I quickly realized what had happened and said to the Deck Watch Officer,"Who leaned against the whistle controller?" "It was me, Captain", he said. Knowing that this officer was an MMA graduate, knew the bridge layout well and is a person that places great value on the cadets, I quickly responded, "Ok, I am going back to bed." As I began to drift back off to sleep I smiled, knowing full well that the Watch Officer didn't do it. He was covering for a cadet who must have been shaking in his boots in the dark. I'm sure he will get incredible mileage out of some unlucky cadet over the next six-weeks. Questions for 12 January, 2000 Geography: The cadets will cross the North Atlantic Ocean, what are the other six oceans that make up the modern version of the "seven seas?" Science: Where is the Red Sea and why is it red? History: The cadets will soon sail past the Rock of Gibraltar and enter the Mediterranean Sea. The ancient sailors had a superstition about the rock, calling it the "Pillars of Hercules." What fate did they believe would befall them if they sailed past the rock? Math: Cadet Lehman reported to the ship's Captain that there are 10 shots of chain in the chain locker. HINT! A shot equals 15 fathoms, and a fathom equals 6 feet. How many feet of chain are in the chain locker? Answers for 11 January, 2000 Geography answer: Greenland, with 840,000 square miles Science answer: At the deepest point in the ocean, pressure is more than 8 tons per square inch or the equivalent of one person trying to hold 50 jumbo jets. History: Bermuda was discovered in 1503 by Juan de Bermudez, a Spanish explorer. Math: 200 feet and 400 feet
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