Captain's Log for Thursday 13 January 2000
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At 0700 EST the T/S Empire State was enroute to Funchal, Madeira and located at 33 degrees and 36 minutes North Latitude and 35 degrees 55 minutes West Longitude. She was steering course 092 degrees true at a speed of 16 knots. The weather continues to be nice. The skies were cloudy with occasional showers and light winds out of the southeast at 5 knots. Barometric pressure was rising at 1025 millibars of mercury. The air temperature was 64 degrees and seawater was 68 degrees. Seas were 3 to 6 feet and the depth of water beneath the keel was 1800 fathoms. CAPTAIN'S LOG 13 JANUARY 2000 We're five days out of Buzzards Bay and we've already set the clocks ahead three times. While our "rapid" transition forward through time and space isn't apt to induce the customary acclimation problems, commonly know as jet lag, crossing the time zones does pose practical problems that the Mariner must address. We don't want to "time-out" with the world. Consequently, we apply Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) as our standard of reference. All outgoing message traffic to Massachusetts Maritime and others, is indexed with the time of transmission in GMT. For example, our 13 January position report was transmitted at 1200 GMT. The Eastern Standard Time Zone is GMT + 5 hours so Admiral Bresnahan knows that we sent the report at 0700 EST. That simple procedure makes administrative sense to the outside world but Cadets don't care what time it is "there", they are living "here". Therefore, we must address time in the pragmatic sense as well. Our Navigator and time warp specialist, LCDR Pete Weiss of Hanson, MA, is charged with that responsibility. Funchal, Madeira is in the GMT zone so Pete must advance clocks five times before we arrive this Sunday. He must consider the real issue that watch standers will either gain or loose an hour of watch (or sleep) as the clocks change. An error in this critical arena could result in mutinous reactions. Pete is very aware of this minor subtlety. To be fair, he either advances or retards the clocks in twenty-minute intervals over the three watch sections between the hours of 2000 and 0800. Regardless the plan, there are always sporadic cases of confusion and those who fail to get the word. Our Navigator does an excellent job; he is known to be a first class professional, precise and exact in all that he does. But, tell me Second Mate, why do I have to eat my raisin bran in the dark when the clock says that it is 0800? Good day, from T/S Empire State on the dark side of the Atlantic. See you tomorrow. CADET COMMENT: A day in the life of 4/C Melissa DeValles on Sea Term 2000
What day is it again? It's Thursday, right? A funny thing happened yesterday morning. My shipmate, Colleen McRae, and I awoke at 0600, nice and early to watch the beautiful sunrise and take a few pictures for the cruise scrapbooks. Despite our excellent plans, the sun didn't show it's shiny little face until about 0800. We looked just a little funny standing out on deck in the dark, with our cameras at the ready. Amazing, traveling east does change the clocks and fuss with your mind. Following my extra early start, the rest of the day was packed with labs and lectures for our scheduled stint of MSEP training. The lectures were interesting but the classroom experience was slightly draining. Have you ever tried to sit in a comfortably warm, constantly swaying, gently rocking classroom for more than an hour? Sleep seems to come most naturally. As you can tell, I am still adapting to "shipboard-life." Even though everyone says that the weather is surprisingly calm for the mid-Atlantic Ocean in winter, the ship is really rolling and it makes for an interesting time on the treadmill down below. The treadmill is located in the laundry room. Quite convenient because oddly enough, that is where I am headed just after a nice, short nap. Freshman can only do laundry from midnight until 0800 and clean clothing is next on the priority list. Have a nice day and enjoy your sleep while it comes in bulk! QUESTIONS FOR 14 JANUARY 2000 GEOGRAPHY: How many Islands are there in the Madeira Island Chain and what are their names? SCIENCE: Why is the ocean blue? HISTORY:The fishing village of Camara de Lobos was the favorite fishing and vacation spot of what famos Prime Minister of England? MATH: If you traveled in a car for eight (8) hours per day going at the same speed of the T/S Empire State (12 knots), how many days would it take for you to drive 2902.032 miles? ANSWERS FOR 13 JANUARY 2000 GEOGRAPHY: The Challenger Deep, located of the coast of Guam in the Marianas Trench, is 35,802 feet deep. SCIENCE: The ocean's principal dissolved solids are sodium salts (sodium chloride or common salt). Others are calcium salts, potassium salts, and magnesium salts. HISTORY: Benjamin Franklin. He was Postmaster General of the United States and noticed that mail ships going to England travelled faster than those returning to America. His chart helped ship captains take advantage of this mighty "river" in the ocean. MATH: 75 Revolutions per minute.
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