Captain's Log for Friday, 28 January 2000
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As of 0155 Eastern Standard time, 0655 GMT, and at 0855 local ship time, the Empire State was at the dock in Piraeus, Greece. The Latitude and Longitude for her location: 37-41 N, 023-46E. The weather is clear, with bright blue skies, calm winds, an air temp of 57 degrees and the water temp was 60 degrees.Barometric pressure was 1025 millibars of mercury and steady. CAPTAIN'S LOG Our arrival in Piraeus was uneventful. We picked up the Greek pilot at 0745 and navigated the crowded harbor, putting the first line ashore at 0855. "First line" is actually an important time to note. It represents the moment when the ship is officially tied to the dock and the time is recorded in the ship's logbook on the bridge. Because it has significance in the daily operation of the ship and because the arrival in port is filled with anticipation by the crew, a "pool" is always set up as a friendly wager to see who can guess the actual time when that first line touches the dock. Similar to Super Bowl pools that must be sweeping offices back home this week; "anchor pools" or "arrival pools" are popular pastimes aboard ship. There are sixty blocks; each block represents a minute in the hour of arrival. Crewmembers who want to play the game, buy a block. (The actual minute represented by each block is kept secret so that the navigator doesn't call for a few circles in the harbor to get closer to "his time" and so the chief engineer doesn't speed up the prop to arrive closer to "his time"). Once the time of the first line ashore has been recorded in the official log, the blocks are examined to see who won the pool. Today "55" won... and I know it wasn't me. It is a wonderful warm day here in the cradle of civilization and our reception could not be warmer. Our host for this port stay is Mr. Peter Livanos, CEO of Ceres Hellenic Shipping, a Greek shipping company that owns and operates 43 huge oil and chemical tankers. A relative of Aristotle Onassis, Mr. Livanos is very active in U.S. Shipping circles and was a guest lecturer in MMA's fall 1999 distinguished visiting professor program on international maritime business. Mr. Livanos has graciously offered free all day tours of the city of Athens for all of our cadets and will host a series of receptions and official visits in order to introduce our cadets and staff to the international ship owners and operators here in this important maritime nation. The first order of business after "first line" was making ready for the arrival of the U.S. Ambassador to Greece: the Honorable Nicholas Burns. A visit by such an important person dictates the ship to follow strict laws of protocol. We are, after all, a public vessel of the United States and legally a piece of American territory- obvious to anyone who sees the Stars and Stripes fluttering proudly from our stern. One custom we observe aboard this ship is the posting of "sideboys". In the days of sailing ships, whenever a very important person made an official visit to a ship, members of the ship's crew were assigned to help the distinguished visitor up and over the high bullworks of the ship's side. Since the task required someone strong but small, boys were assigned the duty. The more important the visitor, the more "sideboys" assigned. Now, of course, we have sideports that allow a visitor to comfortably walk aboard, but the custom persists. Ambassador Burns rated eight sideboys, and our cadet Honor Guard Commander, first class cadet Derek Pedro (New Bedford), picked six sideboys and two sidegirls who looked resplendent in their dress uniforms. All was ready for the arrival of our guest. As the two black limousines containing the visitors approached, Greek marines, on the lookout for trouble, patrolled the rooftops of the surrounding buildings. The Ambassador, his wife, and entourage of Greek ship owners and American embassy staff exited the limos and climbed the gangway. The bridge watch bosun mate piped: "American Embassy, Greece...Arriving!" Cadet 3/C Brian McCormick (Harrison, New York) played the American National Anthem on his bagpipes from the fore deck and Admiral Bresnahan and I beamed with pride from the ship's rail. The Ambassador is actually quite young.. only 43 years of age. He was extremely interested in the Academy, the cadets, the work they do and their opportunities after graduation. Our senior cadets, wonderfully open and informative, acted the role of tour guides, proudly showing off their floating home and describing their daily duties. During the discussions that followed, we learned that the Ambassador is from Wellesley, Massachusetts and his wife is from New Bedford! The world gets smaller all the time. As Ambassador Burns made ready to depart the ship, I presented him with a ship's plaque, marking the date of Massachusetts Maritime Academy's visit to Greece. He replied that he would hang the memento in a place of honor in his office, right next to his picture of the Boston Red Sox and Fenway Park. That brought laughter from the group. It seems that our host, Mr. Livanos, is an avid Yankees fan! 'Funny how our sports enthusiasm crosses oceans and cultures. I'll relay more on our visit to Piraeus and Athens tomorrow. See you then. CADET COMMENT: BY CADET 4/C MELISSA DeVALLES Unfortunately, I won't be able to report the color of the skies today, or the state of the seas. After a long night, interrupted by the necessity of engine room watch, I bolted for the rack at daylight and hibernated until once again, called for duty. My entire day was spent below, sleeping, or traversing from bunk to engine room and areas between, but not topside. The time flew by as it usually does in this hectic environment. It is hard to believe that we have been aboard Empire State for almost a month now. Nearly everyone has become expert at doing laundry and housecleaning which, I did not expect and we have grown closer together. Individual personalities are beginning to achieve recognition too, as people are more often recognized by nicknames. Shipboard life seems to bring out the hidden, storybook characters inside each of us. That was also a surprise. To speak of characters, I actually met the illustrious "Breadman", Mr. Mateus, face to face today. I don't know how he manages to bake so many goodies and find time to sleep. His pastries are delicious and his wonderful cookies bring a little bit of home to everybody on the ship. What would we do without him? Despite the fact that I did not see the light of day, I am very content with my accomplishments and we are entering port, too. The excitement is building as the anxious, restless residents of our little floating city prepare for inspections and wait to hear those two wonderful words...."LIBERTY CALL." BYE, FOR NOW. QUESTIONS FOR MONDAY 31 JANUARY 2000 GEOGRAPHY: The cadets have spent the past three days in Piraeus, Greece. Piraeus was known in medieval times as Porto Leone, a name given it due to the enormous stone lion that guarded the port's entrance. Piraeus is the most important port in Greece, and the main port of what city? SCIENCE: As the Empire State continues her journey the cadets will often times catch glimpses of various marine life swimming by. What is the largest and fastest marine fish? HISTORY: In what year did Greece become a Turkish province? MATH: Cadet Walsh started Sea Term with a balance of $480.70 in her checking account. She withdraws checks for $23.80, $65.00, and $165.00, and her dad makes a deposit in her account of $200.00. What is her new balance? ANSWERS FOR FRIDAY 28 JANUARY 2000 GEOGRAPHY: The Bay of Biscay. The Mediterranean Sea. North Atlantic Ocean. SCIENCE: Marine life, plants and animals, have learned to adapt to the dark environment in the deep ocean ridges. Life at these depths utilize the chemicals produced at the vents for their source of nutrition. The animals are all blind because sight is not necessary. They rely on other senses. HISTORY: 1588 MATH: $960.00
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