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Blogs on Board
Date: 30th Jan 2006
Location: Barrow-in-Furness
Our very first day on Board
Day One. We've now joined our first ship, the Pacific Sandpiper, along with all our belongings, apprehensions and anxieties. No going back now. It seems unreal at first, being about to live on a large ship. But then all our apprehensions get knocked down one by one.
First of all we see our cabins - roomy and pleasant, not the dingy cells we feared. The food is just simply too good, particularly the desserts - so now concerned about putting on weight! Lucky the ship's got a gym.
Then we meet members of the crew. Straight off we're struck by how friendly and normal they were, nothing like the roughy toughy sailor types we had imagined. And everyone seems to want to be helpful. Things are really looking up!
Date: 7th March 2007
Location: Pacific Ocean, half way between Panama and Hawaii
Surprise! It's your birthday
Kate's Birthday. It all started as a normal day. Karley came in at 0330 to give me some little presents from home that my Mum had secretly given her and we started watch at 0400. Everyone I saw that morning said happy birthday, but the day was otherwise normal.
At 1730 we went down as usual for tea. I thought it was a bit strange the Captain wasn't there. Then, as I was about to sit down, Paul the cook came running saying there were whales out the back. Now previously that day I thought I'd seen a whale and no one believed me, so I thought ha! I was right. So I ran out onto the open deck and to my surprise the crew were there singing happy birthday!!!
So we had a birthday BBQ and the rest of the watch off. The food was great. Mick the cook made a great carrot cake. Everyone kept taking my picture, so funny!
John the 3rd Mate had spelled out 'happy 30th Kate' in flags and they had put fairy lights up! The Captain came down later and the Chief Mate when he finished his watch. The Chief Engineer came too. Then a really nice surprise. Some of the engineers made a brass plaque saying 'Happy Birthday Kate from the Crew MV Pacific Sandpiper 07.03.07'. The crew wrote messages on an old chart of the Pacific, with a plot of our route and marked where we were on my birthday.
I'd had no idea about the surprise party and I couldn't believe all the effort everyone had put into it.
Date: 14th March 2007
Location: The Panama Canal
The Captain lets us steer through the Panama Canal!
The journey through the canal started about 1900. Kate and I went down on deck to monitor people coming onto the ship, and once everyone was onboard we moved ahead.
Along the canal they have 'mules' either side which control the movement of the ship and are attached by mooring wires. These mules are like small trains, although the ship's crew had kidded us they were in fact alive and that Kate and I should have carrots ready for them ... actually it's fascinating to see them in operation.
When we were through the first set of locks Kate and I changed into our uniforms and went up to the bridge. Here we took turns steering under instruction from the pilot for half hour stints, one steering while the other worked with the Captain logging the ship's movements and plotting its position.
Steering turned out easier than I'd expected. Visions of going completely off course and steering into the side of the canal were constantly on my mind, but I needn't have worried. The pilot's instructions were very clear and every other comment was 'that's beautiful'. Very reassuring, I felt so good.
At the next set of locks I went forward with the Bosun, radioing the bridge to inform them each time the wires from the mules were made fast or released. This was up until about 0400, when I returned to the bridge for some more steering. This meant I could steer the ship out of the canal and into the Pacific Ocean - a memorable experience.
We finished just after 0500 and I sat out on deck for a bit, just watching all the ships' lights fade away. I got to the point where my feeling of tiredness vanished, and so I sat watching the sun rise and taking in the amazing scenery around me.