What do they do all day at sea?

[RATTER15]

My good lady Carakeel and myself were walking the dogs along the Bideford key this evening and looking at a huge cargo vessel moored up and waiting to load with wood apparently.

I couldn't help wondering what the crew does all day. When they load and unload it is all done by cranes etc. What does the crew do?

We dont have a shipping section, I wasn't sure where to put this.

[douglas9401]

Wave.

[woofgang]

Now that ships spend so little time in port, maintenance is a huge job, so big in fact that when i was at sea with my husband on supertankers there were travelling maintenance crews who joined ships to supplement why the crew could do. Engineers keep watches or are on call if the engine room can go unmanned at night and the ship has to be navigated and steered 24/7 in 4 hour watches. Regular checks have to be made on the security of the cargo and these will depend on what the cargo is. Depending on the company, crew may do much of their own housekeeping these days including catering for themselves (freezers full of microwave meals supplemented by fresh stuff, bread etcetera) There will likely be one or two stewards to oversee the galley and dining room and keep things up together and do things like keep the alleyways an shared areas clean. Cabins are mostly cleaned by the occupants and they also do their own laundry.
Films and books are still favourites but the internet and satellite phones have changed the face of long distance seafaring.

[woofgang]

Rowanwitch, being at sea was AMAZING. Did you know that after being at sea for weeks, when you get near the coast you can smell the land?

[RATTER15]

Thank you guys, nothing terribly exciting then. I went on a 3 day cruise to Spain, bored the t!ts off me, I couldnt wait to get off the boat.

[woofgang]

Round the coast is nothing, being deep sea, UK to the gulf and back or US to the Far East is a whole different ball game, its a different way of life.

[Old Salt]

In the navy we seldom had very much free time. There is a reason for that, "Idle hands are the devils workshop." Which is why we practice, "If nothing to do, make work." But usually there was all sorts of general maintenance to be done. Watch standing took up most of the time

And let me tell you about riding out a major storm at sea. I have seen the waves up to 60 feet tall. In heavy weather, all the hatches and deck access ports and watertight doors are secured and checked regular, as a heavy, pounding sea can soon loosen a fitting, or carry-it-away, and someone needs to get busy securing it so that the pressure of the sea and water does not spring-other-fittings. Once you start taking in water, the ship is in danger of capsizing due to the weight of the water and its movement.

And then there is the cracks that will appear in the decks or bulkheads. In some ships the steel is a bit old and tired, so you need to keep a spot welder constantly available. Once a crack starts, it can soon develop into something very dangerous.

But about the most scary thing is when the generators trip out due to the ship's heavy rolls and pounding of the waves. The emergency lighting doesn't always come on, but if you're lucky you have a torch close to hand, but if not you have to feel your way, carefully, while trying to hold on to keep from being smashed into a bulkhead or some protrusions or something that has come adrift and is banging around hits you a solid knock; a chair or a large book can really make you see stars and feel pain if it hits you unawares. And even when the emergency lights work, they seldom seem to be where you need to go.

If you are in a storm for several days, food and drink is cold and whatever you can find to eat with one hand. Sleep is out of the question, even when you tie yourself to your bunk. So usually, everybody is up and helping with the watch standing duties.

Another worry is when you are cranking on all engineers full ahead, maximum turns, into the storm, and you are being pushed backwards six to ten knots.

After thirty years of navy life, I really had had more than enough.

Old Salt

PS: but there were some good times, like all things, it wasn't all bad.

[Old Salt]

"cranking on all engineers full ahead, "

Yea, we did crank on engineers, but we actually "cranking on all engines full ahead...." is what we used to try to ride out the storms

OS

[RATTER15]

Thanks for the insight Old Salt, Maybe I will give the storm a miss, maybe just a little storm? I can weld though :)

[woofgang]

Salt, why didn't you heave to?

[paddywak]

I don't know about deep sea, but I remember being on a charter fishing trip out of Plymouth on a 40ft custom built fishing boat when the weather turned nasty. The nearest port was St Peters-port Guernsey, about a five hours away, the skipper told us afterwards that the winds were gusting between force 6-8 and the waves seemed Fluffing huge, believe me it's not something you want to experience more then once. I was lucky in that out of the fourteen of us on board I was one of four who wasn't sea sick.

[woofgang]

You haven't seen anything till you have stood on the bridge of a tanker in ballast in heavy sea and seen the bow flex. The whole thing waves up and down with the movement of the sea. You want to see it flex because if it doesn't the ship will break her back.

[woofgang]

PS the tanker was a quarter of a mile long....

[Old Salt]

That's what we were trying to do woofgang,

You turn into the oncoming sea, and use the engines to maintain position. It is possible, sometimes, to make a little headway, but usually your just happy to keep your position. Although still very rough, it reduces some of the heavy rolls and extreme pitching, but the ship is still like a wild mustang being ridden for the first time. And your whole body, especially you stomach, takes a terrible beating -- everyone comes out of it with a lot of bruises, and broken bones are not uncommon.

Old Salt

[woofgang]

Sounds like you were on smaller ships than us. The smallest one I was ever on deep sea was 12,000 tonnes. That was fun in heavy weather but the steel wasn't cracking. I know all about days on cold food and battening down though.

[woofgang]

Not up St Lawrence, but the first time I sailed into Vancouver was on Christmas Eve. I had never seen snow like it before and the air was like the distillation of Christmas.