Get to Work

Well with the starboard main engine back intact,looks like it's a short trip to Baltimore and then it's head north to Albany,New York to discharge petroleum then a trip back down to Philadelphia to load and for me to go home,maybe.It's still a good ten days or so away so I just have to wait and see where we are when it's my time to go.We will be picking up a Penn Maritime Monster,a 90,000 barrel barge over 400 feet in length.It's nothing this boat can't handle with it's 4,200 horsepower.Hopefully everything will run smoothly and the mechanics have held up there part of the bargain in putting the EMD 16 cylinder back together correctly.The crew,well the crew will consist of a veteran captain,a young mate,an OS deckhand,a chief engineer and yours truly the AB Seaman.I'm have worked with everyone on board before except the mate but he's from Virginia so how bad could he be........I guess only time will tell.

Run Away,Run Away

It's been a few slow moving days in the shipyard.Today I had the opportunity to evacuate the boat for a couple of hours and do some grub shopping at the local Wal-Mart,what fun that was.When we got back and finished unloading the hundreds of dollars worth of groceries needed to feed the crew for a week,a few of the crew members decided to go for a walk.My feet hurt and I was hungry but I tagged along.Now where would you walk to in a shipyard.That' the trick,the owners of the company I work for own a six hundred acre farm connected directly to the shipyard.I know I know it must be nice right.Well up the little gravel road and over the hill and wow I was amazed and glad I took my camera.Fields and fields of corn,old barns,a private pond,a creek,deer,ducks and anything else you can imagine is there and plentiful.We walked a long way to the pond but I had to see it and yeah as expected I want to hunt it.I'm guessing that won't happen because the owners are very into deer hunting and not so interested in a stupid duck.As we walked back the captain informed us of our next mission,everything here is supposed to be kept a secret.Friday afternoon the shipyard people should be done,then it's of to Albany,New York with an oversize 90,000 barrel barge.After off loading then it's back to Americas other armpit,Philadelphia.I'm only joking about Philly,it hasn't done anything to me.As you all know the orders are subject to change but I would like to take a trip up to Albany.Right now I'm just thinking how much I want to go walk around on that farm for another few hours.

Shipyard Fun part doo and heif

Well well well how much fun am I having,so much it should be illegal.OK not that much fun but oddly enough I'm pretty much done with this experience.I did have a little bee buzz in my ear about a possible trip to Maine and Canada with a large petroleum barge,we shall see.I have said it before and I will say it again nothing is certain in the tugboat world until the minute it happens.So what have we been doing.....to start we finished putting the two thousand feet of tow wire on the drum.Then we removed all the parts and I mean everything from the starboard main.Well the diesel mechanics did that we just got really greasy trying to help.Besides that we replaced some metal on the stern took out the steering rams to get re manufactured,wow we have done to much we should slow down.Well I'm running out of energy to type plus the hamburgers are ready for the grill and I need two showers.The above picture is the little inlet and island that I retreat to but its my secret because the other guys on the boat haven't found it yet.

Shipyard Fun

Or something of the sort.Pulling into the shipyard and getting the tug tied up was great.Reason being,for the first time in eight days the main engines were shut down.Oh yeah almost quiet,I can only hear a Detroit Generator now.Pulling into a shipyard means a few things depending on what your normal role is on the boat and the reasoning behind the boat being in the shipyard in the first place.Our reasoning is to rebuild a main engine,change fuel injectors on both main engines,put new wire on our tow drum and of course general painting and cleanup.So that being said,since the boat isn't going anywhere for a few days at least everyone must help out.Usually the Captain takes a leave of absence and goes home.The first mate stays on and hangs around making the office people happy,which by the way are located a hundred yards from the boat in their offices watching with eagle eyes.The able seaman,yours truly,helps with the majority of everything.The chief engineer does what he does best and dismantles and reassembles any and all machinery available.So,what I'm getting at here is just because the boat isn't moving it isn't vacation time,it's the opposite.There are no Sundays off or six hour watches,nope,it's sunrise to sunset.After day one of struggling with putting on new tow wire I'm beyond a little exhausted and I'm only 29.I can imagine how many of these older fellows must be feeling.I do no this,in the near future I want to be the one that takes the early vacation when the boat comes into the shipyard.

Denied

I apologize for the delay.Last Friday we were given the boot from the supply dock we had been tied up to for almost two weeks.The reason behind it,some wahoo decided he wanted to cut off a ship in the Mississippi River dumping fuel oil forty five miles up the river.Now an oil spill of any kind is terrible but in the Mississippi River where the current runs like a man just released from prison it's catastrophic.So the river was closed and all the inbound ships and tugs were held up in the anchorage.They had to be re-routed to smaller ports not used to handling major ship traffic like Mobile and Pascagoula.So the dock space was needed and away we went.Around Florida up the East Coast and to Maryland to the boat yard to do some work on the boat.It has been a ridiculously calm trip and I am not complaining.Well we got inside the Chesapeake Bay and I'm feeling a little closer to home.We should be at our destination tomorrow morning and then it's dirty work time.

Supply and Demand

Not much going on just hanging in Mississippi.We are tied up at a fuel dock next to let's just say an extremely large Chevron plant.Quite a few oil rig supply boats come in at all times of day to re-supply and head back out.One of the interesting things I have learned in the last few days is the more than complex supply and demand for oil we have in the glorious United States.Now everyone knows about gas and oil prices and how they keep rising with no end in sight.Everyone also knows that the United States isn't the most expensive or the cheapest place to fill up your grocery getter.So we all know that nobody has a quick fix the this crisis that is among us.A few ideas have been heard around the fuel dock during my normal hotter than a thousand suns work day.The main idea seems to be if the United States knows they have oil offshore why can't we go get it and be self sufficient.Sounds great I myself love the idea,however like most ideas they have holes in them.This idea has so many holes it's not even feasible.Here we go try and stick with me.Number one it's been over thirty years since a comprehensive survey of offshore oil has been done.On top of that it would take years to complete one.Problem number two with the strict rules and laws that apply to the oil industry it seems nearly impossible to see any new oil being drilled offshore.Number three if and only if new offshore drilling took place then it would take five to ten years to actually get that oil from offshore to a refinery.The reason behind that is the construction of oil platforms along with crewing problems,shortages and everything couples with problems one and two.Now the last major problem that I see is the one that relates to me and was mentioned above,crew shortages.The maritime industry in this country has done a lack luster job recruiting young men and women for the opportunity to work offshore of this great country.That being said if we go constructing new oil rigs and doing comprehensive surveys and decided it was time to drill there is no possible way that the United States could crew that endeavor.So guess what would happen,that's right every ones favorite topic of discussion out sourcing.It would seem a bit ridiculous to go through all that trouble to drill our own oil only to have to hire a foreign country to pump and deliver it to our shore.That's what gets me is that many people don't recognize that the maritime industry is under crewed as we speak.No I don't have a solution I'm just trying to see the avalanche before ti happens.That way when it does I'm out of the way and I can sit back and say I told you so.

Reporting for Not Much!

Well got down to Pascagoula,Mississippi Saturday afternoon and found out I must really love my job.The boat has been sitting idle at a dock since last Thursday awaiting orders.It's now Tuesday and guess what we are doing,awaiting orders.That's OK though it gives the crew a chance to catch up on much needed painting,chipping etc.It's also easy to fall into the six hours on and six hours off schedule that we work when you don't have to worry about getting up every time the boat makes up or breaks down from a barge.Well I took a few pictures but it's just the bayou so it isn't that interesting.I'm ready to get orders and leave the state of Mississippi in my past.