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.