7/10/12 - The Sun Never Sets Part II

All’s well here… Still at anchor in the field on the eastern side of Gibraltar until tomorrow I think.  Today was the last day of STCW trainings, and tomorrow students are back to the grind of the “normal” class schedule – including mid term/seminar exams for many.  

Today, cadets got a final taste of real life-saving situations in the various stations located around the ship.  The lifeboats were lowered and raised (again), block and tackle were assembled (again), and darn it all if that big red box still keeps taking on water!  Some lucky ones even got to take out the fast rescue boat to practice the use of immersion suits, or “Gumby” suits as they are affectionately called, in the Mediterranean.  

[Ed. Note:  If you do not know what a gumby suit looks like... click this link for a photo from the USCG.]

One final station that I got to hear about was the mooring line practice, which got students to experience how to properly feed a line through a hawse, cleat, and finally make a stopper knot.  Also known as a Western Knot (for those of you playing along at home), this knot will add a little extra tension while making turns around a capstan or tying off.

The library has been very quiet today with everyone out and about on deck doing the drills, but this evening numbers were very high and I could hear students quizzing each other on the order of the lights (deck students) and silently working on problems (engineers). 

Tomorrow we should be getting underway into the Atlantic and out of this anchoring field where our closest neighbors are a couple of bulk tankers. 

--Liz--