"What is the Job of the Ship's Watch Officer?"

Dear Readers,

We've made quite a lot of progress since my last post, sailing past Dublin, Scotland and on through the Hebrides Islands, and planning to coast our way through the “Scapa Flow” in the Orkney Islands, a sea basin of the sunken WWI German fleet of battleships. The cadets are in good spirits, and are holding some very serious chess tournaments, in addition to a whole lot of painting, welding, mopping, and studying.

The other morning, I had the pleasure of dropping in on a Nautical Science class for third year “mugs” that was being taught by former SUNY Maritime grad Rick Martucci (’72). Beginning the class with a question, “what is the job of the ship watch officer?,” the students came up with many thoughtful replies. With Martucci’s feedback, the class came to a conclusion that the watch officer’s job is to ensure the safety of the vessel in getting from one point to the other and to guarantee the safety of those on board. Cadets were also quick to point out that officers on watch must pay special attention to the weather, the position of the vessel, as well as to any work or other events that may be occurring on deck. It sounds like a tough job for hardy and responsible souls!

The lecture that followed on bridge equipment included a discussion about types of compasses and compass errors, which the students seemed to understand quite well. Martucci’s explanations helped to clarify gray areas for the class, and also brought the conversation back to focus on concerns about overuse of present-day technology. “Use the equipment, and not just gps” he noted, going on to stress how modern nautical technologies may be vulnerable to a range of other failings as well as cyber threats. Thankfully, such an important concept does not seem to have fallen on deaf ears amongst the cadets of this ship, who - unlike many of us - seem perfectly comfortable without their computers studying paper charts, taking bearings, reading tables, and performing many other hands-on duties in the field of nautical science. The rest of us simply stay put when our iPhones run out of juice!

Cadet Shout Out: Jeffrey Pitts from Texas A&M says “Hi to the fam and Meghan. Missing Texas weather like crazy. Found the blog lady! See y’all soon!”

--Laurel